Inventors:
Steve Bolton - Clearwater FL, US
Timothy J. Cordes - La Vista NE, US
James E. Schmidt - Omaha NE, US
International Classification:
G07C 13/00
Abstract:
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.