ELECTRONIC VOTING METHOD AND SYSTEM EMPLOYING A MACHINE READABLE BALLOT ENVELOPE
First Claim
1. A method for reading paper ballots wherein each paper ballot is enclosed in a ballot envelope having a machine-readable envelope identifier and voter information including a signature thereon, wherein each paper ballot is markable for marking voting selections thereon, said method comprising:
- reading each ballot envelope including reading at least the machine readable envelope identifier and signature thereon;
decoding the machine readable envelope identifier read from each ballot envelope;
displaying at least the decoded envelope identifier and signature read from each ballot envelope for determining from the envelope identifier, the signature, or the envelope identifier and the signature, whether the ballot is a valid ballot; and
if the ballot is determined to be a valid ballot, removing the paper ballot determined to be a valid ballot from its ballot envelope, and then performing the following steps on each paper ballot determined to be a valid ballot;
reading each paper ballot;
selecting a template for decoding voting selections marked on each paper ballot responsive to an identifier read from that paper ballot;
decoding the voting selections read from each paper ballot in accordance with the selected template therefor; and
tabulating the voting selections decoded from each of the paper ballots consistent with their respective selected templates.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for reading a sheet or a paper ballot enclosed in a ballot envelope comprises decoding a machine readable envelope identifier from each ballot envelope, displaying at least the decoded envelope identifier and a signature from each ballot envelope for determining from the envelope identifier, the signature, or both, whether a valid sheet or ballot is presented. If the sheet or ballot is valid, then the sheet or ballot is removed from its envelope and the selections marked on the sheet or ballot may then be determined and processed.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method for reading paper ballots wherein each paper ballot is enclosed in a ballot envelope having a machine-readable envelope identifier and voter information including a signature thereon, wherein each paper ballot is markable for marking voting selections thereon, said method comprising:
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reading each ballot envelope including reading at least the machine readable envelope identifier and signature thereon; decoding the machine readable envelope identifier read from each ballot envelope; displaying at least the decoded envelope identifier and signature read from each ballot envelope for determining from the envelope identifier, the signature, or the envelope identifier and the signature, whether the ballot is a valid ballot; and if the ballot is determined to be a valid ballot, removing the paper ballot determined to be a valid ballot from its ballot envelope, and then performing the following steps on each paper ballot determined to be a valid ballot; reading each paper ballot; selecting a template for decoding voting selections marked on each paper ballot responsive to an identifier read from that paper ballot; decoding the voting selections read from each paper ballot in accordance with the selected template therefor; and tabulating the voting selections decoded from each of the paper ballots consistent with their respective selected templates. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for reading paper ballots wherein each paper ballot is enclosed in a ballot envelope having a machine-readable envelope identifier and voter information including a signature thereon, wherein each paper ballot is markable for marking voting selections thereon, said method comprising:
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reading each ballot envelope including at least the machine readable envelope identifier and signature thereon; decoding the machine readable envelope identifier read from each ballot envelope; displaying at least the decoded envelope identifier and signature read from each ballot envelope for determining from the envelope identifier, the signature, or the envelope identifier and the signature, whether the ballot is a valid ballot; and if the ballot is determined to be a valid ballot, removing each paper ballot determined to be a valid ballot from its ballot envelope, and then performing the following steps on each paper ballot determined to be a valid ballot; determining the voting selections marked on each paper ballot; and tabulating the voting selections determined from each of the paper ballots. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for reading paper ballots wherein each paper ballot is enclosed in a ballot envelope having a machine-readable envelope identifier and voter information including a signature thereon, wherein each paper ballot is markable for marking voting selections thereon, said method comprising:
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decoding the machine readable envelope identifier from each ballot envelope; displaying at least the decoded envelope identifier and signature of each ballot envelope for determining from the envelope identifier, the signature, or the envelope identifier and the signature, whether the ballot is a valid ballot; and if the ballot is determined to be a valid ballot, removing the paper ballot determined to be a valid ballot from its ballot envelope, and then performing the following steps on each paper ballot determined to be a valid ballot; determining the voting selections marked on each paper ballot; and tabulating the voting selections determined from each of the paper ballots. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for reading paper ballots wherein each paper ballot is enclosed in a ballot envelope having a machine-readable envelope identifier and voter information including a signature thereon, wherein each paper ballot is markable for marking voting selections thereon, and wherein each paper ballot has a jurisdiction identifier and fiducial marks thereon, said method comprising:
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reading each ballot envelope including at least the machine readable envelope identifier and signature thereon; decoding the machine readable envelope identifier read from each ballot envelope; displaying at least the decoded envelope identifier and signature of each ballot envelope for determining from the envelope identifier, the signature, or the envelope identifier and the signature, whether the ballot is a valid ballot; and if the ballot is determined to be a valid ballot, removing each paper ballot determined to be a valid ballot from its ballot envelope, and then performing the following steps on each paper ballot determined to be a valid ballot; determining from the fiducial marks the orientation of each paper ballot; reading consistent with the determined orientation of each paper ballot the jurisdiction identifier of each paper ballot; selecting a template responsive to the read jurisdiction identifier of each paper ballot for reading the voting selections marked thereon; and reading the voting selections marked on each paper ballot in accordance with the selected template and consistent with the determined orientation of each paper ballot, whereby the voting selections marked on each paper ballot are read in accordance with a selected template corresponding to the jurisdiction identifier for that paper ballot irrespective of the orientation of the paper ballot. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for reading paper sheets wherein each paper sheet is enclosed in an envelope having a machine-readable envelope identifier and a signature thereon, and wherein each paper sheet is markable for marking selections thereon, said method comprising:
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reading each envelope including at least the machine readable envelope identifier and the signature thereon; decoding the machine readable envelope identifier read from each envelope; displaying at least the decoded envelope identifier and the signature read from each envelope for determining from the envelope identifier, the signature, or the envelope identifier and the signature, whether the paper sheet is a valid sheet; and if the sheet is determined to be a valid sheet, removing the paper sheet determined to be a valid sheet from its envelope, and then performing the following steps on each paper sheet determined to be a valid sheet; determining the selections marked on each paper sheet; and processing the selections determined from each of the paper sheets. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A system for reading paper ballots wherein each paper ballot is enclosed in a ballot envelope having a machine-readable envelope identifier and voter information including a voter signature thereon, wherein each paper ballot is markable for marking voting selections thereon, said system comprising:
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a reader for reading at least the machine readable envelope identifier and the voter signature on each ballot envelope; a decoder for decoding the machine readable envelope identifier read from each ballot envelope; a display for displaying the decoded envelope identifier and the voter signature for determining from the envelope identifier, the voter signature, or the envelope identifier and the voter signature, whether the ballot is a valid ballot; means for determining the voting selections marked on each paper ballot that has been determined to be a valid ballot; and means for tabulating the voting selections determined from each of the paper ballots determined to be a valid ballot. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification