>what I saw depicted was a classic 1950's punch card, no human can punch THAT !
>
>obvioulsy a machine with blades is used, and a nick on one of the 4 edges would result in a partial cut, or dangling chad !
>
>SO, was there a difference in the hole punchers ( and BTW, I tend to agree that the human punchers were damaged, how else to explain the two candidates ! ?)

I've used this type of ballot procedure, and there is no difference between the "punchers." It is a small metal stylus that is used to push down through the hole and, hopefully, the underlying ballot.