According to a national county-by-county survey by the nonpartisan, nonadvocacy think tank electionline.org, only Utah and Ohio will make most voters statewide punch the infamous paper chads to register their choice for president Nov. 2.

"What happened in 2000 might never be repeated again, but some of the ingredients that produced the chaos four years ago still exist," said study director Doug Chapin. "Just look at the pre-election lawsuits, the punch-card machines still in use in scattered places around the country and the anticipated nail-biter outcome."

The punch-card technology is the standard this election for all but Utah's most rural counties, where hand-marked paper and optically scanned ballots will be used.

"The conventional wisdom, at least on the national average, is that these old machines are concentrated in poor areas with many seniors on fixed incomes and many minorities," said Brigham Young University economics professor Phillip Garner, who recently published a study on voting systems across the nation. "It turns out to be the opposite."

The reason, Garner and fellow researchers at Brown University say, is that richer counties upgraded ballot box technology 30 to 40 years ago when punch-cards were new, while poorer counties held on to paper ballots longer. When they could finally afford to upgrade, poorer counties were able to leapfrog richer counties by buying the newer optically scanned systems or e-voting machines.

An analysis by Election Data Services found that only 12 percent of voters in the country will use punch-card machines this election, although 74 percent of voters will use the same type of voting equipment they cast ballots on during the disputed 2000 election.

Since Utah's 1.1 million registered voters are overwhelmingly Republican, the state's widespread use of the problematic voting technology has not attracted national attention as it has in the critical swing state of Ohio, where the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups recently sued to stop the use of punch-cards, arguing it is an unequal system of voting.

Citing concerns over security and legal questions, Utah election officials decided in late April not to proceed with purchasing touch-screen voting machines until after the 2004 election.

Currently, the State Elections Office plans a statewide purchase of electronic machines later this year or in early 2005, with full implementation in 2006.

Utah election officials, however, are among the first in the nation to forge ahead with one new electronic voting initiative: allowing military personnel stationed in "hostile fire zones" or other places where mail service is unreliable to e-mail their ballots.

Chapin said there are unresolved questions over the security of such military e-mail voting and whether it will play a factor in swing states.

"Utah is trying this and you may see more of it by other states, but I wouldn't be surprised if that becomes an item of controversy," said Chapin.