Patent Application
20080121680
The invention disclosed herein relates generally to voting systems, and more particularly to a method and system for protecting privacy of signatures on ballots sent through the mail.
In democratic countries, governmental officials are chosen by the citizens in an election. Conducting an election and voting for candidates for public office in the United States can be performed in several different ways. One such way utilizes mechanical voting machines at predetermined polling places. When potential voters enter the predetermined polling place, voting personnel verify that each voter is properly registered in that voting district and that they have not already voted in that election. Thus, for a voter to cast his vote, he must go to the polling place at which he is registered, based on the voter's residence. Another method for conducting an election and voting utilizes paper ballots that are mailed to the voter who marks the ballot and returns the ballot through the mail. Mailed ballots have been historically reserved for absentee voting. In the usual absentee voting process, the voter marks the ballot to cast his/her vote and then inserts the ballot in a return envelope which is typically pre-addressed to the voter registrar office in the corresponding county, town or locality in which the voter is registered. The voter typically appends his/her signature on the back of the envelope adjacent his/her human or machine readable identification.
When the return envelope is received at the registrar's office, a voting official compares the voter signature on the envelope with the voter signature retrieved from the registration file to make a determination as to whether or not the identification information and signature are authentic and valid, and therefore the vote included in the envelope should be counted. If the identification information and signature are deemed to be authentic and valid, the identifying information and signature are separated from the sealed ballot before it is handed to the ballot counters for tabulation. In this manner, the privacy of the voter's selections is maintained and thus the ballot remains a “secret ballot.”
One general problem with vote by mail envelopes is the signature is in the open and exposed for all to see throughout the process for determining whether or not the vote is authentic. This leads to potential privacy issues and concerns, e.g., fraudulent usage of a voter's signature. Some jurisdictions have required that such signatures be hidden from plain sight while the envelope is en route from the voter to the registrar's office. This will protect against easy imaging of the signature, such as, for example, with a hand scanner or digital camera, for later impersonation or other fraudulent purposes, e.g., identity theft. To comply with such requirements, envelopes have been proposed that hide the signature with a flap which is removed when the envelope is received at the registrar's office. These solutions, however, require some mechanical manipulation of the envelopes, which is both expensive and increases the risk of accidental tears of the envelope, potentially leading to damage to the ballots contained in the envelopes and subsequently errors in the counting of votes.
Voting by mail is becoming more prevalent, apart from the usual absentee voting, and in some jurisdictions, entire elections are being conducted exclusively by mail. As the voting by mail becomes more prevalent, the privacy concerns are also more prevalent. Thus, there exists a need for efficient methods and systems that can protect the privacy of signatures on ballots sent through the mail while also reducing the risk of damage to the ballots when the signatures are revealed.
The present invention alleviates the problems associated with the prior art and provides methods and systems that protect the privacy of signatures on ballots sent through the mail while also reducing the risk of damage to the ballots when the signatures are revealed.
In accordance with the present invention, the envelope for returning ballots by mail includes an electronic optical shutter that covers an opening in the flap of the envelope. The voter signs the back of the envelope in an area that will be visible through the opening in the flap (covered by the optical shutter) when the envelope flap is sealed. The optical shutter is opaque under static conditions, but will become transparent when appropriate power is supplied to it. Thus, when the envelope flap is sealed and no power is applied to the optical shutter, the voter's signature will be concealed by the optical shutter. Upon receipt at the registrar's office (or other official vote tallying location), the optical shutter can be powered, thereby rendering the optical shutter transparent, and the voter's signature can be viewed for comparison with the official records to perform the required signature verification to determine validity and authenticity of the ballot. Preferably, the envelope flap is provided with conductive power rails that will allow power to be supplied to the optical shutter while the envelope is being processed by automated mail processing equipment. Thus, while the envelope is en route from the voter to the registrar's office, the voter's signature will be concealed from plain view. Viewing of the signature does not require any mechanical manipulation of the envelope or flaps on the envelope, thereby reducing the processing cost and the risk of causing damage to the ballot contained therein. After verification of the voter's signature, the ballot can be separated from the envelope and provided to the ballot counters for tabulation. Optionally, the optical shutter can be reused on subsequent envelopes.
Therefore, it should now be apparent that the invention substantially achieves all the above aspects and advantages. Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Moreover, the aspects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The accompanying drawings illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. As shown throughout the drawings, like reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts.
In describing the present invention, reference is made to the drawings, wherein there is seen in
The body portion 12 is provided with an area 20 intended for the voter's signature along with an area 22 in which information that identifies the voter is provided. Such information can include, for example, the voter's name and address, and is preferably provided in some machine readable form such as a barcode. The identification information is preferably preprinted on the body portion 12 of the envelope 10, or alternatively may be preprinted on an adhesive label that the voter applies to the body portion 12 in the area 22.
The flap portion includes an opening 30 (indicated by the dashed lines in
As light traveling in the direction indicated by the arrow 56 strikes the first substrate 46, it is polarized in the polarizing orientation of the substrate 46 and passed through. The molecules in each layer of the nematic liquid crystals 52 guide the light to each successive layer. As light passes through each molecule, the orientation of the light is changed to match the plane of each molecule. When the light reaches the final layer of molecules in the nematic liquid crystals 52, its orientation is at the same angle as the final layer of molecules, which is at a ninety degree angle to the polarizing orientation of the substrate 44. As such, the light will not pass through the substrate 44 and the optical shutter 32 will appear as a dark area, i.e., opaque. When a voltage is applied between the common electrode plane 48 and the segment electrode plane 50, thereby passing a current through the nematic liquid crystals 52, the nematic liquid crystals 52 will untwist. The untwisting of the nematic liquid crystals 52 will change the angle of the light passing through them, aligning the orientation of the light to match the polarizing orientation of the substrate 44. As such, with a voltage applied to the planes 48, 50, light will pass through the substrate 44 and the optical shutter 32 will appear transparent.
The use of the conductive rails 40, 42 according to the present invention eliminates the need for individual power supplies associated with each optical shutter 32. The conductive rails 40, 42 can be utilized to provide the necessary power to the optical shutter 32 as the envelope 10 is being processed by automated processing equipment. The conductive rails 40, 42 are preferably applied to the surface of the substrate 46 or to the body portion 12 with connections to the applicable plane 48, 50. The conductive rail 40 is preferably provided with alternating contacts 54, the reason for which described below.
The system 60 will apply a voltage from voltage supply source 68 to the optical shutter 32 of each envelope being transported therethrough, thereby rendering the optical shutter 32 transparent and allowing the reading device 66 to read each voter's signature located under the optical shutter 32. The voltage applied between the common electrode plane 48 and segment electrode plane 50 is preferably an AC RMS voltage with a minimal (approximately 50 mv or less) DC offset, as a DC voltage will cause damage to the nematic liquid crystals 52 which will eventually destroy them. Thus, the voltage source 68 may be an AC voltage source and the rails 40, 42 may be continuous rails. It is preferable to apply a square wave voltage signal to the common plane 48 and segment plane 50. While a purely AC signal (with no DC offset) can easily be generated, it is preferable for the voltage supply 68 to be a DC voltage source, that, coupled with the alternating contacts 54 of the conductive rail 40 (see
Upon receipt of the envelope 10 at the registrar's office, in step 106 the envelope 10 is processed using the system as illustrated in
Thus, according to the present invention, methods and systems that protect the privacy of signatures on ballots sent through the mail are provided. While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Additions, deletions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
