Every voting machine has an algorithm. Every single one.
Why does a tabulation machine need a set of instructions, and you ignore the follow on to what an algorithm does....."In essence, algorithms are simply a series of instructions that are followed, step by step, to do something useful or
solve a problem. You could consider a cake recipe an algorithm for making a cake, for example."
So, what problem needs to be solved in a tabulation machine? Hmmmmm, "how to change one vote for X, into a vote for Y" seems to be the operative problem that the democrats needed to fix.