No debates over tri chads, pregnant chads or swinging chads, say elections supervisors who will determine the winner in the contest between Republican incumbent Slade Gorton and Democratic challenger Maria Cantwell. With Cantwell leading by fewer than 2,000 votes, state officials called yesterday for a machine recount of more than 2.4 million ballots. If her lead holds when the results are certified Dec. 7, it would create the first Senate tie since 1881 and only the second tie in history. Republicans will retain nominal control regardless. Hanging chads are bits of paper partially detached from punch-card ballots.
Dimples are indentations on punch cards whose chads remain intact.
Sixteen of Washington s 39 counties use punch-card ballots like those in dispute in Florida. The rest use optical-scan ballots. In Washington, election workers review all ballots before the first count. For punch-card ballots, workers automatically remove chads detached in at least two corners. And before the count even begins, county canvassing boards make decisions about questionable ballots, including dimpled ones.