A lawsuit alleges software on Ohio voting machine equipment could cause votes to be altered, and the office of the state's elections chief is calling the suit ridiculous.

Matt McClellan, spokesman for Secretary of State Jon Husted, said Monday the software allows faster transmission of results from county boards of elections to the office's reporting system after polls close.

McClellan says the reporting tool spares county election officials from entering the data by hand. He says it has nothing to do with voting machines themselves.

A federal lawsuit involving equipment made by Omaha, Neb.-based Election Systems and Software alleges that software on the equipment could allow vote manipulation by non-election board officials.

Federal judge Gregory Frost in Columbus ordered a hearing Tuesday morning.