Vote by mail envelope that protects privacy of voter's signature
AssigneePitney Bowes Inc.
InventorsBertrand Haas, Jay Reichelsheimer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and systems that provide privacy of signatures on envelopes containing ballots are provided. The envelope for returning ballots includes a flap with a window that aligns with a signature area on the envelope. The window appears opaque under normal lighting conditions, but appears transparent when illuminated with light within a predetermined band of wavelengths. To read the signature, light having wavelength within the predetermined band can be directed onto the window, thereby rendering the window transparent and the signature visible.
Claims7
An envelope comprising:
- a body portion having a pocket for holding contents, the body portion including a signature area;
- a flap portion connected to the body portion for covering the pocket when the flap portion is in a closed position, the flap portion including a window that corresponds with the signature area of the body portion when the flap is in the closed position such that signature area is covered by the window, the window having an average transmission rate of visible light such that the window is opaque when illuminated by white light, the window having a transmission rate for a predetermined band of wavelengths of visible light such that when illuminated by light in the predetermined band of wavelengths, the window is at least partially transparent.
A method for processing a ballot received from a voter in an envelope, the envelope including a signature associated with the voter that is covered by a window, the window having an average transmission rate of visible light such that the window is opaque when illuminated by white light, the window having a transmission rate for a predetermined band of wavelengths of visible light such that when illuminated by light in the predetermined band of wavelengths, the window is at least partially transparent, the method comprising:
- illuminating the envelope with light within the predetermined band of wavelengths to reveal the signature associated with the voter that is covered by the window;
- reading the signature from the envelope;
- comparing the signature read from the envelope with a reference signature to determine authenticity of the ballot;
- and
- if the signature read from the envelope compares favorably with the reference signature, accepting the ballot as authentic.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.