The voting experts suspect software problems, or some sort of voter confusion, in Hillsborough. Improperly aligned punch holes were the culprit in a Wisconsin congressional race in 1993, when Republican Mark Neumann lost to Democrat Peter Barca by 675 votes. In a recent report on the specific brand used in Palm Beach, the Votomatic, the liberal-leaning Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility pointed out that the machines' advanced age causes errors and breakdowns. It may take the cards some time to settle down after the ordeal. Punch-card machines have their defenders.
Voters can indeed make mistakes. . . .
For example, if an election worker notes a mostly punched out chad or rectangular box next to a candidate's name, then the worker is supposed to pull off the dangling chad, guaranteeing the machine counts that vote for that candidate. On election night, we're making a call on what voter intent was. Robert Naegele, who certifies voting systems for California, said punch card machines' vote counts are undependable unless election workers intervene in this way. There are fairly rational rules. The Votomatic is one of two major punch-card voting machines used in Florida.