Election officials were able to breathe a sigh of relief Wednesday after a judge made a key decision concerning a new kind of touch-screen voting system.

Opponents of the new system say the machines are vulnerable to hacking and need tougher security rules, but the judge didn't seem that worried.

The machines have been up and running for weeks, and voters are already practicing to use them. However, critics have been trying to pull the plug on touch-screen voting.

Bev Harris has written a book on why she believes touch-screen voting is dangerous to democracy. She says they may have already changed the outcome of elections without anyone knowing.

"The problem with touch-screen voting is you can't audit it. There is no physical record. So, if something goes wrong in that computer, you can never check to see what the voter intent really was," Harris said.

Judge Raymond Cadei heard arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit against Diebold -- the maker of the touch-screen voting system. Also named in the lawsuit are the 19 counties that plan to use Diebold machines on the March 2 primary.

But elections officials said throwing out the machines or even changing the rules for how they're used would cost millions of dollars and create a logistical nightmare.

"We already have early voting in place. We already have machines programmed. We already have workers being trained in the process," said Robyn Drivon, the attorney for the Office of the Registrar of Voters for San Joaquin County.

And the judge agreed that any worries about touch-screen machines were not enough to justify tinkering with the machines or the rules so close to an election.

"It would take an unprecedented threat, an evidence of a threat, not just a possibility of a threat. The request for a temporary restraining order is denied," Cadei said.

"The issue is not going to go away. My clients are not going to stop pursuing this," said Lowell Finley, an attorney for touch-screen system critics.

Critics say they don't plan to appeal Wednesday's decision, but they expect more lawsuits between now and November.