Now, at the cyberstage of the Industrial Revolution, the cutting edge of voting is by computer. But the touch-screen systems are still subject to programming crashes, which could be disastrous in the event of a recount. For now, the prospect of Web voting is promising, but some of what it promises is trouble. Results could be tabulated instantly. But Internet voting also opens the possibility of election results being stolen by hackers.
Voters insert blank cards into clipboard-size devices, then punch the hole opposite their choice.
Ballots are read by a computer tabulator. Although this method is relatively economical, holes are often incompletely punched and the machine has trouble reading such ballots. A computer selects the darkest mark as the choice. Easy for voter to use, and double-marked ballots are immediately rejected. But the equipment is expensive and can have problems reading sloppily marked forms.