Precisely, but it’s the sinister kind of synecdoche that leads to concepts being fused together in one head, and leads to people thinking the problem is one thing when it’s another.
It also doesn’t really make sense in the context of the article. “The touch screens failed, but the backups had the correct vote.” They’re thinking the “touch screen (computer)” as one thing, and the “paper backup” as another, ignoring the fact that one produces the other. It’s the kind of error you make when the synecdoche has messed up your brain. Yes you know the computer makes the backup, but you’re calling it a “touch screen,” and you also know that touch screens have their own specific problems like calibration, so since you’ve called it a touch screen you think it’s a touch screen problem.
