Asserting the paramount importance of an accurate vote count, the court cited with approval the words of the Illinois court: "Voters should not be disfranchised where their intent may be ascertained with reasonable certainty, simply because the chad they punched did not completely dislodge from the ballot," the justices ruled.

If a voter does not completely dislodge a chad, the tabulating equipment often does not count a vote that a voter intended to cast.

The Battle of Hill 60 lasted for eight days and while the summit of the hill was eventually reached, the Allies were unable to completely dislodge the sacrificially fighting Ottoman defenders.

In Rotterdam, though reinforced by an infantry regiment, the Dutch failed to completely dislodge the German airborne troops from their bridgehead on the northern bank of the Maas.

But Gore aides were gratified to find that the court quoted from an Illinois Supreme Court opinion that "voters should not be disfranchised where their intent may be ascertained with reasonable certainty, simply because the chad they punched did not completely dislodge from the ballot."

Mr. Fridson said he is not optimistic that this gathering body of evidence will completely dislodge the "time bomb" belief.

In recent years, NATO and Afghan troops have led many offensives against the Taliban, but proved unable to completely dislodge their presence.

He concluded that Hezbollah had suffered heavy losses, and that a cease-fire came into effect before Israel could completely dislodge Hezbollah from its positions.

Losses among the victors were not merely high, they were astronom- ical, and the remnants of the broken Masalurian army were still fighting guerrilla actions in the hills and might take weeks or even months to completely dislodge.

These voters should not be disfranchised where their intent may be ascertained with reasonable certainty, simply because the chad they punched did not completely dislodge from the ballot.