An interesting anonymous e-mail:
 

>  Within the political machine of Jackson County lies
> a dirty little secret that no one ever wants to talk
> about.  What is it?  That ballot tampering is alive
> and well, and may perhaps come into play on April
> 4th.
>    
>   The Proof is Out There
>    
>   How can one prove that ballot tampering has
> occurred?  More on that in a moment.  
>    
>   First, some background.
>    
>   The Kansas City portion of Jackson County still
> uses punch card ballots.  While most other election
> boards in Missouri have long ago made the switch to
> more accurate systems, the April 4th election in
> Jackson County will be the last such election to use
> this outdated system.  In Florida in the year 2000,
> there was an outcry for better systems after heavy
> Democratic precincts found their many of their
> ballots cast were difficult to count. 
>    
>   Why hasn’t a similar outcry been made in the heavy
> Democratic areas of Kansas City?
>    
>   Quite simply, because punch card ballots are easy
> to tamper with and most likely, certain powerful
> political insiders, like it that way.
>    
>   How to Tamper with a Punch Card Ballot
>    
>   In the punch card system, if a person punches two
> holes on the same question or office, the vote is
> not counted and the ballot is labeled as a
> “discard.”  You can only punch one hole per election
> item.
>    
>   Now, say a person has a stack of ballots cast,
> that have yet to be counted and let’s say they want
> person A to win over person B.  By using a long
> stick pin or other similar device, the tamperer
> would run the pin through the stack right where the
> hole for person A would be punched.  Any ballot that
> had already been marked for person A would be
> unaffected, but any ballot that had been marked for
> person B would now have two holes punched, making
> the ballot now a “discard.”
>    
>   Obviously, a tamperer wouldn’t do this to all of a
> precinct’s ballots, that would raise obvious
> suspicion, but a few ballots here, a few ballot
> there, who will notice, right?
>    
>   The Devil is in the Data
>    
>   Let’s draw this to a close.  Tampering evidence
> can be found by looking for precincts that have an
> abnormally high rate of “discards”.  For example,
> let’s say 19 out of 20 precincts have a 1% rate of
> discards, but for some reason, the remaining
> precinct has a 3% rate of discards.  This would be
> statistical evidence of tampering, since all
> precincts are using the exact same equipment and
> procedures.
>    
>   This evidence exists in the data from previous
> Kansas City, Jackson County elections.  Certain
> precincts consistently report abnormally high rates
> of discards.
>    
>   Will tampering come into play on April 4th?  
>    
>   What do you think?
>    
>   Why are there more people registered to vote than
> there are people of voting age living in Jackson
> County?