To no one's surprise, computer specialists, given full access to the several electronic voting systems used by California's counties, were able to hack into those systems . Now that we've established the obvious, it's time for the state to craft a policy based on practicality and common sense, not politics.

This test of electronic ballots fulfills California Secretary of State Debra Bowen's campaign promise to conduct a "top to bottom" review of previously approved electronic voting machines. That commitment was meant to assuage the concerns of activists, some legitimate, that the machines could be manipulated to fix elections.

It's important to remember that these machines have been certified and decertified and certified again by previous secretaries of state . Diebold's AccuVote-TSX touch screen ballot system, the one used by the county, was last certified by former Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and was used here during the 2006 biennial voting cycle.

By state law, Bowen must give counties six months' notice before she decertifies their voting systems. With a presidential primary on Feb. 5, that gives her until Friday to make a decision.

Whatever she decides -- and it's probably unnecessary to discard these systems completely -- it's in the best interests of the state that this controversy be settled once and for all.

Secretary Bowen has fulfilled her campaign promise and recognized the concerns of the people who got her elected. Now that we're done with the politics, we hope she stops the roller-coaster ride and gives county registrars -- and voters -- a permanent and predictable set of standards that will result in fair, free and relatively secure elections. It's time for the voting machine madness to end.