Method and system for transparent and secure vote tabulation

• US 20060186202A1
• Filed: 06/02/2005
• Published: 08/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert William Donner
• Original Assignee: Robert William Donner
• Inventors: Donner, Robert William
• Granted Patent: US 7,464,874 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/386
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 13/00 Voting apparatus

Abstract

A system and method to improve the transparency and security of an election are provided. In a first version, a tabulation system includes a paper ballot reader. The ballot reader informs a computational engine of the tabulation system in a digital data format of an informational pattern detected on each paper ballot. The computational engine processes the information provided by the ballot reader in accordance with a system software and in light of instruction and data inputs. The system software and a history of the tabulation system operations are provided as public rectory. The history may include the ballot reader output, computational activity of the tabulation system, computational results of the tabulation system, and instruction and data inputs.

Claims

1. A transparent tabulation system, the system comprising:

a. a computational engine, the engine comprising a CPU, a memory, an input module and an output module, the computational engine processing data and instructions received from the input module in accordance with a system software stored at least partially in the memory, and the computational engine providing results of CPU processing to the output module; and

b. a monitor, the monitor communicatively coupled with the computational engine and reading the activity of the computational engine, and the monitor communicating a history of the computational activity of the computational engine for storage as a public record.

2. The system of claim 1, whereby the system is communicatively coupled with a webserver, whereby the history is made accessible as a public record via a website.

3. The system of claim 1, the system further comprising a link to a telephone network, the link communicatively coupling the system with the telephone network, whereby the history is communicated to the website via the link and the telephone network.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the further comprises a wireless transmitter communicatively coupled with the monitor whereby the history of computational activity is transmitted via a wireless communications mode.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the computational system further comprises a media reader communicatively coupled with the CPU, wherein the media reader translates information read from a medium into digital data and transmits the digital data to the CPU.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the medium stores software code comprising information content selected from the group consisting of encrypted data, an encrypted message header, biometric data, and biometric based encrypted data and media reader is configured to translate information stored on a medium selected from the group consisting of paper ballots, printed media, paper tape, digital media, audio data media, and video data storage devices.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the monitor comprises a wireless transmitter, whereby the history of computational activity is transmitted via a wireless communications mode.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the media reader is a vote ballot reader.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the monitor comprises a wireless transmitter, whereby the history of activity are transmitted via a wireless communications mode.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the media reader is configured to translate information stored on a medium selected from the group consisting of paper ballots, printed media, paper tape, digital media, audio data media, and video data storage devices.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the medium stores software code comprising information content selected from the group consisting of encrypted data, an encrypted message header, biometric data, and biometric based encrypted data.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the computational engine computes a checksum for an element of the computational activity history, and the checksum is communicated via the monitor as a public record.

13. The system of claim 4, wherein the wireless transmitter has multi-channel capability.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the wireless transmitter is configured with auto-selection capability of a communications channel by the monitor from a plurality of communications channels.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the wireless transmitter is configured to enable user selection of a communications channel from a plurality of communications channels.

16. A method of vote tabulation monitoring, the method comprising

a. Receiving a plurality of ballots from voters with vote selections indicated;

b. Tabulating the vote selections indicated by each of the plurality of ballots with a computational tabulation system; and

c. Providing a history of the activity of the computational vote tabulation system in tabulating the ballots, “

history”

, as a public record.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the method further comprising generating a plurality of unique session records, each unique session record associated with an individual ballot.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein at least one unique session record is further associated with a unique serial number.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein at least one unique session record is further associated with a time date stamp.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein at least one ballot is marked for association with a unique session record.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the history is provided in an encrypted form.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the history is encrypted at least partially on the basis of a personality file of a selected election.

23. A method of improving confidence in the legitimacy of an election, the method comprising providing as public record a history of each of a plurality of automated vote tabulators, the history comprising a substantially complete copy of a system software of each vote tabulator, substantially all data and information input and output of each vote tabulator instantiated during the vote counting, a record of the substantive computational activity of each vote tabulator instantiated during the vote counting, and a computational result of the vote processing of each vote tabulator.