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Trackers aren't that accurate.
Exactly.
A tracker updating every 5 minutes might show someone taking a slightly different route for 200m or so, but they might have realised part way through (when the tracker did its ping), backtracked and then followed the correct route. But this may not be visible from the coarse tracker points. Cue the Internet pitchfork army. Sure they are plenty of true positives of deviations, but you can't rule out a few false positives just from tracker data.
People with large update intervals (i.e. 30 minutes) will have a much greater chance of 'getting away' with small deviations as the window of opportunity for a ping whilst off route is much smaller.
Much better to have the ability to apply discretion then ruthlessly enforce DQing anyone for even the most minor deviation. The latter will just lead to people gaming the system and accidentally turning off their tracker before taking a short cut, etc.
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Greenbank
Trackers aren't that accurate. Some races require full gps recording on completing to verify route completion (like the Highland Trail 550). This means there is no question. But that also assumes the organisers are happy for scan over thousands of miles of gpx files.
I know it's very different to a DIY route type race like TCR, and therefore I don't think they should be compared. It's pretty simple, if you miss a turn, go back to that turn and ride the entire route. If you ride a long way before noticing, you should pay attention more!