How can you tell these punch cards generally did not use the binary system to store data?

Punch cards typically used a decimal or other non-binary encoding system, as evidenced by the presence of multiple holes or positions representing different values rather than just two states (0 and 1). Each column could represent a digit or character rather than a binary bit, allowing for a more compact representation of numerical data. Furthermore, the design of punch cards often facilitated human readability, aligning with decimal systems rather than the binary logic inherent in modern computing.