PRINCETON, N.J.— Perhaps the only unchallenged result of the
Florida election has been a surge of interest in better voting
technology. The punch card, introduced for tabulating the 1890
census as the ultimate in electric-age objectivity, is now
revealed as an ambiguous lattice of wavering flaps. Former
Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford agreed last week to
serve as honorary chairmen of a National Commission on Federal
Election Reform. Senators Charles Schumer and Sam Brownback have
proposed spending $2.5 billion for equipment upgrades over five
years in matching grants to states and localities. Senators
Mitch McConnell and Robert G. Torricelli are sponsoring
legislation to provide $500 million in federal matching grants
in one year, and $100 million in each subsequent year,
indefinitely.  Senators McConnell and Torricelli also helped
arrange a trade show last week displaying the latest in voting
technology. Today's cutting-edge machines are ''direct recording
electronic'' devices that register votes wit