Java Glossary : chad

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chad

The piece of cardboard poked out of a hole in a tabulator or voting punch card. When the hole is not cleanly poked out there are several classes of chad:

hanging chad: The chad is free at least at one corner. You can have 1, 2 or 3 corner hanging chad depending on how many corners are free.
pregnant chad: The chad is attached at all four corners, but is bulging out to let light in around the edges.
dimpled chad: The chad is attached at all four corners. No light shows through, but there is a clear indentation in the chad.

In Texas all three types of chad count as votes. In Florida, there is debate over whether a dimpled chad should count, and whether 1 corner hanging chad should count. One validation scheme considers dimpled ballots valid only if there are other dimples on the ballot for unrelated votes. It gets a bit crazily complicated. For example, rules have to define what to do if you find both a dimple and a hanging chad. You can almost forgive the Florida legislators for effectively only giving the guidance: "Use common sense, for Pete's sake!".

An undervote is where there is no punch for any candidate, or where machines could not detect such a vote, even though it may be apparent from hand observation. Machines usually require a completely clear hole to register properly.

An overvote is where the machine saw more than one vote, which, surprisingly, under certain conditions, may be considered valid.

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