Chad Chads - a huge issue in the 2000 election A chad is the tiny piece of paper punched out of a ballot when a vote is cast, and in the wake of the disputed results became the most discussed word of the 2000 presidential election. In the tight race for votes in Florida, it opened the question of what really counts as a vote - a clear hole in a ballot paper, or a bulge? Voters were supposed to use a pointed instrument to knock out the small rectangles alongside their choice of candidate. But tens of thousands of...