CHAD

chad. The small bit of precut paper that is attached to a punch-card ballot by several points and punched out by a voter to cast a vote. • Because most punch-card ballots are machine-read, the chad must be completely separated from the ballot for the vote to be counted. The results of the closely contested 2000 presidential election were delayed for several weeks because more than 40,000 ballots with partially attached chads had to be hand-counted. dimpled chad.A chad that is bulging but not pierced, with all its points attached to the ballot. — Sometimes termed pregnant chad. hanging chad.A chad that is attached to the ballot by a single point. pregnant chad.See dimpled chad. swinging-door chad.A chad that is attached to the ballot by two points. tri-chad. A chad that is attached to the ballot by three points. [Blacks Law 8th]