That tells the machine how to function.

There are several drawbacks If you want to go back to a hole punch card.

First, it's going to be days for the results of the election to be finalized.

Second, every hole punch that isn't perfectly between the lines is going to be contested, similar to what happened in Florida in 2000. Recounts that last for weeks will become the norm.

Third, President Obama himself stood by the integrity of our election system. The system is too decentralized, too complex, and based on a myriad of different technologies.

If a company of expert hackers the size of Microsoft focused on compromising the entire system, they couldn't do it credibly without leaving a zillion easily indentifiable signs that the system was compromised. That's not even taking into account the hundreds of hackers that would record everything and publish it on 4chan or Reddit almost immediately.

One guy could probably compromise one machine, given time, risk, and effort. But doing that to all 30 machines at the precinct I voted in just last week in Georgia is simply not possible. Not without drawing a significant amount of attention to yourself, getting caught, and having your face on national tv. And doing that across all precincts is impossible.