U.S. patent application number 16/212260 was filed with the patent office on 2019-11-14 for systems and methods for remaking ballots.
The applicant listed for this patent is Everyone Counts, Inc.. Invention is credited to Aaron Contorer, Jim Goode, Carolyn Hicks, Elan Kaplan, Sean Mostafavi, Jon Thomason.
Application Number | 20190347886 16/212260 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46925922 |
Filed Date | 2019-11-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20190347886 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Contorer; Aaron ; et
al. |
November 14, 2019 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REMAKING BALLOTS
Abstract
Voter-generated ballots created using consumer-grade printers
are remade to ballots scannable by specialized ballot scanners. The
voter-generated ballots include a machine-readable indicia, such as
a two-dimensional barcode, that encodes ballot information. The
ballot information includes choices made by the voter and
information for use in remaking the ballot. Voters wish to submit
their votes using printouts from non-specialized printers such as
those found at their homes or offices; yet election officials wish
to tabulate votes using scanners that require specialized,
high-quality ballots. The disclosed systems and methods bridge this
gap.
Inventors: |
Contorer; Aaron; (San Diego,
CA) ; Mostafavi; Sean; (San Diego, CA) ;
Goode; Jim; (San Diego, CA) ; Kaplan; Elan;
(San Diego, CA) ; Hicks; Carolyn; (Melbourne,
AU) ; Thomason; Jon; (San Diego, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Everyone Counts, Inc. |
San Diego |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
46925922 |
Appl. No.: |
16/212260 |
Filed: |
December 6, 2018 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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15484071 |
Apr 10, 2017 |
10186102 |
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16212260 |
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14550339 |
Nov 21, 2014 |
9619956 |
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15484071 |
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13433042 |
Mar 28, 2012 |
8899480 |
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14550339 |
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61468522 |
Mar 28, 2011 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07C 13/02 20130101;
G06F 16/1794 20190101; G07C 13/00 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G07C 13/02 20060101
G07C013/02; G07C 13/00 20060101 G07C013/00; G06F 16/178 20060101
G06F016/178 |
Claims
1. A method for remaking ballots, the method comprising: receiving
a voter-generated physical ballot including a machine-readable
indicia that encodes an indication of choices of a voter; scanning
the voter-generated physical ballot; decoding the scanned
machine-readable indicia to determine the choices of the voter; and
printing a remade ballot including indications of the choices of
the voter, the remade ballot being readable by a ballot
scanner.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the voter-generated physical
ballot is printed on plain paper.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the voter-generated physical
ballot is received by way of a postal service.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable indicia is a
barcode.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable indicia
further encodes information about formatting of the remade
ballot.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the voter-generated physical
ballot further includes a human-readable representation of the
choices of the voter.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising comparing the
human-readable representation of the choices of the voter to the
decoded choices of the votes.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising tagging the
voter-generated physical ballot for manual processing when a
discrepancy is found in the comparison of the human-readable
representation of the choices of the voter and the decoded choices
of the votes.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of choices of a
voter encoded in the machine-readable indicia includes a session
identifier.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein decoding the scanned
machine-readable indicia into the choices of the voter comprises
looking up the choices of the voter corresponding to a decoded
session identifier decoded from the scanned machine-readable
indicia.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising tracking the voter's
ballot submission as having been received based on decoding the
scanned machine-readable indicia.
12. A method for tabulating ballots, the method comprising:
receiving a voter-generated physical ballot including a
machine-readable indicia that encodes an indication of choices of a
voter; scanning the voter-generated ballot; decoding the scanned
machine-readable indicia into the choices of the voter; and
tabulating the decoded choices of the voter.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the voter-generated physical
ballot is printed on plain paper.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the voter-generated physical
ballot is received by way of a postal service.
15. The method of claim 12, wherein the machine-readable indicia is
a barcode.
16. The method of claim 12, wherein the voter-generated ballot
further includes a human-readable representation of the choices of
the voter.
17. The method of claim 16, further comprising comparing the
human-readable representation of the choices of the voter to the
decoded choices of the votes.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising tagging the
voter-generated ballot for manual processing when a discrepancy is
found in the comparison of the human-readable representation of the
choices of the voter and the decoded choices of the votes.
19. The method of claim 12, wherein the indication of choices of a
voter encoded in the machine-readable indicia includes a session
identifier.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein decoding the scanned
machine-readable indicia into the choices of the voter comprises
looking up the choices of the voter corresponding to a decoded
session identifier decoded from the scanned machine-readable
indicia.
21. The method of claim 12, further comprising tracking the voter's
ballot submission as having been received based on decoding the
scanned machine-readable indicia.
22. A method for processing ballots, the method comprising:
supplying an electronic ballot from an election server to a client
device for use by a voter, the electronic ballot comprising
information regarding one or more contests; receiving selections of
choices for the contests from the voter; transferring an indication
of the selected choices for the contests to an election office; and
printing a remade ballot including indications of the choices of
the voter, the remade ballot being readable by a ballot
scanner.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein transferring the indication of
the selected contest choices to the election office comprises
reading a machine-readable indicia from the client device.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the machine-readable indicia is
a barcode.
25. The method of claim 22, wherein the indication of the selected
contest choices includes a session identifier.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein printing the remade ballot
comprises looking up the choices of the voter corresponding to a
decoded session identifier decoded from the scanned
machine-readable indicia.
27. The method of claim 22, further comprising tracking the voter's
ballot submission as having been received based on decoding the
scanned machine-readable indicia.
28. The method of claim 22, further comprising storing the
indication of the selected contest choices on a second device, and
wherein transferring the indication of the selected contest choices
to the election office comprises reading the indication from the
second device.
29. The method of claim 22, wherein the indication of the selected
contest choices are transferred to the election office
electronically.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of and claims priority
under 35 U. S.C. .sctn. 120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
14/550,339, filed on Nov. 21, 2014 and titled "Systems and Methods
for Remaking Ballots," which is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/433,042, filed on Mar. 28, 2012 and titled
"Systems And Methods For Remaking Ballots", which claims the
benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/468,522,
filed on Mar. 28, 2011 and titled "Systems And Methods For Remaking
Ballots". The disclosures of each document mentioned in this
paragraph are incorporated herein by reference in their
entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present invention relates to electronic voting and to
systems and methods for remaking ballots printed by voters using
consumer-grade printing equipment into ballots readable by
specialized ballot scanners.
[0003] Providing remote voting allows greater participation in
elections. Some voters may be unable to go to a polling place, for
example, deployed military personnel. It may be difficult for other
voters to vote using traditional ballots, for example, those with
disabilities.
[0004] It is expected that elections will be administered
skillfully so that integrity of the results is assured including
that voters' choices are kept secret, eligible voters are allowed
to vote for the contests for which they are authorized to cast
votes, and all votes are accurately counted. Election officials
have established various procedures to carry out their duties. For
example, using official ballot scanners to automatically count
paper ballots that use special paper stock, where the accuracy of
the particular combination of scanners and ballots has be
established. However, remotely-cast votes are difficult to process
using these procedures.
SUMMARY
[0005] Systems and methods for electronic voting are provided. In
one aspect, the invention provides a method for remaking ballots.
The method includes: receiving a voter-generated physical ballot
including a machine-readable indicia that encodes an indication of
choices of a voter; scanning the voter-generated physical ballot;
decoding the scanned machine-readable indicia to determine the
choices of the voter; and printing a remade ballot including
indications of the choices of the voter, the remade ballot being
readable by a ballot scanner.
[0006] In another aspect, the invention provides a method for
tabulating ballots. The method includes: receiving a
voter-generated physical ballot including a machine-readable
indicia that encodes an indication of choices of a voter; scanning
the voter-generated ballot; decoding the scanned machine-readable
indicia into the choices of the voter; and tabulating the decoded
choices of the voter.
[0007] In another aspect, the invention provides a system for
processing ballots. The method includes: supplying an electronic
ballot from an election server to a client device for use by a
voter, the electronic ballot comprising information regarding one
or more contests; receiving one or more indications of choices for
the contests from the voter; transferring the indications of the
choices for the contests to an election office; and printing a
remade ballot including indications of the choices of the voter,
the remade ballot being readable by a ballot scanner.
[0008] Other features and advantages of the present invention
should be apparent from the following description which
illustrates, by way of example, aspects of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The details of the present invention, both as to its
structure and operation, may be gleaned in part by study of the
accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to
like parts, and in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates a system for remaking ballots in
accordance with aspects of the invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is flow diagram of a method for remaking
voter-generated ballots in accordance with aspects of the
invention;
[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a voter-generated ballot in
accordance with aspects of the invention; and
[0013] FIG. 4 is a listing of information contained in a
machine-readable indicia of an example voter-generate ballot in
accordance with aspects of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates a system for remaking ballots. A voter
uses a client device 20 to access an election server 10 via a
network 15. The election server 10 supplies a ballot to the client
device 20 based ballot styles 12. The voter selects choices for
contests on the ballot using the client device 20. The completed
ballot is printed user printer 30 to create a voter-generated
ballot 32 that includes a machine-readable indicia that indicates
the voter's choices. The voter- generated ballot is sent via a
postal service 55 to an election office where a transcriber 50
scans the voter-generated ballot and decodes the voter's choices.
The transcriber 50 prints a remade ballot 52 that is formatted like
conventional ballots. A ballot scanner 60 scans the remade ballot
52 along with other ballots 62. The ballot scanner 60 supplies
votes from the scanned ballots 62 to a tabulation 70.
[0015] The election server 10 is configured to allow voters to
remotely access ballots through the network 15. The network 15 may
be the Internet, a telephone network, or other communication
networks. In an embodiment, the election server 10 is a networked
computer server configured to run the eLect Today suite of election
software from Everyone Counts, Inc.
[0016] The election server 10 uses one or more ballot styles 12 to
supply ballots to voters. The ballot styles 12 include ballot
information to be presented to voters and may also include
formatting information for how the ballot information is to be
presented. The ballot styles 110 can be provided to the election
server 10 by an Election Management System (EMS). The ballot styles
12 may be in many formats, such as Portable Document Format (PDF),
MICROSOFT WORD documents, Extensible Markup Language or other types
of markup language files, comma-separated values (CSV), and
Election Markup Language (EML) format files.
[0017] The voter accesses the election server 10 using the client
device 20. The client device 20 includes computing, user interface,
and communication functions. Example client devices include
personal computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, and smart
phones. When the client device 20 accesses the election server 10,
the voter can be provided a login page for the voter to supply
identification information. The identification information can
include information such as a voter identification number provided
by election officials, a social security number or tax
identification number assigned by a state or federal government, a
password, a machine-readable secure identity card, and biometric
information such as a fingerprint.
[0018] The election server 10 uses the identification information
to authenticate the voter's eligibility to vote in particular
contests. The election server 10 can use the authenticated
identification information to identify the correct ballot style 12
to present to the voter.
[0019] The election server 10 uses characteristics, for example,
residence and political party registration, of the voter to
determine which ballot style to use. The characteristics may be
based on electoral role information that election officials have
provided to the election server 10. The voter can use the client
device 20 to make his or her choices on the ballot presented by the
election server 10. The choices may be made, in various
embodiments, by way of a web page where the voter can fill out
choices, or an editable form that the user can fill out, such as a
PDF document. In some embodiments, the client device 20 downloads a
custom application from the election server 10 and executes the
custom application to present the ballot information to the voter
and to receive the voter's choices.
[0020] Once the voter has voted, in the embodiment illustrated in
FIG. 1, ballot information is sent from the client device 20 to the
printer 30 where the voter-generated ballot 32 is printed. The
client device 20 may be coupled to the printer 30 by a wired or
wireless connection. The connection from the client device 20 to
the printer 30 may include intermediate devices. The printer 30 can
be ordinary printer using ordinary paper that is commonly available
in many households and offices. That is, the printer 30 is not
specialized for printing ballots.
[0021] Printing of the voter-generated ballot 32 can be triggered
by a "print ballot" function on the user interface of the client
device 20. The "print ballot" function can be made available on the
client device 20 after error checking, voter confirmation, and the
like.
[0022] The voter-generated ballot 32 includes the machine-readable
indicia that encodes information about the ballot. The
machine-readable indicia may be a linear barcode, a two-dimensional
barcode, or some other machine-readable indicia producible by the
printer 30. The machine-readable indicia, in an embodiment, encodes
800 bytes of information. The amount of information may be chosen
based on criteria including a tradeoff between the amount of
information versus the size or robustness of the machine-readable
indicia. The machine-readable indicia can be created at the
election server 10 or at the client device 20.
[0023] The information encoded by the machine-readable indicia is,
in some embodiments, a coding of the actual ballot information
including the choices made by the voter. In other embodiments, the
information encoded by the machine-readable indicia is an
identifier of the ballot. The identifier can be mapped to the
voter's choices at the election office. The voter-generated ballot
32 usually does not contain any information that could be used to
identify the voter.
[0024] The machine-readable indicia may be encrypted to prevent
reading by unauthorized parties. The machine-readable indicia can
include redundant information to facilitate decoding of a poorly
printed or damaged voter-generated ballot. The machine-readable
indicia can be chosen to be tolerant of printing that is the wrong
size, printing that is on the wrong kind of paper, printing that
uses ink that is faint, printing that is skewed or rotated, and
other problems that could preclude scanning by election officials
using official ballot scanners.
[0025] In some embodiments, the voter-generated ballot 32 includes
human-readable ballot information. The human-readable ballot
information may appear substantially like a conventional ballot.
The voter may view the human-readable ballot information to confirm
that the voter-generated ballot 32 contains the voter's intended
choices. The human-readable ballot information can also be used by
election officials to manually tabulate ballots that cannot be
automatically processed.
[0026] An affidavit may be printed in addition to the
voter-generated ballot 32. The affidavit can be executed by the
voter to swear that she is the person that she has represented
herself to be and that she is authorized to cast the votes on the
ballot. The content and existence of the affidavit depends on the
jurisdiction in which the ballot is cast. Mailing instructions
including instructions for folding the voter-generated ballot 32
can also be printed.
[0027] The voter sends the voter-generated ballot 32 to the
election office via the postal service 55. The postal service 55
may be a government postal service or a private deliver service.
When used, the affidavit is sent to the election office with the
voter-generated ballot 32. At the election office, the received
documents can be verified according to the procedures established
for the particular election. The procedures may include sorting
voter-generated ballots from other types of ballots received by the
election office.
[0028] The voter-generated ballot 32 is scanned by the transcriber
50 at the election office. The transcriber 50 can include multiple
machines, for example, a scanning device and a printing device. The
transcriber 50 reads the machine-readable indicia from the
voter-generated ballot and decodes the information about the
ballot. The transcriber 50 uses the information to determine the
format and contents of the corresponding official-format ballot.
The format and contents of the corresponding official-format ballot
may be directly contained in the information from the
machine-readable indicia or may be looked up based on an identifier
contained in the machine-readable indicia.
[0029] The transcriber 50 prints the remade ballot 52 in a form
that can be scanned by the ballot scanner 60. The transcriber 50
may include or be coupled to a computer server that stores
information on how to format the remade ballot 52. The remade
ballot 52 may printed on special paper stock of a special size and
using special ink. The specialized printing is according to
characteristics of the ballot scanner 60 to be used. The
transcriber 50 may print the voter's choices on preprinted ballot
stock or print the full ballot on blank paper.
[0030] In some embodiments, the transcriber 50 analyzes any
human-readable information on the voter-generated ballot 32. The
transcriber 50 can compare the human-readable information to the
information from the machine-readable indicia. If a discrepancy
exists, the transcriber 50 can indicate that the voter-generated
ballot 32 should be examined by election officials. Additionally,
the transcriber 50 can flag those voter-generated ballots that the
transcriber 50 cannot read for manual processing by an election
official.
[0031] The remade ballot 52 is scanned by the ballot scanner 60 and
the voter's choices sent to the tabulation 70. The ballot scanner
60 commonly has a low tolerance for error or variation in the
ballots it scans. For example, the ballot scanner 60 may need
heavy, odd-sized paper with very precisely positioned ovals and
heavy black calibration marks. The ballot scanner 60 also scans
other ballots 62 received at the election center. The other ballots
62 may be ballots from precinct polling places.
[0032] Although FIG. 1 illustrates a single instance of each
element, it should be understood that a system may include multiple
instances of the various elements. For example, each system will
generally include many remade ballots that where remade from many
voter-generated ballots created for voters using many different
client devices.
[0033] In an alternative system, the voter's choices are received
electronically by the election center rather than on the paper
voter-generated ballot 32. In an embodiment, the client device 20
is taken to the election center or a polling station to signal the
voter's choices for tabulation. For example, the machine-readable
indicia may be read by the transcriber 50 from a display on the
client device 20. In another embodiment, the transcriber 50
receives indications of the voter's choices from another device,
for example, a magnetic strip or a memory device. Alternatively,
the voter's choices may be communicated to the transcriber 50 via
wireless transmission, for example, using Bluetooth or infrared
communication. The voter's choices may also be communicated
remotely by the client device 20 to the election center, for
example, via the election server 10.
[0034] In another alternative, the voter-generated ballot 32
tabulated directly by the transcriber 50 and the remade ballot 52
is not printed.
[0035] A system may provide combinations of the foregoing methods
for communicating ballot choices. For example, in one election,
some voters may print and mail paper voter-generated ballots while
other voters may submit their choices electronically.
[0036] FIG. 2 is flowchart of a process for remaking
voter-generated ballots into marked optical scan ballots. The
process illustrated in FIG. 2 may be used in conjunction with the
system illustrated in FIG. 1.
[0037] In step 205, the process converts Election Management System
(EMS) files that include ballot data into a version that can be
accessed via an online channel. For example, an EMS process can be
used to generate an official ballot for an election, and the
official ballot can be converted into one or more ballot styles
that can be made available for access by voters online. The voters
may be provided an access code or other authentication credentials
that can be used to limit the access to the online ballots to those
who are eligible to vote in the election. The credentials can be
assigned such that they are not associated with any voter-specific
identification information that could be used to associate a
particular voter with a ballot generated using the authentication
credentials.
[0038] In step 210, once the ballot is available online, a voter
can access the online ballot and make his or her choices in the
election.
[0039] In step 215, the voter than prints out the ballot that
includes the vote choices indicated by a machine-readable indicia
that can be scanned by election officials to remake the ballot.
[0040] In step 220, the voter then mails the ballot and, in some
embodiments, an affidavit to election officials.
[0041] In step 225, the election officials receive the
voter-generated ballots in the mail. The election officials also
receive other types of absentee ballots that are sorted from the
voter-generated ballots. The voter-generated ballots are scanned to
decode information in the machine-readable indicia. Election
officials may validate each voter using information provided in the
affidavit before processing the voter-generated ballot to ensure
that the voter was entitled to vote in the election and to ensure
that the voter has not already voted in the election. Election
officials may also track which voters have submitted ballots based
on the scanned information.
[0042] In step 230, the process uses the decoded information to
remake the voter-generated ballots into remade ballots. The
transcriber 60 of the system of FIG. 1 can by used to scan the
machine-readable indicia and print the remade ballots.
[0043] In step 235, the remade ballots are scanned by election
officials using a ballot scanner. The choices indicated on the
remade ballots can then be tabulated.
[0044] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a voter-generated ballot.
The voter-generated ballot of FIG. 3 can be used in the system of
FIG. 1 and the method of FIG. 2. The illustrated ballot includes a
title section 301, a human-readable section 311, and
machine-readable indicia 321. The title section 301 identifies the
election that the ballot pertains to. The human-readable section
311 shows the voter's choices in the contests on the ballot. The
machine-readable indicia 321 encodes the voter's choices in a form
that can be read by election equipment. The machine-readable
indicia 321 may also contain various parameters and values that
indicate formatting information include formatting of the
machine-readable indicia 321.
[0045] The machine-readable indicia 321, in the illustrated
example, is a Data Matrix two-dimensional barcode. Although the
machine-readable indicia 321 is positioned in FIG. 3 at the lower
right of the voter-generated ballot, other positions may also be
used. For example, a central position may provide improved
tolerance to ballot margins that may vary between printers and web
browsers.
[0046] FIG. 4 is a listing of information contained in a
machine-readable indicia of an example voter-generate ballot. The
information of FIG. 3 can be used with the system of FIG. 1, the
method of FIG. 2, and the ballot of FIG. 3. The example ballot
encodes the information as text. In other embodiments, the
information may be encoded differently, for example, in binary
form.
[0047] The information includes a version parameter 402. The value
of the version parameter 402 identifies the version of the
machine-readable indicia. The version may correspond to a version
of software used to generate the machine-readable indicia. The
version may also correspond to a version of software to be used
with the transcriber that will regenerate the ballot. In the
illustrated example, the value of the version parameter 402 is
1.2.
[0048] The information includes a ballot-design-id parameter 404.
The ballot-design-id parameter 404 names a digital file that can be
used for remaking the voter-generated ballot. The digital file
includes a template that provides formatting information for use in
remaking the voter-generated ballot. The value of the
ballot-design-id parameter 404 may depend on the supplier of the
Election Management System or ballot scanner used.
[0049] The information includes a ballot-style parameter 406. The
value of the ballot-style parameter 406 identifies a digital file
that will be used for remaking the voter-generated ballot. The
ballot presented to the voter may be generated from, or otherwise
related to, the file used for remaking.
[0050] The information includes a ballot-type parameter 408. The
value of the ballot-type parameter 408 defines the election system
that is associated with the remade ballot. Each election system may
have unique method for marking ballots, such as ovals or arrows.
The value of the ballot-type parameter 408 can be used in remaking
the ballot to determine how print and format the remade ballot. The
value ballot-type parameter 408 may be based on an enumerated list
of types, for example, 1=ES&S (Unity) (Ovals), 2=Premier (Gems)
(Ovals), 3=Sequoia (Arrow), and 4=Hart
[0051] The information includes an id parameter 410. The value of
the id parameter 410 provides the ballot receipt id. The ballot
receipt id is typically printed on the ballot and retained by the
voter. However, the ballot receipt id does not identify the actual
voter. The ballot receipt id can be used to determine uniqueness of
all printed pages submitted and allow voters to track ballots, as
required by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Additionally, the
ballot receipt id may be used to verify the marks between the
remade ballot and the original voter-generated ballot.
[0052] The information includes a remake-type parameter 412. The
value of the remake-type parameter 412 can signal whether to remake
the voter-generated ballot. Voter-generated ballots that are not
remade can be identified and sorted for alternate processing, for
example, manual review by election officials. A value of filled may
be used to signal that the voter-generated ballot is to be remade;
a value of none may be used to signal that the voter-generated
ballot is not to be remade.
[0053] The remake-type parameter 412 for some voter-generated
ballots may be set to indicate that the ballots should not be
remade when the ballot includes information that is not included in
the machine-readable indicia. This can occur, for example, when the
ballot includes a large number of write-in votes or write-in votes
with names that are too long for the format of the machine-readable
indicia. This can also occur when ballot includes characters that
are not supported.
[0054] The information includes choices 220a-n elected by the voter
for contests in the election. The contests, in the example of FIG.
4, are identified by race numbers. The selections can be signaled
by candidate numbers. The race numbers and candidate numbers are
listed as name-value pairs. The race numbers and candidate numbers
map to particular races and candidates. The mapping may depend on
other information, such as the ballot-design-id parameter 404 and
ballot-style parameter 406.
[0055] Choices 220a-c and 220e-k show simple, vote-for-one marks.
These choices include one race number and one candidate number.
[0056] If the voter leaves a race unmarked, that race can be
omitted from the information encoded in the machine-readable
indicia. In the example information of FIG. 4, the fourth race 220d
is omitted.
[0057] The information may include voter choices for other than
vote-for-one races. For example, the twelfth race 220l shows the
information for a multiple-marks race where the voter is allowed to
chose more than one candidate.
[0058] The information may also include write-in choices. In FIG.
4, the thirteenth race 220m illustrates a single write-in candidate
and the fourteenth race 220n illustrates multiple write-in
candidates in one race. The write-in choices can be enclosed in
quotes and separated by commas. The write-in names are preceded by
their position numbers.
[0059] Those of skill will appreciate that the various illustrative
logical blocks, modules, and algorithm steps described in
connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented
as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.
To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and
software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, and
steps have been described above generally in terms of their
functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as
hardware or software depends upon the design constraints imposed on
the overall system. Skilled persons can implement the described
functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but
such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing
a departure from the scope of the invention. In addition, the
grouping of functions within a module, block, or step is for ease
of description. Specific functions or steps can be moved from one
module or block without departing from the invention.
[0060] The various illustrative logical blocks and modules
described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can
be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a
digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated
circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other
programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic,
discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed
to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose
processor can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the
processor can be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or
state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination
of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a
microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more
microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such
configuration.
[0061] The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection
with the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied directly in
hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a
combination of the two. A software module can reside in RAM memory,
flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers,
hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage
medium. An exemplary storage medium can be coupled to the processor
such that the processor can read information from, and write
information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage
medium can be integral to the processor. The processor and the
storage medium can reside in an ASIC.
[0062] The above description of the disclosed embodiments is
provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the
invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be
readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic
principles described herein can be applied to other embodiments
without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus,
it is to be understood that the description and drawings presented
herein represent a presently preferred embodiment of the invention
and are therefore representative of the subject matter, which is
broadly contemplated by the present invention. It is further
understood that the scope of the present invention fully
encompasses other embodiments that may become obvious to those
skilled in the art and that the scope of the present invention is
accordingly limited by nothing other than the appended claims.
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