[JURIST] The Florida Democratic Party has challenged an emergency ruling by Secretary of State Glenda Hood that set procedures for recounting votes [PDF] cast on touch-screen machines, alleging that Hood abused her power in issuing the ruling. The case involving the Oct. 15 ruling is before the FL Supreme Court after a state appeals court certified to the supreme court the question of whether the ruling was justified. Parties, including Hood and the state Democratic party filed briefs Monday. Hood, a Republican, set procedures that call for a printout of an image of a voter's ballot [PDF], while Democrats have argued for a voter-verified paper trail from the election. If a recount is needed following today's election, the supreme court could once again be involved in the proceedings, as it was in 2000. A federal judge ruled last week that no paper trail was needed for touch-screen ballots in Florida. More on touch-screen voting in Florida is available here. Read the Democrat's brief [PDF] and Hood's brief [PDF] filed in the case. The Palm Beach Post has more.