...It should be noted that the residual vote tally is incapable of differentiating between a voter who deliberately or accidentally did not make a selection on the recall question, and an equipment failure (such as hanging chad) that could result in a cast vote not being counted.

It had already been established in polls that they expected many people to answer the recall question and ignore the replacement governor question. And a LOT of people didn't know squat about the propositions, especially 53. It is not uncommon at all to simply not vote on some questions. I do it all the time, when one of the votes is on something like the library board or something. If I have not properly studied a minor local election, I figure it's better to leave it blank than pick someone at random.

In other words, this is much ado about nothing.

The point about switching to computerized voting is a valid one. I don't like the idea much either, especially systems with no paper trail.

I think the entire idea that standard voting techniques like punchcards are too complicated for Democrats is ridiculous. I myself have seen several Democrats successfully use punchcards without sitting down in the booth and weeping in frustration, or accidentally punching holes in themselves.