Shall I compare thee to a hanging chad?

[forwarded to me by Tim Perfect, 28 Nov 2000: "It was sent to me by an actor fri[e]nd living in NYC. Author Unknown."]

Shall I compare thee to a hanging chad?
Thou art more stable, and thou meaneth more.
A paper square brings news both good and bad
when knocked off cards, or picked up off the floor.
Sometimes too weak the hanging chad is hung,
and often are the corners frayed and torn.
Thus hanging chads are votes that have been sung.
A pregnant chad? A vote that died unborn.
Yet shall this verdant land be ruled by dots
of paper that are easily misread?
The presidency is not drawn by lots,
but by the wishes of the folk, instead.

If counting votes by hand is all we had,
my stomach's fit to burst with eaten chad.


28 Nov. 2000 -- first posted here

See Also: 

Florida Election 2000 Humor

08 Nov 2000; by Dennis G. Jerz
Florida Electoral Votes in 2000- Why Usability Testing Matters
The 2000 U.S. Presidential race was so close that some Democratic Party officials think a hard-to-use Florida ballot may have unfairly decided the presidency.