Chad (according to wikipedia) refers to paper
fragments created when holes are made in a paper, card or similar
synthetic materials, typically computer punched tape or punch
cards. Sometimes chad has been used as a mass noun or as a
countable noun, and the plural is commonly either "chad" (as in "a
pile of chad") or "chads" (as in "the multiple hanging chads").
Chad were made infamous in the highly contentious 2000 United
States presidential election where many of Florida votes used
Votomatic punch card ballots. Incompletely-punched holes resulted
in partially-punched chad, where one or more corners were still
attached, a hanging chad, dimpled chad or pregnant chad - where all
corners were still attached, but an indentation appears to have
been made. These votes were not counted by the tabulating machines.
When a chad is not fully detached from the ballot it is described
byvarious terms corresponding to the level of indentation. The
following terms generally apply when describing a four-cornered
chad:
- Hanging chad are attached to the ballot at only one
corner.
- Swinging chad are attached to the ballot at two corners.
- Tri-chad are attached to the ballot at three corners.
- Pregnant or dimpled chad are attached to the ballot at all four
corners, but bear an indentation indicating the voter may have
intended to mark the ballot. (Sometimes pregnant is used to
indicate a greater mark than dimpled.)
Chadd refers to a formally un-employed neophyte
cacher who in a few short months managed to place over 349 caches
and find over 1100, truly a testament to his determination and of a
rotten economy.
Katherine Harris (born April 5, 1957, Key West,
Florida) is an American Republican politician, former Secretary of
State of Florida, and former member of the United States House of
Representatives. Harris won the 2002 election to represent
Florida's 13th congressional district in the U.S. House of
Representatives. She held that post from 2003 to
2007. Harris lost the November 7, 2006, election to represent
Florida
in the United States Senate. Harris rose to national attention due
to her controversial role as Secretary of State of Florida in the
2000 presidential election.
As Secretary of State for the State of Florida, Harris was a
central figure in the 2000 US presidential election in Florida.
Harris certified that the Republican candidate, then-Texas Governor
George W. Bush, had defeated the Democratic candidate, then-Vice
President Al Gore, in the popular vote of Florida and thus
certified the Republican slate of electors. The margin separating
Bush from Gore was 537 votes. Harris ordered a halt after several
recounts. Her ruling was challenged, and she prevailed in the first
court of jurisdiction, and then overturned on appeal by the Florida
Supreme Court. That decision was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court
in Bush v. Gore. In a per curiam decision, by a 7–2 vote, the
Court in Bush v. Gore held that the Florida Supreme Court's method
for recounting ballots was a violation of the Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. By a 5–4 vote, the Court
held that no alternative method could be established
within the time limits set by the State of Florida. Three of the
concurring justices also asserted that the Florida Supreme Court
had violated Article II, § 1, cl. 2 of the Constitution, by
misinterpreting Florida election law that had been enacted by the
Florida Legislature. The decision allowed Florida Secretary of
State Katherine Harris's previous certification of George W. Bush
as the winner of Florida's electoral votes to stand. Florida's 25
electoral votes gave Bush, the Republican candidate, 271 electoral
votes, defeating Democratic candidate Al Gore, who ended up with
266 electoral votes (with one D.C. elector abstaining).
Harris later wrote Center of the Storm, her own memoir of the
2000 election controversy.