WASHINGTON, D.C. — One of the latest conspiracy theories sweeping the Internet is a tale that suggests that allies of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney could somehow tamper with Ohio's presidential vote because Romney's son has an interest in a voting machine company.

Like many of these rumors, this one has spread quickly, and there's nothing substantive to back it up. Those pushing the story appear to have taken a few facts, twisted them around and come to a conclusion that defies logic.

The voting machine company in question and the Ohio counties that use its equipment say it wouldn't be possible to use them to alter the state's results.

David Mikkelson, who operates the popular Snopes.com website that debunks urban legends, has spent much of his time in recent weeks chasing down election-related rumors, including this one.

"The idea that someone so far removed is manipulating the machines seems far-fetched," he said. "It is kind of like if my 401(K) invests in Microsoft, which also invests in a company that writes software for voting machines, therefore I am going to influence the outcome of the elections."

He said that allegations about remote manipulation of election machines have been popular during recent election cycles, and he has never checked out one that appeared to be true. He said that right-wing websites have recently peddled a false rumor that President Obama has sold the tabulation rights to U.S. elections to a Spanish company called Scytl, which is run by a campaign donor.

"A lot of them are misunderstandings about how things work, or people misinterpreting news accounts, and things like that," says Mikkelson.

Rochester Institute of Technology social psychology professor Nicholas DiFonzo, who has authored books called "Rumor Psychology" and "The Watercooler Effect," says elections are a popular subject of rumors, and it's easy for rumors to spread through an "echo chamber" of websites on the Internet that link to each others' content.

"If people are interested in the truth, rebuttals are also spread just as quickly and just as widely," he said.

In this case, left-wing websites are spreading the tale that Hart InterCivic, a Texas-based voting machine company, is controlled by Romney business associates and family members who might use its machines to alter the outcome of Ohio's 2012 presidential election.

But elections officials in Ohio's Hamilton and Williams counties -- the only two of Ohio's 88 counties that use equipment made by Hart InterCivic -- as well as company representatives say there's no way such meddling could occur.

Both counties use a paper balloting system in which results are tallied by scanners made by Hart InterCivic. All programming of the machines, diagnostic testing, and vote tabulation is done by elections staff in each county and no vote tabulation is done over the Internet, county election board representatives say. The paper ballots are there as backup and can be recounted with Democratic and Republican party representatives on hand.

"There is no truth to the idea that anyone could get into our system and tamper with the results," said Hamilton County elections board deputy director Sally Krisel.

Fewer than 10 percent of Ohio voters live in the counties that use Hart InterCivic equipment.

Of Ohio's approximately 8 million registered voters, about 565,000 live in Hamilton County -- which includes Cincinnati. During the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain got 195,530 of Hamilton County's votes, compared with 255,213 for Democrat Barack Obama.

Williams County, in Ohio's northwest corner, has about 25,000 registered voters. In 2008, McCain got 9,879 votes there, while Obama got 8,174.

Krisel says Hamilton County has used Hart InterCivic's system since 2006, and it has proven to be 99 percent accurate during recounts and audits.

Claims that Hart InterCivic is linked to Romney derive from the fact that an investment company called H.I.G. Capital

in Hart InterCivic in July, 2011. and that several members of

are from

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about an investment fund called

that was founded by Romney fundraiser

and Romney's son, Taggart, said Solamere had indicated that it would invest money in H.I.G. Capital, whose co-founding partner, Anthony Tamer, gave $50,000 to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future SuperPac.

But a spokesman for H.I.G. Capital told The Plain Dealer that Solamere's money represents less than .5 percent of assets under H.I.G.'s management, and Solamere has no interest in the specific H.I.G. fund that invested in Hart InterCivic.

And Federal Election Commission records show that H.I.G. Capital's representatives on Hart InterCivic's board of directors don't exclusively donate to Romney.

Federal Election Commission records show that one of the Hart InterCivic board members from H.I.G. Capital - Jeff Bohl - gave $2,500 to Romney's presidential campaign in 2011. Another one of the board members from H.I.G. Capital - Neil Tuch - gave $2,300 to Romney in 2007. In 2008, he gave $4,800 to Obama and $200 to the Democratic National Committee.

A Hart InterCivic spokesman said it would be impossible for someone to access the company's machines from a remote location and interfere with its results.

"Hart InterCivic has a long track record of supporting a fair and open democratic process," said spokesman Charles Sipkins. "Any suggestions that the company might try to influence the outcome of election results are unfounded."