Automated system and method for inbound processing of mailed ballots

A system for processing of incoming mailed ballot packages, a ballot package including a voter ID code and a verification signature, the ballot package further comprising an envelope and a ballot enclosed within the envelope, the system comprising:

• a computer system electronically storing voter signatures associated with voter ID's;
• a sorter machine coupled to the computer system and arranged to feed and transport incoming ballot packages, the sorter machine including one or more optical scanning devices for scanning voter ID's from transported ballot packages and capturing images of the verification signatures from transported ballot packages;
• and
• a signature comparison system coupled to the computer system and configured to compare the captured verification signatures with the stored voter signatures corresponding to the scanned voter ID's;
• wherein the computer system is configured to receive the scanned voter ID's from the sorter machine and to retrieve the electronically stored voter signatures, to be provided to the signature comparison system, based on the scanned voter ID's;
• wherein the computer system is further configured to generate a validation file indicating which ballot packages had verification signatures that were successfully matched with stored voter signatures by the signature comparison system by the signature comparison system;
• and
• wherein the sorter machine is configured to sort of ballot packages on a second pass using the validation file from the computer system, the sorter machine configured to separate validated ballot packages, where the signatures were successfully matched, from unvalidated ballot packages, where signatures were not successfully matched.