> punchcard error that leaves a man officially dead
This sounds similar to the Terry Gilliam film _Brazil_.
"When a fly gets jammed in a printer and results in the incarceration and accidental death during interrogation of cobbler Archibald Buttle – instead of renegade air conditioning specialist and suspected terrorist Archibald Tuttle – Sam is assigned the task of rectifying the error."
Quoting from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_(1985_film)
"Nobody Starves" by Ron Goulart
There's another absolute classic in this line, about a punchcard error that leaves a man officially dead...but I can't quite recall its name.