Systems and methods for providing security in a voting machine

• US 7,111,782 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2004
• Issued: 09/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dominion Voting Systems Corporation
• Original Assignee: Sequoia Voting Systems
• Inventors: Terwilliger, Paul David, Homewood, John Paul, Latour, Marc R., Keeling, Thomas E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Thien M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAIL, ALLYSON NEEL
• Application Number:
  US10/811,969
• Publication Number:
  US 20040238632A1
• Time in Patent Office: 910 Days
• Field of Search: 235/386, 70/58, 345/700, 345/772, 299/1.9, 358/51, 358/1.14, 347/175, 705/12
• 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 that displays a ballot having election choices and receives voter selections; and

a printer including a tamper resistant container for a print medium, the printer being coupled with the voting machine and printing a printed audit trail on the print medium,

wherein the voter selections and the printed audit trail can be viewed by the voter, and the tamper resistant container includes a transparent window to allow the voter to view the printed audit trail and restrict physical access to the printed audit trail.

2. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the voter selections and the printed audit trail are simultaneously viewed by the voter.

3. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein once the voter has viewed the voter selections and the printed audit trail, the printer moves the printed audit trail such that the printed audit trail is not visible to a next voter and is stored within the tamper resistant container.

4. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the printer marks the printed audit trail to indicate that the printed audit trail is invalid if the voter rejects the voter selections as presented in the printed audit trail; and

the display displays the ballot having election choices to receive voter reselections.

5. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the printer is within the voting machine.

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

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

8. The voting machine as recited in claim 7, wherein the printer includes a first fastener and the voting machine includes a second fastener, wherein the first fastener engages the second fastener in a slotting manner.

9. The voting machine as recited in claim 7, wherein the printer is attached to the voting machine using a commercially available fastener.

10. The voting machine as recited in claim 7, further comprising at least one fastener that attaches the printer to the voting machine.

11. The voting machine as recited in claim 10, wherein the at least one fastener includes at least one security feature that includes at least one of a locking mechanism, tamper evident tape, alarms and electronic identification.

12. The voting machine as recited in claim 11, wherein the locking mechanism is a lock that is unlocked using a non-duplicatable key.

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

a radio frequency identification detector included in the voting machine; and

a radio frequency identification device included in the printer,

wherein the radio frequency identification detector of the voting machine detects the radio frequency identification device of the printer when the printer is attached to the voting machine to confirm an attachment of a valid and/or authorized printer to the voting machine.

14. The voting machine as recited in claim 13, wherein the voting machine is disabled unless radio frequency identification detector detects that the valid and/or authorized printer is attached to the voting machine.

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

a radio frequency identification detector included in the printer; and

a radio frequency identification device included in the voting machine,

wherein the radio frequency identification detector of the printer detects the radio frequency identification device of the voting machine when the printer is attached to the voting machine to confirm an attachment of a valid and/or authorized voting machine.

16. The voting machine as recited in claim 15, wherein the printer is disabled unless radio frequency identification detector detects that the printer is attached to the valid and/or authorized voting machine.

17. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the voting machine and the printer is disabled unless the printer is attached to the voting machine.

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

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

20. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, further comprising privacy shields disposed on the voting machine that restrict a visibility of a display screen of the display and the printed audit trail only to the voter.

21. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, further comprising privacy shields that are attached to the printer.

22. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, 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.

23. The voting machine as recited in claim 22, wherein the voting machine includes a controller that randomizes a printed position of the audit trail by keeping track of a print medium print position and portions of the print medium.

24. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the tamper resistant container is a canister that is removable from the printer.

25. The voting machine as recited in claim 24, wherein the canister includes at least one security feature that restricts access to the print medium contained therein.

26. The voting machine as recited in claim 25, wherein the at least one security feature includes at least one of a locking mechanism, tamper evident tape, alarms and electronic identification.

27. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the tamper resistant container includes a serial number.

28. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the print medium includes at least one security feature to ensure an authenticity of the printed audit trail.

29. The voting machine, as recited in claim 28, wherein the least one security feature is a security ink that is printed on the print medium, the security ink including at least one of an infrared, ultraviolet and fluorescent ink.

30. The voting machine as recited in claim 28, wherein the at least one security feature includes an invisible portion and a visible portion that is printed on the print medium.

31. The voting machine as recited in claim 28, wherein the at least one of the security feature of the print medium includes at least one of invisible data and visible data that is present on the print medium.

32. The voting machine as recited in claim 28, wherein the at least one security feature of the printing medium is printed on the print medium by the printer.

33. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the display further comprises a selection panel that receives the voter selections.

34. The voting machine as recited in claim 33, wherein the selection panel includes at least one selection button.

35. The voting machine as recited in claim 33, wherein the selection panel is configured to receive a ballot, the selection panel including a protective cover to hold the ballot.

36. The voting machine as recited in claim 33, wherein the selection panel includes a touch screen that is integrated with a display screen of the display.

37. The voting machine as recited in claim 33, wherein the printer is attached to a side of the selection panel.

38. The voting machine as recited in claim 37, further comprising:

a privacy shield disposed between the selection panel and the printer; and

a window formed at the privacy shield to allow the voter to view the printed audit trail of the printer.

39. The voting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the printer and the voting machine include integral contacts such that when the printer is attached to the voting machine, at least one of power up and data communication between the voting machine and the printer is initiated.

40. A voting machine, comprising:

a display that displays a ballot having election choices and receives voter selections; and

a printer including a tamper resistant container for a print medium, the printer being coupled with the voting machine and printing a printed audit trail on the print medium,

wherein the voter selections and the printed audit trail can be viewed by the voter,

the printer is positioned behind a display screen of the display, and

the voting machine further comprises a controller that causes the display screen to be segmentally made transparent such that at least one portion of the printed audit trail that should be viewed by the voter can be viewed through the display screen.

41. The voting machine as recited in claim 40, wherein the printer is positioned behind a display screen of the display.

42. The voting machine as recited in claim 41, wherein the display screen can be made transparent so that the printed audit trail can be viewed through the display screen.

43. The voting machine as recited in claim 42, wherein only a portion of the display is made transparent.

44. The voting machine as recited in claim 42, 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 selections with the printed audit trail.

45. The voting machine as recited in claim 42, wherein the voter selections in the display screen are aligned with the printed voter selections in the printed audit trail so that when the display screen is made transparent, the voter selections in the display screen remain visible so that the voter can compare the voter selections in the display screen with the printed audit trail.

46. The voting machine as recited in claim 42, wherein the display screen is made of at least one of an amorphous silicon, a non-reflective display and a single large cell LCD.

47. The voting machine as recited in claim 42, wherein the display screen uses holographic backlit diffusing materials.

48. A voting machine, comprising:

a display that displays a ballot having election choices and receives voter selections; and

a printer including a tamper resistant container for a print medium, the printer being coupled with the voting machine and printing a printed audit trail on the print medium,

wherein the voter selections and the printed audit trail can be viewed by the voter,

the printer is positioned behind a display screen of the display,

the display screen can be made transparent so that the printed audit trail can be viewed through the display screen, and

the voting machine further comprises a controller that causes the display screen to be opaque, causes the display screen to be transparent to allow the voter to view the printed audit trail on the print medium through the display screen, and then causes the display screen to be opaque so that a next voter can not view the print medium through the display screen.

49. A voting machine, comprising:

a display that displays a ballot having election choices and receives voter selections; and

a printer including a tamper resistant container for a print medium, the printer being coupled with the voting machine and printing a printed audit trail on the print medium,

wherein the voter selections and the printed audit trail can be viewed by the voter,

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,

the voting machine includes a controller that randomizes a printed position of the audit trail by keeping track of a print medium print position and portions of the print medium, and

the printer includes at least one bi-directional drive motor that is controlled by the controller to randomize a printed position of the audit trail.

50. A voting machine, comprising:

a display that displays a ballot having election choices and receives voter selections; and

a printer including a tamper resistant container for a print medium, the printer being coupled with the voting machine and printing a printed audit trail on the print medium,

wherein the voter selections and the printed audit trail can be viewed by the voter,

the tamper resistant container is a canister that is removable from the printer, and

the voting machine further comprises an auto-load mechanism that loads/unloads canisters.

51. A voting machine, comprising:

a display that displays a selection of a voter;

a printer including a window, the printer being coupled to the voting machine and printing the selection of the voter as a printed audit trail on a print medium, and displaying the printed audit trail behind the window, so that the printed audit trail is tamper resistant and not physically accessible by the voter.

52. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the voter selection and the printed audit trail being arranged so that they can be simultaneously viewed by the voter.

53. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein once the voter has viewed the voter selection and the printed audit trail, the printer moves the printed audit trail such that the printed audit trail is not visible to a next voter and stored within the printer.

54. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein:

the printer marks the printed audit trail to indicate that the printed audit trail is invalid if the voter rejects the voter selections as presented in the printed audit trail; and

the display displays the ballot having election choices to receive voter reselections.

55. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer is within the voting machine.

56. The voting machine as recited in claim 55, wherein the printer is accessed separately from the voting machine.

57. The voting machine recited in claim 51, wherein the printer is a separate device that is attached to the voting machine.

58. The voting machine as recited in claim 57, further comprising at least one fastener that attaches the printer to the voting machine.

59. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising:

a radio frequency identification detector included in voting machine; and

a radio frequency identification device included in the printer,

wherein the radio frequency identification detector of the voting machine detects the radio frequency identification device of the printer when the printer is attached to the voting machine to confirm an attachment of a valid and/or authorized printer to the voting machine.

60. The voting machine as recited in claim 59, wherein the voting machine is disabled unless radio frequency identification detector detects that the valid and/or authorized printer is attached to the voting machine.

61. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising:

a radio frequency identification detector included in the printer; and

a radio frequency identification device included in the voting machine,

wherein the radio frequency identification detector of the printer detects the radio frequency identification device of the voting machine when the printer is attached to the voting machine to confirm an attachment of a valid and/or authorized voting machine.

62. The voting machine as recited in claim 61, wherein the printer is disabled unless radio frequency identification detector detects that the printer is attached to the valid and/or authorized voting machine.

63. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein at least one of the voting machine and printer is disabled unless the printer is attached to the voting machine.

64. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer is positioned with the window behind a display screen of the display.

65. The voting machine as recited in claim 64, wherein the display screen can be made transparent so that the printed audit trail can be viewed through the display screen.

66. The voting machine as recited in claim 65, wherein only a portion of the display screen is made transparent.

67. The voting machine as recited in claim 65, 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 selection with the printed audit trail.

68. The voting machine as recited in claim 65, wherein the voter selection in the display screen is aligned with the printed voter selection in the printed audit trail so that when the display screen is made transparent, the voter selection in the display screen remain visible so that the voter can compare the voter selection in the display screen with the printed audit trail.

69. The voting machine as recited in claim 65, further comprising a controller that causes the display screen to be opaque, causes the display screen to be transparent to allow the voter to view the printed audit trail on the print medium through the display screen, and then causes the display screen to be opaque so that a next voter can not view the print medium through the display screen.

70. The voting machine as recited in claim 65, wherein the display screen is made of at least one of an amorphous silicon, a non-reflective display and a single large cell LCD.

71. The voting machine as recited in claim 65, wherein the display screen uses holographic backlit diffusing materials.

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

73. The voting machine recited in claim 51, wherein the printer is at least one of a laser, ink jet, thermal and dot-matrix type printer.

74. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising:

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

75. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising privacy shields attached to the printer.

76. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, 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.

77. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer includes a tamper resistant holder for the print medium on which is printed audit trails, with access to the print medium in the tamper resistant holder being restricted.

78. The voting machine as recited in claim 77, wherein the tamper resistant holder is a canister that is removable from the voting machine.

79. The voting machine as recited in claim 78, wherein the canister includes at least one security feature that restricts access to the printing medium contained therein.

80. The voting machine as recited in claim 79, wherein the at least one security feature includes at least one of a locking mechanism, tamper evident tape, alarms and electronic identification.

81. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the print medium includes at least one security feature to ensure an authenticity of the printed audit trail.

82. The voting machine, as recited in claim 81, wherein the at least one security feature is a security ink that is printed on the print medium, the security ink including at least one of an infrared, ultraviolet and fluorescent ink.

83. The voting machine as recited in claim 81, wherein the security feature includes an invisible portion and a visible portion that is printed on the print medium.

84. The voting machine as recited in claim 81, wherein the security features of the print medium include at least one of invisible data and visible that is present on the print medium.

85. The voting machine as recited in claim 81, wherein the security feature of the print medium is printed on the print medium by the printer.

86. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer and the voting machine include integral contacts such that when the printer is attached to the voting machine, power up and/or data communication is initiated between the voting machine and the printer.

87. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the voting machine communicates with the printer using at least one of a cable and a cable-less connection.

88. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the voting machine communicates with the printer using at least one of a parallel interface, a serial interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a Firewire interface, 801-11 interface, Bluetooth and a Peripheral Connection Interface (PCI) Express.

89. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising rails for receiving and coupling the printer to the voting machine in a slotting manner.

90. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer is secured to the voting machine by a locking mechanism.

91. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer further comprising a container including a cover, wherein the cover contains the window.

92. The voting machine as recited in claim 91, wherein the cover is fastened to the container by a locking device and a lock-receiving device.

93. The voting machine as recited in claim 92, further comprising a software interlock that is linked with at least one of the locking device and the lock-receiving device, wherein the lock-receiving device releases the locking device via the software interlock.

94. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer has at least one seal that shows signs of removal if the printer is detached from the voting machine.

95. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising at least one lock/unlock detection sensor that detects whether at least one component of the voting machine is locked/unlocked;

and

a controller that disables the voting machine if the at least one component of the voting machine is unlocked.

96. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer uses an invisible ink to print the printed audit trail, the printer further comprising a light emitting source that emits a light that causes an invisibly printed audit trail to become visible to the voter.

97. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the voting machine is configured to be coupled with a remote database.

98. The voting machine as recited in claim 97, wherein the voting machine is wired/wirelessly coupled to the remote database through a network.

99. The voting machine as recited in claim 97, wherein the voting machine is directly wired/wirelessly coupled to the remote database.

100. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer further comprising a memory that stores the selection of the voter.

101. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the voting machine includes a removable electronic storage device that stores the selection of the voter.

102. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the voting machine includes a memory that stores the selection of the voter.

103. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer prints each transaction undertaken on the voting machine.

104. The voting machine as recited in claim 103, wherein the printer prints each transaction as a code.

105. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer prints a summary of the selection of the voter.

106. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer prints a carbon copy of the selection of the voter.

107. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer prints each action undertaken on the voting machine.

108. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer prints a code that can be used to identify the voter.

109. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising

a controller that determines whether the printed audit trail is larger than the printer window, and

the controller determining whether an entire printed audit trail is to be printed or the printed audit trail is to be printed sectionally, each section corresponding to at least a portion of the printer window, if the printed audit trail is larger than the printer window.

110. The voting machine as recited in claim 109, wherein the controller causes the printer to print the printed audit trail a section at a time.

111. The voting machine as recited in claim 109, wherein

the controller causes the printer to print an entire printed audit trail, and

allows the entire printed audit trail to be scrolled back and forth based on the voter'"'"'s input.

112. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising

a mask that is inserted at the printer window to adjust a size of the printer window when the printed audit trail is smaller than the printer window.

113. The voting machine as recited in claim 112, further comprising:

at least one sensor that senses the mask at the printer window; and

a controller, upon input from the sensor, causes the printer to print corresponding to a non-masked portion of the printer window.

114. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising

a controller that determines whether the printed audit trail is smaller than the printer window, and

the controller reduces a space allocated for printing on the print medium, if the printed audit trail is smaller than the printer window.

115. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising

a controller that determines whether the printed audit trail is smaller than the printer window, and

the controller adjusts the printer window size to accommodate the smaller sized printed audit trail.

116. The voting machine as recited in claim 115, further comprising:

the printer window including an adjustable liquid crystal type mask; and

the controller causes the adjustable liquid crystal type mask to create a corresponding transparent portion in which the printed audit trail is visible and create an opaque remaining portion.

117. The voting machine as recited in claim 116, wherein the controller causes the printer to print corresponding to the transparent portion of the adjustable liquid crystal type mask.

118. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising a sensor that senses a print head failure.

119. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising a sensor that senses a paper jam.

120. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising a sensor that senses whether a portion of the print medium to be printed is blank prior to printing on the print medium.

121. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising a sensor that is used to accurately position the print medium.

122. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising a sensor that senses an amount of print medium available for printing.

123. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising a controller that interrogates the printer to detect whether the printer is properly functioning.

124. The voting machine as recited in claim 123, wherein the controller causes the display to display an error message if the printer is not properly functioning.

125. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising a controller that interrogates the voting machine to detect whether the voting machine is properly functioning.

126. The voting machine as recited in claim 125, wherein the controller causes the printer to print an error code on the print medium if the voting machine is not properly functioning.

127. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, further comprising:

the printer prints the printed audit trail in machine-readable format; and

a converter that converts the machine-readable format of the printed audit trail into an audible audit trail output.

128. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the voting machine is configured to accommodate various languages.

129. The voting machine as recited in claim 128, wherein the printer prints an English-language translation of the audit trail printed in a foreign language.

130. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer is configured to print in various fonts.

131. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein the printer window has a magnifying effect.

132. The voting machine as recited in claim 51, wherein illumination can be selectively provided at the window.

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

displaying election choices to a voter;

receiving a selection from the voter;

displaying the selection of the voter;

printing a printed audit trail of the selection of the voter onto a print medium; and

displaying the printed audit trail behind a window so that the printed audit trail is tamper resistant.

134. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, wherein the printed audit trail and the voter selection are simultaneously displayed to the voter.

135. The method of operating a voting machine according to claim 133, wherein once the voter has viewed the voter selection and the printed audit trail, the method further includes moving the printed audit trail such that the printed audit trail is not visible to a next voter and storing the printed audit trail within the printer.

136. The method of operating a voting machine according to claim 133, further comprising:

marking the printed audit trail to indicate that the printed audit trail is invalid if the voter rejects the voter selections as presented in the printed audit trail; and

displaying the ballot having election choices to receive voter reselections.

137. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising detecting a radio frequency identification of the printer to determine whether a valid and/or authorized printer is attached to the voting machine.

138. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 137, further comprising disabling the voting machine unless a valid and/or authorized radio frequency identification detector of the printer is detected.

139. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising positioning the printer behind a display screen.

140. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 139, further comprising selectively making the display screen transparent so that the printed audit trail can be viewed through the display screen.

141. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 140, wherein, when the display screen is made transparent, the voter selection in the display screen remain visible so that the voter can compare the voter selection with the printed audit trail.

142. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 140, further comprising:

aligning the voter selection to correspond to the printing of the voter selection in the printed audit trail;

making the display screen transparent such that the voter selection in the display screen remain visible so that the voter can compare the voter selection with the printed audit trail.

143. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 140, wherein only a portion of the display is made transparent.

144. The method of operating a voting machine as recited as recited in claim 140, further comprising segmentally making the display screen transparent such that at least one portion of the printed audit trail that should be viewed by the voter can be viewed through the display screen.

145. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising including at least one security feature to the print medium to ensure that the printed audit trail is authentic.

146. The method of operating a voting machine, as recited in claim 145, wherein the security feature is the at least one security ink that is printed on the print medium, the security ink including at least one of an infrared, ultraviolet and fluorescent ink.

147. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 145, wherein the security feature includes an invisible portion and a visible portion that is printed on the print medium.

148. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising disposing privacy shields on the voting machine that restrict a visibility of the display screen and the printed audit trail only to the voter.

149. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising attaching privacy shields to the printer.

150. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising detecting a position of the printed audit trail in order to print respective printed audit trails in a randomized order.

151. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising randomizing a print position of the audit trail.

152. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising randomizing a printed position of the audit trail by keeping track of a print medium print position and portions of the print medium.

153. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising:

providing the printer with a tamper resistant container for containing the print medium on which the printed audit trails is printed; and

restricting access to the print medium in the tamper resistant container.

154. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 153, wherein restricting access to the print medium includes using at least one security feature that includes at least one of locking mechanisms, tamper evident tape, alarms and electronic identification.

155. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising:

detecting whether at least one of the secured components of the voting machine is unsecured; and

disabling the voting machine if the at least one of the secured components of the voting machine is unsecured.

156. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising:

printing the audit trail using an invisible ink; and

emitting a light onto the audit trail that causes an invisibly printed audit trail to become visible to the voter.

157. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising attaching a printer to the voting machine in a slotting manner.

158. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising:

linking a locking mechanism the locks a printer to the voting machine with a software interlock; and

releasing the printer from the locking mechanism by operation of the software interlock.

159. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising coupling the voting machine to a remote database.

160. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising storing the selection of the voter in a memory of a printer.

161. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising storing the selection of the voter in a removable storage device coupled to the voting machine.

162. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising storing the selection of the voter in a memory within the voting machine.

163. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising recording each transaction undertaken on the voting machine.

164. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 163, further comprising recording each transaction as a code.

165. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising recording a summary of the selection of the voter.

166. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising recording a carbon copy of the selection of the voter.

167. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising recording each action undertaken on the voting machine.

168. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising recording a code that is used to identify the voter.

169. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising powering up and initiating data communication between the voting machine and the printer when the printer is coupled to the voting machine.

170. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising communicating with the printer using at least one of a cable and a cable-less connection.

171. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising communicating with the printer using at least one of a parallel interface, a serial interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a Firewire interface and a Peripheral Connection Interface (PCI) Express.

172. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising:

determining whether the printed audit trail is larger than the printer window; and

determining whether an entire printed audit trail is to be printed or the printed audit trail is to be printed sectionally, each section corresponding to at least a portion of the printer window, if the printed audit trail is larger than the printer window.

173. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 172, further comprising displaying the printed audit trail a section at a time for view by the voter.

174. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 173, further comprising recording the printed audit trail when all the sections are accepted by the voter.

175. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 172, further comprising:

printing an entire audit trail; and

allowing the voter to scroll back and forth to review the entire printed audit trail.

176. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 175, further comprising recording the entire printed audit trail when the voter accepts the entire printed audit trail.

177. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising:

determining whether the printed audit trail is smaller than the printer window; and

reducing a space allocated for printing on the print medium, if the printed audit trail is smaller than the printer window.

178. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising adjusting a printer window size by inserting a mask at the printer window.

179. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 178, further comprising:

sensing the mask; and

causing the printer to print corresponding to the visible portion of the printer window.

180. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising adjusting a printer window to accommodate a smaller size of the printed audit trail.

181. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 180, wherein the printer window includes an adjustable liquid crystal type mask, the method further comprising activating the adjustable liquid crystal type mask to create a corresponding transparent portion in which the printed audit trail is visible and to create an opaque remaining portion.

182. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising sensing a print head failure.

183. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising sensing a print medium jam.

184. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising sensing that a portion of the recording medium to be printed is blank prior to printing on the print medium.

185. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising sensing the amount of print medium available for printing.

186. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising interrogating the voting machine to detect whether the voting machine is properly functioning.

187. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 186, further comprising printing an error code on the print medium if the voting machine is not properly functioning.

188. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising interrogating the printer to detect whether the printer is properly functioning.

189. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 188, further comprising displaying an error code on the display if the printer is not properly functioning.

190. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising:

printing the audit trail in a machine-readable format; and

converting the machine-readable printed audit trail into audible output.

191. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising configuring the voting machine to accommodate various languages.

192. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 191, further comprising printing an English-language translation of the audit trail printed in a foreign language.

193. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising printing in various fonts.

194. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising providing a printer window with a magnifying effect.

195. The method of operating a voting machine as recited in claim 133, further comprising selectively providing illumination at a printer window.