Electronic Poll Book Voting Credit Un-Issuing Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electronic voting systems lack a method to un-issue a voting credit that has been erroneously issued to a voter, resulting in the voter being unable to cast a regular ballot, with their selections not being included in election day results.
Innovation Solution
An electronic poll book system that allows poll workers to verify and un-issue a voting credit using an un-issue code generated by a hashing algorithm, enabling the voter to cast a regular ballot after confirmation from the central election office.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a voting credit is issued to a voter in the electronic poll book, then the voter is prevented from voting multiple times, but if the credit was issued in error, the voter cannot vote a regular ballot
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the erroneous voting credit from the voter's record by using an un-issue code that specifically targets and removes only the incorrect credit issuance. This allows the system to separate the error correction function from the normal voting credit issuance, enabling the voter to then receive a proper voting credit and cast a regular ballot.
Solution Approach 2:
The un-issue code serves as an intermediary mechanism between the central election office and the electronic poll book. It acts as a authorized directive that enables the poll book to reverse a credit issuance without compromising the overall integrity of the voting credit system, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining reliability and enabling voter access.
2Reliability
If the electronic poll book prevents voting for voters with existing voting credits, then voting integrity is maintained, but erroneous credits prevent legitimate voters from participating
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs a preliminary check by the poll worker to identify that a voting credit exists before attempting to vote. When an error is suspected, the poll worker preliminarily obtains an un-issue code from the central election office before proceeding with the voter's ballot, thus maintaining integrity checks while enabling legitimate participation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback loop where the central election office receives information about the erroneous credit, issues an un-issue code back to the polling location, and the electronic poll book applies this feedback to correct the record. This closed-loop feedback mechanism maintains voting integrity while correcting errors that would otherwise block voter participation.
3Ease of operation
If provisional ballots are issued to voters with erroneous credits, then voters can still cast votes, but the votes are not included in election day results
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of creating a separate provisional ballot process that duplicates the voting function, the un-issue code mechanism directly corrects the voting credit record in the electronic poll book. This allows the voter to cast a regular ballot that is immediately processed and included in election day results, eliminating the information loss associated with provisional ballots.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is directed to a system and method for un-issuing a voting credit that has been erroneously issued to a voter in an election. The system includes an electronic poll book that is used to check-in a voter by locating the appropriate voter record and analyzing the voter record to determine whether a voting credit has been issued to the voter in the election. If a voting credit has been issued to the voter, the electronic poll book displays an indication that the voter has already voted in the election. If it is determined that the voting credit was erroneously issued to the voter, a poll worker enters an un-issue code into the poll book. The poll book verifies the validity of the un-issue code and updates the voter record so as to un-issue the voting credit. As such, the voter may vote a regular ballot in the election.