“Ref: Statistical evidence establishes beyond reasonable doubt that 19,120 Presidential race ballots were destroyed by deliberate double-punching ballots in Palm Beach County FL with a “second punch” for Al Gore or Pat Buchanan. (In 1996, an additional 15,000 Dole and Perot ballots were destroyed by double-punching presidential ballots in Palm Beach County, FL. *)”
Massive double punching occurs when an operative sits with an open metal stylus (sometimes a clothes hanger) and punches through 30 - 50 ballots to enter another name.
It is these double punches that led to the “dimpled chad” problem, since the operator did not always punch cleanly through all the cards.
I was a voice crying here in the Florida wilderness when the push was made to go to 'all-electronic' voting after this fiasco. I said then and say now that voting without any capability of recount of physical ballot is a massive open door to fraud. We are now seeing a costly effort to replace what was bought in haste with something more 'palatable'.
I want to see an 'electronically readable' paper ballot that uses indelible ink to mark the ballot like standardized tests. Yes it is not perfect, nothing is. But it would take a party hack a LOT LONGER to work their mischief there. I'm wondering if someday, in a death's bed confession, we'll have one of these hacks confess.