Can someone please explain how the turn signal switch contacts are susposed to work?

It seems like the brass contacts in the moving block should make contact with the brass pins in the base plate which has the wires attached to it but the balls which are between the contact and base plate are large enough that only one end of the brass contact can touch at a time.

What is the purpose of the balls? It seems like it would work better without them.

After writing the above I dedided that the switch can not possibly work with the ball in there so I took them out and Volia, brake light and turns signals work!

I can't understand how they got in there in the first place but could someone please confirm that they don't belong?