Sometimes, the sky really is falling. Last week’s problems with e-voting in Orange County (in 21 precincts there were more ballots than voters) may have been ‘procedural’ rather than technological, but they can’t be put right:

“David Hart, chairman of Texas-based Hart InterCivic, which manufactured Orange County’s voting system, said it would be impossible to identify which voters cast ballots in the wrong precincts because of steps the company had taken to ensure voter secrecy. For this reason, an exact account of miscast ballots is impossible.”

No recount capability, no confidence: it really is that simple.