Electronic voting apparatus, system and method
DCFirst Claim
1. Voting apparatus comprising:
- a processor for processing voting information and presenting a ballot to be voted for each of plural voting sessions;
a voter interface for displaying the ballot to be voted received from said processor and for receiving voting selections made and coupling the voting selections to said processor, said processor providing for each voting session a voting record including the voting selections made;
said processor including a generator for displaying on said user interface one voting screen including all voting contests and/or questions of the ballot to be voted, the one voting screen having voting buttons corresponding to each voting contest and/or question for providing pop-up voting screens including voting selections to be made in that voting contest and/or question; and
a memory coupled to said processor for storing the voting record for each of the plural voting sessions.
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Abstract
The voting apparatus, system and method of the invention provides at least two independently means for recording and counting votes, e.g., one associated with the voting apparatus and one separate therefrom. A preferred voting apparatus, system and method may provide triple data redundancy in that each vote is recorded by three independent and verifiable means: i.e. by recording in one or more electronic memory devices included in the voting machine and/or system, by recording in the memory of a smart card separate from the voting machine and/or system, and/or by a confirmatory printed record for each voter. The invention may utilize a voting session identifier to provide transparency of the vote and to maintain the anonymity of the votes and voters.
157 Citations
31 Claims
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1. Voting apparatus comprising:
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a processor for processing voting information and presenting a ballot to be voted for each of plural voting sessions; a voter interface for displaying the ballot to be voted received from said processor and for receiving voting selections made and coupling the voting selections to said processor, said processor providing for each voting session a voting record including the voting selections made; said processor including a generator for displaying on said user interface one voting screen including all voting contests and/or questions of the ballot to be voted, the one voting screen having voting buttons corresponding to each voting contest and/or question for providing pop-up voting screens including voting selections to be made in that voting contest and/or question; and a memory coupled to said processor for storing the voting record for each of the plural voting sessions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Voting apparatus comprising:
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a processor for processing voting information and presenting a ballot to be voted for each of plural voting sessions; a voter interface for displaying the ballot to be voted received from said processor and for receiving voting selections made and coupling the voting selections to said processor, said processor providing for each voting session a voting record including the voting selections made; said processor including a generator for displaying on said user interface one voting screen including all voting contests and/or questions of the ballot to be voted, the one voting screen having voting buttons corresponding to each voting contest and/or question for providing pop-up voting screens including voting selections to be made in that voting contest and/or question; and a memory coupled to said processor for storing the voting record for each of the plural voting sessions, wherein each possible voting selection has an associated pre-assigned value that is the same for that voting selection for all voting sessions, and wherein said processor generates a security code value for each voting session that correlates to the voting selections made therein and the pre-assigned value of the voting selections made therein.
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11. Voting apparatus comprising:
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a processor for processing voting information for each of plural voting sessions, wherein the voting information includes a database of a plurality of ballots, wherein ones of the plurality of ballots correspond to respective ones of a plurality of voting jurisdictions; means for entering a voter identifier, the voter identifier for each voting session including a representation of one or more of the voting jurisdictions for that voting session, wherein said processor is responsive to the representation of the one or more voting jurisdictions for generating from the database a ballot or ballots for the one or more voting jurisdictions for each voting session; a voter interface for displaying the ballot or ballots generated by said processor for each voting session and for receiving voting selections for each voting session and coupling the voting selections to said processor, said processor providing a voting record including the voting selections for each voting session; and a memory coupled to said processor for storing the voting record for each voting session. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. Voting apparatus comprising:
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a processor for processing voting information for each of plural voting sessions; a voter interface for displaying voting information including possible voting selections received from said processor and for receiving voting selections made for each voting session and coupling the voting selections to said processor; said processor providing for each voting session a voting record including the voting selections made; wherein each possible voting selection has an associated pre-assigned value that is the same for that voting selection for all voting sessions, and wherein said processor generates a security code value for each voting session that correlates to the voting selections made therein and the pro-assigned value of the voting selections made therein; a non-volatile memory coupled to said processor for storing for each voting session the voting record for that voting session; and a printer coupled to said processor for printing for each voting session a machine readable paper that contains the voting selections made and an indication of the security code value for that voting session. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. Voting apparatus comprising:
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a processor for processing voting information and providing a voting session identifier for each of plural voting sessions, wherein each voting session identifier includes a representation of the voting jurisdiction and a randomized unique identifier; a voter interface for displaying voting information received from said processor and for receiving voting selections made for each voting session and coupling the voting selections to said processor, said processor providing for each voting session a voting record including the voting selections made; a non-volatile memory coupled to said processor for storing for each voting session the voting record and the voting session identifier for that voting session; and a printer coupled to said processor for printing for each voting session a machine readable paper that contains the voting selections made and the voting session identifier for that voting session. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A method for voting comprising:
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initiating a voting session; displaying a sequence of voting screens each including voting selections to be made; not displaying a next voting screen in the sequence of voting screens until after at least one voting selection is made on a presently displayed voting screen; providing a unique identifier of the voting session; generating a security code value correlating the voting selections made in the voting session; creating a voting record including the voting selections made during the voting session, the unique voting session identifier and the security code value; and storing the voting record including the voting selections made during the voting session, the unique voting session identifier and the security code value in a voting apparatus memory. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for voting comprising:
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providing a voter identifier, the voter identifier including a representation of one of a first and second voting criteria; initiating a voting session utilizing the voter identifier; providing a single voting screen of all contests including at least a general voting ballot contest and first and second voting criteria-specific voting ballot contests presenting first and voting selections pertaining to the first and second voting criteria, respectively; displaying a single voting screen of all contests including the general voting ballot contest and the one of the first and second voting criteria-specific voting ballot contests corresponding to the one of the first and second voting criteria representations of the voter identifier; creating a voting record including voting selections made during the voting session; and storing the voting record including the voting selections made in a voting apparatus memory. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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31. A voting machine comprising:
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a processor for processing voting information for each of plural voting sessions; a voter interface for displaying voting information received from said processor and for receiving voting selections made for each voting session and coupling the voting selections to said processor, said processor providing for each voting session a voting record including the voting selections made; a non-volatile memory coupled to said processor for storing for each voting session the voting record of voting selections made for that voting session; a printer coupled to said processor for printing for each voting session a machine readable paper that contains the voting selections made for that voting session; and a collection container for receiving the machine-readable paper at the conclusion of each voting session, wherein the machine-readable paper is presented for viewing substantially at the conclusion of each voting session before being collected in the collection container.
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Specification