How punchcard voting is supposed to work

The 2000 presidential election fiasco in Florida introduced the term “hanging chad” to the world. The dueling certainties thrown about by pundits, partisans, and the press reflected little or no understanding of how punchcard voting devices actually work and why anomolies happen. Having once worked in the election field, I put together this pair of illustrations to show how the system is supposed to work and what can go wrong.