[Robert A Cook PE]

no, fraud is a deliberate attempt to re-punch a ballot, or to remove a valid vote, or to "create" a counted vote where no previous vote existed.

A "mistake" happens when a confused (or mis-instructed!) voter punches the wrong place. Here, the "number two from the top", instead of the "number two spot on the first page" In the back room, the "number two" punched hole ..

Or "number four punched hole" as you indicate? How many Bush votes got cancelled when number 2 hole was punched? How many Gore votes got cancelled?

Mistakes are not fraud though.

'Course, it does indicate the stupidity of the average democrat voter if that's how the democrats gave instructions.

Why not tell them to "vote for Gore, or you'll lose Social Security and the republicans will starve your children and pollute the environment!"

(Oh wait. They did that too.)

[Tall_Texan]

I don't even care if they tried to cancel out votes. It's far easier to keep dead voters on the rolls, fill out absentee requests for them and then have a flunky vote on their behalf. Since the county also issues death certificates, it's very easy to identify which names to vote by proxy in advance. As long as key folks in the operation (county clerks, election judges) are Democrat, it's easy. Nobody will notice a discrepency and the vote totals will add up properly. There are no embarassing spoiled ballots to serve as evidence.

You keep those names on the rolls as registered voters for a decade or more (they keep showing up as "voting" too) and you easily have 1,000 or more votes for your favorite Democrat. It also explains why the Democrats become so mortified any time Republicans mention cleaning up the voter rolls and accuse the Republicans or racism, etc.

But, in Palm Beach County, the flunky voted for the wrong guy and that's what doomed their hijack attempt.