Systems and methods for providing security in a voting machine

• US 20040238632A1
• Filed: 03/30/2004
• Published: 12/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dominion Voting Systems Corporation
• Original Assignee: De La Rue PLC
• Inventors: Terwilliger, Paul David, Homewood, John Paul, Latour, Marc R., Keeling, Thomas E.
• Granted Patent: US 7,111,782 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/386
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 13/00 Voting apparatus

Abstract

The invention provides systems and methods for ensuring security for a voting machine. The voting machine can include a display screen upon which numerous election choices are displayed for selection by a voter. A detachable printer can also be provided that is adapted to be securely attached to the voting machine and that prints the choices selected among the election choices to a print medium to generate a printed audit trail. A summary of the election choices visible on the display screen can be simultaneously compared with the printed audit trail by the voter poised in a voting position.

Claims

1. A voting machine, comprising:

a display screen upon which a ballot having election choices is displayed; and

a printer coupled with the voting machine that records a voter'"'"'s selection from the election choices to a print medium to generate a printed audit trail,

wherein the voter'"'"'s selection and the printed audit trail can be viewed by the voter.

2. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the voter'"'"'s selection and the printed audit trail can be simultaneously viewed by the voter.

3. The voting machine according to claim 1, wherein once the voter has viewed the voter'"'"'s selection and the printed audit trail, the printed audit trail is hidden from the voter and archived within the printer.

4. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the printer is integral with the voting machine.

5. The voting machine as recited in claim 4, wherein the integral printer is accessed separately from the voting machine.

6. The voting machine recited in claim 1, wherein the printer is a separate device that is attached to the voting machine.

7. The voting machine as recited in claim 6, wherein an attachment of the printer to the voting machine includes security features that detect an unauthorized removal of the printer from the voting machine.

8. The voting machine as recited in claim 7, wherein the security features include at least one of locking mechanisms, tamper evident tape, alarms and electronic identification.

9. The voting machine as recited in claim 6, further comprising:

a radio frequency identification detector disposed on the voting machine; and

a radio frequency identification device disposed on the printer,

wherein the radio frequency identification detector on the voting machine detects the radio frequency identification device on the printer when the printer is attached to the voting machine to confirm an attachment of a correct printer to the voting machine.

10. The voting machine as recited in claim 9, wherein the voting machine is disabled unless radio frequency identification detector detects that the correct printer is attached to the voting machine.

11. The voting machine as recited in claim 6, wherein the voting machine is disabled unless the printer is attached to the voting machine.

12. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the printer is positioned behind the display screen.

13. The voting machine as recited in claim 12, wherein the display screen can selectively be made to be transparent so that the printed audit trail can be viewed through the display screen.

14. The voting machine as recited in claim 13, wherein, when the display screen is made transparent, the voter selections from the election choices remain visible so that the voter can compare the voter'"'"'s selections with the printed audit trail.

15. The voting machine as recited in claim 13, wherein the voter'"'"'s selections from the election choices are aligned to correspond to the recording of the voter'"'"'s selection from the election choices in the printed audit trail so that when the display screen is made transparent the voter'"'"'s selection from the election choices remain visible so that the voter can compare the voter selections with the printed audit trail.

16. The voting machine as recited in claim 13, wherein the display screen is made of at least one of an amorphous silicon, a non-reflective display and a single large cell LCD.

17. The voting machine as recited in claim 13, wherein only a portion of the display can be made transparent.

18. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the recording medium of the printer is stored on a reel-to-reel type paper feeding system.

19. The voting machine recited in claim 1, wherein the printer is at least one of a laser, ink jet and dot-matrix type printer.

20. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the recording medium of the printer includes a security feature that ensures that the printed audit trail is authentic.

21. The voting machine, as recited in claim 20, wherein the security feature is a security ink that is printed on the recording medium, the security ink including at least one of an infrared, ultraviolet and fluorescent ink.

22. The voting machine as recited in claim 20, wherein the security feature includes an invisible portion and a visible portion that is printed on the recording medium.

23. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

privacy shields disposed on the voting machine that restrict a visibility of the display screen and the printed audit trail only to the voter.

24. The voting machine as recited in claim 23, wherein the privacy shields are attached to the printer.

25. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the printer records a voter'"'"'s selection from the election choices to the print medium in a randomized order.

26. The voting machine as recited in claim 25, wherein a position of the printed audit trail can be detected by the printer, in order to print respective printed audit trails in a randomized order.

27. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the printer includes a tamper resistant holder for the recording medium on which is recorded printed audit trails, with access to the recording medium in the tamper resistant holder being restricted.

28. The voting machine as recited in claim 27, wherein the tamper resistant holder is a canister that is removable from the voting machine.

29. The voting machine as recited in claim 28, wherein the canister includes security features that restrict access to the recording medium contained therein.

30. The voting machine as recited in claim 27, wherein the security features include at least one of locking mechanisms, tamper evident tape, and alarms.

31. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the recording medium includes security features to ensure an authenticity of the printed audit trail.

32. The voting machine as recited in claim 31, wherein the security features of the recording medium include invisible data that is present on the recording medium.

33. The voting machine as recited in claim 31, wherein the security features of the recording medium are printed on the recording medium by the printer.

78. The method of operating a voting machine, as recited in claim 20, wherein the security feature is a security ink that is printed on the recording medium, the security ink including at least one of an infrared, ultraviolet and fluorescent ink.

79. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 20, wherein the security feature includes an invisible portion and a visible portion that is printed on the recording medium.

34. A voting machine, comprising:

a display that presents a ballot having election choices to a voter, receives a selection of the voter, and displays the selection of the voter;

a printer coupled to the voting machine that records the selection of the voter as a printed audit trail, and displays the printed audit trail so that it can be compared with the displayed selection of the voter on the display.

35. The voting machine as recited in claim 34, wherein the voter'"'"'s selection and the printed audit trail can be simultaneously viewed by the voter.

36. The voting machine according to claim 34, wherein once the voter has viewed the voter'"'"'s selection and the printed audit trail, the printed audit trail is hidden from the voter and stored within the printer.

37. The voting machine as recited in claim 34, wherein the printer is integral with the voting machine.

38. The voting machine as recited in claim 37, wherein the integral printer is accessed separately from the voting machine.

39. The voting machine recited in claim 34, wherein the printer is a separate device that is attached to the voting machine.

40. The voting machine as recited in claim 39, wherein an attachment of the printer to the voting machine includes security features that detect an unauthorized removal of the printer from the voting machine.

41. The voting machine as recited in claim 40, wherein the security features include at least one of locking mechanisms, tamper evident tape, alarms and electronic identification.

42. The voting machine as recited in claim 39, further comprising:

a radio frequency identification detector disposed on the voting machine; and

a radio frequency identification device disposed on the printer,

wherein the radio frequency identification detector on the voting machine detects the radio frequency identification device on the printer when the printer is attached to the voting machine to confirm an attachment of a correct printer to the voting machine.

43. The voting machine as recited in claim 42, wherein the voting machine is disabled unless radio frequency identification detector detects that the correct printer is attached to the voting machine.

44. The voting machine as recited in claim 39, wherein the voting machine is disabled unless the printer is attached to the voting machine.

45. The voting machine as recited in claim 34, wherein the printer is positioned behind the display screen.

46. The voting machine as recited in claim 45, wherein the display screen can selectively be made to be transparent so that the printed audit trail can be viewed through the display screen.

47. The voting machine as recited in claim 46, wherein, when the display screen is made transparent, the voter selections from the election choices remain visible so that the voter can compare the voter'"'"'s selections with the printed audit trail.

48. The voting machine as recited in claim 46, wherein the voter'"'"'s selections from the election choices are aligned to correspond to the recording of the voter'"'"'s selection from the election choices in the printed audit trail so that when the display screen is made transparent the voter'"'"'s selection from the election choices remain visible so that the voter can compare the voter selections with the printed audit trail.

49. The voting machine as recited in claim 46, wherein the display screen is made of at least one of an amorphous silicon, a non-reflective display and a single large cell LCD.

50. The voting machine as recited in claim 46, wherein only a portion of the display can be made transparent.

51. The voting machine as recited in claim 34, wherein the recording medium of the printer is stored on a reel-to-reel type paper feeding system.

52. The voting machine recited in claim 34, wherein the printer is at least one of a laser, ink jet and dot-matrix type printer.

53. The voting machine as recited in claim 34, wherein the recording medium of the printer includes a security feature that ensures that the printed audit trail is authentic.

54. The voting machine, as recited in claim 53, wherein the security feature is a security ink that is printed on the recording medium, the security ink including at least one of an infrared, ultraviolet and fluorescent ink.

55. The voting machine as recited in claim 53, wherein the security feature includes an invisible portion and a visible portion that is printed on the recording medium.

56. The voting machine as recited in claim 34, further comprising:

privacy shields disposed on the voting machine that restrict a visibility of the display screen and the printed audit trail only to the voter.

57. The voting machine as recited in claim 56, wherein the privacy shields are attached to the printer.

58. The voting machine as recited in claim 34, wherein the printer records a voter'"'"'s selection from the election choices to the print medium in a randomized order.

59. The voting machine as recited in claim 58, wherein a position of the printed audit trail can be detected by the printer, in order to print respective printed audit trails in a randomized order.

60. The voting machine as recited in claim 34, wherein the printer includes a tamper resistant holder for the recording medium on which is recorded printed audit trails, with access to the recording medium in the tamper resistant holder being restricted.

61. The voting machine as recited in claim 60, wherein the tamper resistant holder is a canister that is removable from the voting machine.

62. The voting machine as recited in claim 61, wherein the canister includes security features that restrict access to the recording medium contained therein.

63. The voting machine as recited in claim 60, wherein the security features include at least one of locking mechanisms, tamper evident tape, and alarms.

64. The voting machine as recited in claim 34, wherein the recording medium includes security features to ensure an authenticity of the printed audit trail.

65. The voting machine as recited in claim 64, wherein the security features of the recording medium include invisible data that is present on the recording medium.

66. The voting machine as recited in claim 64, wherein the security features of the recording medium are printed on the recording medium by the printer.

67. A method of operating a voting machine, comprising:

displaying a ballot having election choices to a voter;

receiving a selection from the voter;

displaying the selection of the voter;

printing a record of the selection of the voter onto a recording medium as a printed audit trail; and

displaying the printed audit trail so that the printed audit trail can be compared with the displayed selection of the voter.

68. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 67, wherein the printed audit trail and the voter'"'"'s selection are be simultaneously displayed to the voter.

69. The method of operating a voting machine according to claim 67, wherein once the voter has viewed the voter'"'"'s selection and the printed audit trail, the method further includes hiding the printed audit trail from a next voter and storing the printed audit trail within the printer.

70. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 67, further comprising detecting a radio frequency identification device disposed on the printer with a radio frequency identification detector disposed on the voting machine when the printer is attached to the voting machine to confirm an attachment of a correct printer to the voting machine.

71. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 70, further comprising disabling the voting machine unless the radio frequency identification detector detects that the correct printer is attached to the voting machine.

72. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 67, wherein the printer is positioned behind a display screen.

73. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 72, further comprising selectively making the display screen transparent so that the printed audit trail can be viewed through the display screen.

74. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 73, wherein, when the display screen is made transparent, the voter selections from the election choices remain visible so that the voter can compare the voter'"'"'s selections with the printed audit trail.

75. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 73, wherein the voter'"'"'s selections from the election choices are aligned to correspond to the recording of the voter'"'"'s selection from the election choices in the printed audit trail so that when the display screen is made transparent the voter'"'"'s selection from the election choices remain visible so that the voter can compare the voter selections with the printed audit trail.

76. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 73, wherein only a portion of the display can be made transparent.

77. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 67, wherein the recording medium of the printer includes a security feature that ensures that the printed audit trail is authentic.

80. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 67, further comprising:

privacy shields disposed on the voting machine that restrict a visibility of the display screen and the printed audit trail only to the voter.

81. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 80, wherein the privacy shields are attached to the printer.

82. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 67, wherein the printer records a voter'"'"'s selection from the election choices to the print medium in a randomized order.

83. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 82, wherein a position of the printed audit trail can be detected by the printer, in order to print respective printed audit trails in a randomized order.

84. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 67, wherein the printer includes a tamper resistant holder for the recording medium on which is recorded printed audit trails, with access to the recording medium in the tamper resistant holder being restricted.

85. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 84, wherein the security features include at least one of locking mechanisms, tamper evident tape, and alarms.

86. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 67, wherein the recording medium includes security features to ensure an authenticity of the printed audit trail.

87. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 86, wherein the security features of the recording medium include invisible data that is present on the recording medium.

88. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 86, wherein the security features of the recording medium are printed on the recording medium by the printer.