Integrated Voting System and Method for Accommodating Paper Ballots and Electronic Ballots

• Main Authors: CORDES TIMOTHY J, SCHMIDT JAMES E, BOLTON STEVE
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 18.12.2008
• Subjects: ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDEDFOR ELSEWHERE; CHECKING-DEVICES; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; PHYSICS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS

An integrated voting system and method for accommodating paper ballots and electronic ballots. The voting system comprises a processing circuit operable to determine whether the voting system is operating in an electronic ballot mode or a paper ballot mode. In the electronic ballot mode, an electronic ballot is displayed to the voter and, in response, the voter enters one or more voting selections via an input device. The entered voting selections are then stored in a memory device and tabulated by the processing circuit. In the paper ballot mode, a scanner assembly is operable to scan a paper ballot with one or more voting selections marked by a voter. The processing circuit is operable to decode the marked voting selections and, preferably, any irregularity associated with the paper ballot (such as an undervote or overvote) is displayed to the voter for possible correction. The marked voting selections are then tabulated by the processing circuit.