Audio ballot system
First Claim
1. An electronic voting system comprising:
- means for audibly providing a voter with ballot choices;
means for permitting the voter to indicate a selected ballot choice;
means for audibly informing the voter of said selected ballot choice by announcing an identity of the selected ballot choice;
means for allowing said voter to change said selected ballot choice; and
means responsive to the means for permitting the vote to indicate a selected ballot choice for recording the selected ballot choice.
1 Assignment
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Reexamination
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic voting system is disclosed that provides voters who may be blind, illiterate, or conversant in a foreign language, with a means to enter selection information without having to rely on visually perceptible information. In accordance with exemplary embodiments, candidate and/or referendum information is supplied audibly such that the voter can respond to selection options by speech input, actuating a button on a hand-held device, or other mechanism that permits the voter to indicate his or her selection preferences without having to visually interact with the system. The system provides an audio confirmation of the voter'"'"'s selection. Such a system allows the aforementioned individuals to vote in confidence without assistance.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. An electronic voting system comprising:
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means for audibly providing a voter with ballot choices; means for permitting the voter to indicate a selected ballot choice; means for audibly informing the voter of said selected ballot choice by announcing an identity of the selected ballot choice; means for allowing said voter to change said selected ballot choice; and means responsive to the means for permitting the vote to indicate a selected ballot choice for recording the selected ballot choice. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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14. The method claimed in 13, wherein the alternative course of action is selected from the group consisting of:
- presenting the voter with a next race;
presenting the voter with a next candidate;
reprompting the voter with the selection choice;
ending the voting process;
reviewing a ballot choice selection; and
changing a ballot choice selection.
- presenting the voter with a next race;
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30. A system for producing a record corresponding to a voting event, the system comprising:
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means for prompting a voter with an audibly detectable invitation to enter a voting response; means for permitting a voter to enter a response to the invitation in a manner which does not require visual interaction; means for storing the response in a record; and means for translating the record into a form that is suitable for automated reading by a second system. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. A voting system comprising:
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a ballot script containing ballot-specific information; a speech generating device for interpreting the ballot script and for generating an audibly detectable signal that includes ballot information; a voter input device for permitting a voter to orally enter a response to ballot information generated by the speech generation device; a recording device for recording the response entered using the voter input device; and control logic for controlling the voting system.
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33. A method for entering a response in an electronic voting system, the method comprising the steps of:
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prompting a voter with an audibly detectable message informing the voter of a selection option; permitting entry of a voter response in a manner which does not require visual interaction with the system; recording a response tendered by the voter in response to the selection option; audibly repeating said response; and allowing said voter to change the response as a result of said audibly repeating step.
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34. The method claimed in 33, further comprising the steps of:
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waiting a predetermined period of time following the prompting step; executing the recording step if a response is tendered during the predetermined period of time; and reprompting the voter with an audibly detectable message informing the voter of an alternative course of action if a response is not tendered during the predetermined period of time.
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35. The method claimed in 34, wherein the alternative course of action is selected from the group consisting of:
- presenting the voter with a next race;
presenting the voter with a next candidate;
reprompting the voter with the audibly detectable message informing the voter of the selection option;
ending the voting process;
reviewing a ballot choice selection; and
changing a ballot choice selection.
- presenting the voter with a next race;
Specification