Optical Character Recognition Of Voter Selections For Cast Vote Records
AssigneeHart InterCivic, Inc.
InventorsJames M. Canter, Drew E. Tinney, Ievgen Konovalenko
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronic voting system is described that utilizes printed vote records (PVRs) in which a voter's vote selections are recorded in voter readable characters. Optical character recognition (OCR) techniques may then be utilized to scan the PVR to record the voter's selections. The OCR data is then utilized to generate the cast vote record. Thus, the electronic voting system directly interprets the voter selections from the PVR just as the voter sees the data. In this manner “what you see is what you get” printed vote record data is provided for a voter's viewing and that same data is used to generate the cast vote record.
Claims44
A method for electronic voting using printed vote records, comprising:
- generating a printed vote record of at least one vote selection of a voter;
- providing, on the printed vote record, voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection;
- providing, on the printed vote record, encoded data, the encoded data based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- electronically scanning the voter readable text on the printed vote record to create a first data set, the first data set based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- electronically scanning the encoded data on the printed vote record to create a second data set, the second data set based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- comparing the first data set and the second data set;
- and
- providing a cast vote record which is to be a stored record of the voter's final vote selections and which is to be the voter's casted vote used for vote tabulation, the cast vote record indicating the voter's at least one vote selection as determined by the first data set, the cast voter record having all of the voter's vote selections from the printed vote record.
A method for electronic voting using printed vote records, comprising:
- generating a printed vote record of at least one vote selection of a voter;
- providing, on the printed vote record, voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection;
- providing, on the printed vote record, encoded data based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- electronically scanning the voter readable text on the printed vote record;
- generating a first data set from the voter readable text using optical character recognition (OCR) and a comparison to an election dictionary, the first data set based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- electronically scanning the encoded data on the printed vote record to create a second data set, the second data set based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- and
- providing a cast vote record indicating the voter's at least one vote selection based on the first data set,
- wherein generating the first data set further comprises generating an OCR string from the voter readable text, and comparing the OCR string to at least one comparison string, and wherein the comparison string comprises a concatenation of data from the election dictionary including at least a part of a candidate's name and additional data.
The method of claim 38, wherein generating the first data set further comprises generating an OCR hash from application of OCR to the voter readable text, and comparing the OCR hash to an encoded hash extracted from the encoded data on the printed vote record.
A method for electronic voting using printed vote records, comprising:
- generating a printed vote record of at least one vote selection of a voter;
- providing, on the printed vote record, voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection;
- providing, on the printed vote record, encoded data, the encoded data based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- electronically scanning the voter readable text on the printed vote record to create a first data set, the first data set based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- electronically scanning the encoded data on the printed vote record to create a second data set, the second data set based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- comparing the first data set and the second data set;
- and
- providing a cast vote record which is to be a record of all of the voter's final vote selections and which is used for vote tabulation, the cast vote record indicating the voter's at least one vote selection as determined by the first data set, the cast vote record being generated after the comparing the first data set and the second data set, the cast vote record being utilized for vote tabulation purposes before vote auditing.
A method for electronic voting using printed vote records, comprising:
- generating a printed vote record of at least one vote selection of a voter;
- providing, on the printed vote record, voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection;
- providing, on the printed vote record, encoded data, the encoded data based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- electronically scanning the voter readable text on the printed vote record to create a first data set, the first data set based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- electronically scanning the encoded data on the printed vote record to create a second data set, the second data set based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection;
- comparing the first data set and the second data set;
- and
- providing a cast vote record which is to be a retained record of the voter's final vote selections and which is to be the voter's sole casted vote used for vote tabulation, the cast vote record indicating the voter's at least one vote selection as determined by the first data set.
The method of claim 43, wherein the comparing is performed prior to generating the any cast vote record which is cast for the voter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.