Editing Voting machine (section)

===Punched card voting===
[[Image:Votomatic.jpg|thumb|right|The Votomatic vote recorder, a punched card voting machine originally developed in the mid-1960s.]]
[[Punched card]] systems employ a card (or cards) and a small clipboard-sized device for recording votes. Voters punch holes in the cards with a [[ballot marking device]].  Typical ballot marking devices carry a ballot label that identifies the candidates or issues associated with each punching position on the card, although in some cases, the names and issues are printed directly on the card. After voting, the voter may place the ballot in a ballot box, or the ballot may be fed into a computer vote tabulating device at the precinct.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

The idea of voting by punching holes on paper or cards originated in the 1890s<ref>Kennedy Dougan, ''Ballot-Holder'', {{US patent|440545|U.S. Patent 440,545}}, November 11, 1890.</ref> and inventors continued to explore this in the years that followed.
By the late 1890s [[John McTammany|John McTammany's]] voting machine was used widely in several states.  In this machine, votes were recorded by punching holes in a roll of paper comparable to those used in [[player piano]]s, and then tabulated after the polls closed using a [[pneumatic]] mechanism.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

Punched-card voting was proposed occasionally in the mid-20th century,<ref>Fred M. Carroll (IBM), ''Voting Machine'', {{US patent|2195848|U.S. Patent 2,195,848}}, April 2, 1940.</ref>  but the first major success for punched-card voting came in 1965, with Joseph P. Harris' development of the Votomatic punched-card system.<ref>Joseph P. Harris, ''Data Registering Device'', {{US patent|3201038|U.S. Patent 3,201,038}}, August 17, 1965.</ref><ref>Joseph P. Harris, ''Data Registering Device'', {{US patent|3240409|U.S. Patent 3,240,409}}, March 15, 1966.</ref><ref>Harris, Joseph P. (1980) [http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/Vote/ ''Professor and Practitioner: Government, Election Reform, and the Votomatic''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524191313/http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/Vote/ |date=May 24, 2013 }}, Bancroft Library</ref>  This was based on IBM's [[Punched card#IBM Port-A-Punch|Port-A-Punch]] technology.  Harris licensed the Votomatic to IBM.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/supplies/supplies_5404PH12.html |title=IBM Archive: Votomatic |access-date=May 18, 2009 |archive-date=July 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720232456/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/supplies/supplies_5404PH12.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> William Rouverol built the prototype system.

The Votomatic system<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.verifiedvoting.org/resources/voting-equipment/ess/votamatic/|title=Votomatic|publisher=Verified Voting Foundation|access-date=May 30, 2015|archive-date=May 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530094904/https://www.verifiedvoting.org/resources/voting-equipment/ess/votamatic/|url-status=dead}}</ref> was very successful and widely distributed. By the 1996 Presidential election, some variation of the punched card system was used by 37.3% of registered voters in the United States.<ref>"[http://www.fec.gov/pages/punchrd.htm Punchcards, a definition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927213200/http://www.fec.gov/pages/punchrd.htm |date=2006-09-27 }}". ''[[Federal Election Commission]]''</ref>

Votomatic style systems and punched cards received considerable notoriety in 2000 when their uneven use in Florida was alleged to have [[Electronic voting#Florida, punched cards, and the 2000 presidential election|affected the outcome of the U.S. presidential election]]. The [[Help America Vote Act]] of 2002 "effectively banned pre-scored punched card ballots."<ref name="Verified Voting">{{cite web |url=https://verifiedvoting.org/election-system/ess-votomatic/ |title=Election Systems & Software |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=Verified Voting |publisher=Verified Voting Foundation |access-date=January 30, 2022 |archive-date=January 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130063200/https://verifiedvoting.org/election-system/ess-votomatic/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Votomatics were "last used in 2 counties in Idaho in the [[2014 United States elections|2014 General Election]]".<ref name="Verified Voting" />