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What is a Hanging Chad?

G. Wiesen
G. Wiesen

A hanging chad refers to a small piece of paper intended to be punched from a larger sheet of paper, but still remaining attached. The term came into general public discourse during the 2000 United States (US) presidential election when unusually close voting numbers resulted in a hand recount of thousands of ballots in Florida. During this time, there was a great deal of discussion regarding the eligibility of ballots that had a hanging chad instead of a cleanly punched hole, to indicate the voter’s choice of candidate. The term has remained in popular usage, especially among political commentators and figures within popular culture.

The 2000 US election featured a hotly debated contest between then Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush. On the night of the election, the state of Florida became the center of national attention, as exit polling indicated that Gore had won in Florida and these results were stated by several television networks. Several hours later, however, more votes were tallied and the initial prediction was retracted and changed to “too close to call” by the television broadcasts.

Hanging chads were associated with the 2000 U.S. presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
Hanging chads were associated with the 2000 U.S. presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

A few hours after that, the state was declared to have gone to Bush and he was named the next president-elect by several stations. This was before some of the more prominently pro-Gore districts had been tallied, however, and the results were eventually found to be so close that a hand recount was required by law before a final result could be given. Though the recount eventually ended under a storm of controversy, the process introduced the general public to the hanging chad and shone a new light on American politics.

Florida was the focus of a hanging chad controversy in the 2000 election.
Florida was the focus of a hanging chad controversy in the 2000 election.

During this recount process, the methods used to vote on ballots in Florida were brought into the national spotlight, and the hanging chad came into the group consciousness of the US. The method used to indicate a chosen candidate on the Florida ballots involved pressing a metal piece through the paper ballot to punch out a hole for the preferred candidate. In many cases, this was done cleanly and the desired candidate was obvious to even a casual observer.

Other ballots, however, were not as easily tallied and these became the source of much debate, frustration and controversy. In situations where the chad, the small piece of paper punched out by a voter, was not cleanly separated from the ballot, the result was referred to as a hanging chad. For a four-cornered chad, the term is usually used only in situations where a single corner is still attached to the paper. As the process made national headlines, however, the phrase was used commonly and the hanging chad became synonymous both with the actual paper pieces themselves and with a sense of the general breakdown of election procedures.

Discussion Comments

anon926926

@Glasis: The individual states generally choose their own voting methods based on a number of reasons, some of which are political and some are financial. Replacing voting machines across the entire state and educating the public on how to use the new ones can be very expensive and very controversial. The situation in Florida partially happened because a lot of older voters in one particular county apparently thought they were voting for one candidate (Al Gore), but the hole punch actually led to a vote for Pat Buchanan. Some people didn't push hard enough on the ballot to mark a clear vote for any candidate.

There were also claims of improper voting in Ohio. The company that made the voting machines, Diebold, also supported Republican candidates during the campaign season. When the votes were tallied, the Republican candidates won by a considerable margin, even though a lot of voters said they voted for the Democratic or third party candidates. The electronic vote counters inside the machines may have had bad or altered programming. Tests with similar machines showed that a number of votes for one fake candidate actually read as votes for the other fake candidate or as no vote at all.

Glasis

The controversy that resulted from the hanging chad fiasco in Florida leaves no doubt that the United States really needs to adopt one, universal type of ballot and voting machine for each polling place.

Why do we still have a hodgepodge of paper and electric ballots, punch ballots, pencil-marked ballots, touch screen machines and lever machines?

Claims of ballot tampering will never die if this problem is not addressed.

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    • Hanging chads were associated with the 2000 U.S. presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
      By: elnavegante
      Hanging chads were associated with the 2000 U.S. presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
    • Florida was the focus of a hanging chad controversy in the 2000 election.
      By: SeanPavonePhoto
      Florida was the focus of a hanging chad controversy in the 2000 election.