(12) United States Patent ( 10) Patent No.: US 7,497,377 B2

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Watson

ELEC TRONIC l'OtL RI-:G ISTER SYSTEM "'OI~ ELECTIONS

Inventor: l)a\, ld Watson. 3709 Foxford Cir. , Tallahass(.'C. FL (US) 32309

Notice: Subjecl10 any disclaimer. the term of this pntCtll is extended or adjusted under 35 U .s.c. I 54(b) by 660 days.

AppL No.: 1111 .14,793

Piled: Apr. 26, 2005

Prior "ublkalion I)ala

US 2006/0237535 A I Oct. 26, 2006

Int. CI. G06K 17100 U.S. C I.

(20()G.OI )

• ' j,:ld of C1assifkal.ioll Search 235/386; 235/51

235/386 . 235/51

Sec upplicalion file for complete search history.

ncfcrcnces C it.('d

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

5.412.727 A 5.875.432 A 6.092,Q51 A

51 1995 DrcxlcrctaL 211999 S~hr 712000 Kilian d al.

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10

(45) Date of Patent: Mar. 3, 2009

6.412.692 131 6,865,543 B2 6,873.699 132

200510092835 A I •

• cited by cxamincr

712002 Miyag,1wa 312005 Gibbs. Sr. 312005 Miyallchi 512005 Chung ct at ................ 2351386

Primary Examll7er- Karl D. Frech (7 4) Alforney. Agenl, or Firm- J. WilL}' I'{orton

(57) ABSTRACT

A n(,,\\' system for ciL'Ctronic polling. '!lIC systeJII clllploy~ a plurality of VOler check-in stMions which di~play voter iden-tity information and enable poll workers to verily voting eligibility. E.'leh check-in station is COtulected to the intemet by any avail

u.s. Patent Mar. 3. 2009 Shee. I of 3 US 7,497,377 B2

10

(

Voler Check-in Voler Check-in

14

Voler Check-in Station

18

20

12

Web site

16

FIG . 1

~8 1,\

Voter Check-in Station

u.s. Patent Mar. 3. 2009 Shee. 2 of 3 US 7,497,377 B2

10

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Voter Check-in Voter Check-in

12

Web site

22 18

Master station

24

Voter Check-in Station

20 r.V-:-o-'-te-r-C~h'--e-c-'-k-'-

in Station

Voter Check-I--__ ~ in Station 26

FIG.2

16

~8 1~

Voter Check-in Station

u.s. Patent Mar. 3. 2009

( 1

Voter Check· in Station

Sheet 3 of 3

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2

18 16

18 (2

Web site

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32 34 Voter Check-in

Station

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County voting management

system

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US 7,497,377 B2

Voter Check-in Station

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1,\

Voter Check-in Station

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14

US 7,497,377 6 2

t:U :CTRONIC POLL H.[GI STER SYST EM FOR ELECTIONS

FIELD OF HIE INVENTION

2 voter' s authorization SWtllS. '11lis makes the use of a comput-erizl.-d system less desirabl..- because iI increases the amount of time iltal",'S for an illdividu.1110 vole and causes incrcasoo wuiting lines al lhe polis,

5 [t would therefore be dcsiJ

US 7,497,377 B2 3

34 communicat ion p:nhwrlY

DETAILED DESCRIl'TION OF THE INVENTION

A b.1sic configumtion lor rJ prcierrcd embodiment of the present invention. all electronic poll rt-'gislcrsyslclIl. is shown in FIG. 1, Electronic poll ri.'gistcr system 10 principally COIII-prises multiple voter check-in SllIt ions 14 which are config-ured for connection \0 web site 12 by connection means 20. Conceptually. FIG. I can represent an electronic poll n.-gis\cr system for a singli: jurisdiction wilh multiple polling loca-tions. represemcd by votcr chcck·in Slat ions 14.Accordiugly. FIG. 1 could represent a jurisdict ion Ihm 11.11> four polling locations.

Voter check-in s\alioll 14 is Punhermnrc, the jump drive lll(lybe U~t-d tn carry comlllu-nication~ configurltlion informal ion for a ~pr..'Cinc loelilion.

)0 Communicmion conlig\ITation inlomlmion can include any inform,1tion necessary to lillow communication between the voter check-in sl.1t ion and web site 12 such lIS IP addresses, di:ll-up numbers, and network settings. '11lis allows the ek'C-tronic poll fI.."gistC'r s tation to access thc intt-mcl via dial out

Voter check-in sllltions 14 11feconnected to the internet and web site 12 by connt'Ction lIIellflS 20 . COllllt'Ctioli me-olliS 20 Ollly include LAN (Local Are:l Network). dial- in connect ion using a modt,n and phone line, wireit'Ss connection or other means of coonecting data systems koown in tbe an. Periodi-cally, at designated timc intervals. voter check-in stations 14 SC'/ld blocks of informal ion to web si te 12 via communicnt ion pathway 16. In the preferred embodiment.thc blocks of in for-mation sent to web sitc 12 includes the list of all the voters who h:lve voted at voter check-in st:ltion 14 :lnd a timc-slllmp indic:JIing Ihe l:lsl time the Ineal dawbase was updall-d with information provided by web sile 12, Using the time stamp provided by voter cht'Ck-in station 14. wcb site 12 sends blocks of infomlation to voter check-in station J4 via COIII-nlUnication p3lhway 18. The blocks of in form3lion sent via communicalion p

US 7,497,377 B2 5

voter may vote, or Ihe ballot style Ihe voter may rt.>ccivc; voting activity arising out of processing Ahsenlcc Ballot rc1urns: voting activily .. rising out orEar1y Voting: changes of eligibility such as moving out of the jurisdiction, or voter d(:ceasc: and changes of eligibility due to I:orreclion of cleri-c;tl errors. in the registration rolls . In addition, voting manage-ment system 30 retrieves tium web site 12 the registration numbers of all voters that have "checked in" at votcrchcck-ill slalions 14 and will distribute these back Ollila all ch(ock-in

6 3 . 1110.' electronic poll register system of claim I , wherein

each of said plurality of voter check-in stations is further configured to display voter identity illlonmtion.

4. lbc electronic poll register system of claim 2. wherein 5 each of said plumlity of voter chL'Ck-in st:1tion is further

configuTt.'xi to display voter identity infonll:1tion. 5. 1110.' electronic poll register sYS\(,1ll of claim .1 , wherein

said blocks ofvotcr infonnation S('l1Ito said seJVercomprises the registration numbers of all voten who h.we VO\(-d.

slalions within Ihe juri~diclion thus helping \0 pn.'VCllt a voter 10 for vOling morc than oncc.

6. 'Ibe electronic poll {('Sister system of claim I. wherein said blocks of voter infonlmtion sent to s.1id server further comprises a time stamp indicating the time s.1id blocks 01" information recdv('d from said serv('r was last received.

Although the above description reters 10 u "county" sys-tem, il should be understood thn. it can nlso be used for an etHire st;tte or jurisdiction . The cxampleof a county system is merely OtiC example of how the system can be set up for a jurisdiction.

As suggested "bove, web site .l2 com"ins" d"wb"se of "II the ch:1nges that h"ve been made "m~cting the voter's f'I.'gis-tr;ttion st:1tus or voting status. These chatlges arc time-stamped using the webs site systems clock. Voting manage-ment system 30 "long with one or more of voter check-in stMions 14 "t e"ch of the voting locations pl"ce voter infor-mMion changes onto web site ,12. Voting man"gement system 30 and voterchL'Ck-in stations 14 rt'trievech:ttlgLxi voter infor-mation lor web site 12 thus kL'Cping the main centrdl database and the distributed 10c,,1 (i.1tabases synchronized with each other. It is further contemplMed thm web site 12 can provide monitorin)!, service of polling site contacts . A web page can indic:tte any polling sites tlmt have not contacted the web site

7. 'Ibe ekctronic poll register system of cI:1im I , fnrther 15 comprising a voting management system for updating s

US 7,497,377 8 2 7

lion oonfigurntion infonllat ion for said at least one of s