Apparatus and method for providing collaborative voting while maintaining anonymity of individual voters
First Claim
1. A method of collaborative voting, comprising:
- receiving a request for voter voting information;
providing the requested voter voting information in an anonymous manner such that the identities of individual voters are not disclosed; and
receiving a vote based on the voter voting information.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and a method for collaborative voting that maintains anonymity of the voters are provided. With the apparatus and method, information regarding voters is compiled into a database and used to generate one or more interfaces through which another voter or potential voter may be informed of the voting patterns of other voters. Through the apparatus and method, the voter or potential voter may select a subject, an individual voter, one or more groups of voters, a geographical voter area, voting information for various times, and the like. In response to such a selection, voting information for the corresponding selection is provided to the voter. In addition, the apparatus and method may provide an interface through which a voter may enter a comment or the like. The entered comments may then be viewed by other voters or potential voters when the submitter of the comment is selected or is part of a group of voters falling within a category selected by a voter or potential voter. As a further feature of the present invention, the voter'"'"'s vote may be held in a non-final state during a predetermined period. During this predetermined period, the voter may view the voting information described above and either decide to change his/her vote or leave his/her vote as it was entered.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1. A method of collaborative voting, comprising:
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receiving a request for voter voting information;
providing the requested voter voting information in an anonymous manner such that the identities of individual voters are not disclosed; and
receiving a vote based on the voter voting information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for providing collaborative voting, comprising:
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first instructions for receiving a request for voter voting information;
second instructions for providing the requested voter voting information in an anonymous manner such that the identities of individual voters are not disclosed; and
third instructions for receiving a vote based on the voter voting information. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40)
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38. The computer program product of 21, wherein the voter voting information includes information regarding non-final votes and permanent votes cast by voters, and wherein the second instructions for providing the voter voting information include instructions for providing non-final votes in a format different from permanent votes.
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41. An apparatus for providing collaborative voting, comprising:
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means for receiving a request for voter voting information;
means for providing the requested voter voting information in an anonymous manner such that the identities of individual voters are not disclosed; and
means for receiving a vote based on the voter voting information.
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42. A method for providing collaborative voting, comprising:
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a first interface through which a selection of one or more voter characteristics is received, wherein a search of voter voting information is performed based on the selection of one or more voter characteristics; and
a second interface through which results of the search of voter voting information are provided in an anonymous manner such that the identities of individual voters are not disclosed. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification