In Florida two years ago, counties had different standards for deciding whether to count punch-card ballots with so-called hanging chads.

The punch-card ballots, with their dimpled and hanging chads, are no longer an issue, since the state passed a law banning their use.

In 2004, the punch-card ballots were still widely used in some states.

Los Angeles County, for example, can handle 225 names on its punch-card ballots.

Texas election law, as it happens, provides for recounting punch-card ballots by hand.

But Democrats said that canvass was not sufficient, and demanded a manual recount of the punch-card ballots in four counties.

On that interpretation, punch-card ballots for which the machines cannot register a vote are not "legal" votes.

If the vote goes ahead as scheduled, using defective punch-card ballots in some areas, tens of thousands of votes will not be counted.

California still makes voters in six counties, 44 percent of the electorate, use punch-card ballots.

The main difficulty with the punch-card ballot was not mechanical but the failure of many voters, regardless of their race, to follow straightforward instructions.