Optical Character Recognition Of Voter Selections For Cast Vote Records

Abstract

An electronic voting system is described that utilizes printed vote records (PVRs) in which a voter's vote selections are recorded in voter readable characters. Optical character recognition (OCR) techniques may then be utilized to scan the PVR to record the voter's selections. The OCR data is then utilized to generate the cast vote record. Thus, the electronic voting system directly interprets the voter selections from the PVR just as the voter sees the data. In this manner “what you see is what you get” printed vote record data is provided for a voter's viewing and that same data is used to generate the cast vote record.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for electronic voting using printed vote records, comprising:
 generating a printed vote record of at least one vote selection of a voter;   providing, on the printed vote record, voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection;   electronically capturing information from the printed vote record;   using optical character recognition (OCR) on at least a portion of the electronically captured information to generate a first data set, the first data set based at least in part on the voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection;   comparing the first data set to a second data set; and   generating a cast vote record indicating the voter's at least one vote selection, wherein, prior to generating the cast vote record, an accuracy of data to be cast is confirmed based at least in part on a comparison of the first data set and the second data set.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second data set comprises an election dictionary. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the printed vote record further comprises encoded data based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection, and wherein the second data set is generated at least in part from the encoded data. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein electronically capturing information from the printed vote record includes capturing the encoded data. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising using an election dictionary to assist in confirming an accuracy of the first data set. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the electronically capturing information from the printed vote record comprises electronically scanning the voter readable text. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the printed vote record further comprises encoded data based at least in part on the voter's at least one vote selection, and wherein the electronically capturing information from the printed vote record further comprises electronically scanning the encoded data. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the encoded data is contained in a visual representation of encoded data.” 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the visual representation of encoded data is a bar code. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the bar code is a one-dimensional bar code. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the bar code is a two-dimensional bar code. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the two-dimensional bar code is a QR code. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information captured from the printed voter record comprises the voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection and other information. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the other information is contained in a bar code. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the second data set is based at least in part on the other information. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein electronically capturing information from the printed vote record comprises capturing an image of the printed vote record. 
     
     
         17 . A method for electronic voting using printed vote records, comprising:
 generating a printed vote record of at least one vote selection of a voter;   providing, on the printed vote record, voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection;   electronically capturing first information from the printed vote record;   using optical character recognition (OCR) on the first information to generate a first data set, the first data set based at least in part on the voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection;   electronically capturing second information from the printed vote record, to generate a second data set, the second information comprising encoded data;   comparing the first data set to a second data set; and   generating a cast vote record indicating the voter's at least one vote selection, wherein, prior to generating the cast vote record, an accuracy of data to be cast is confirmed based at least in part on a comparison of the first data set and the second data set.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising using an election dictionary to assist in confirming the accuracy of the data to be cast. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the encoded data is contained in a visual representation of encoded data. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the visual representation of encoded data is a bar code. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising confirming an accuracy of an optical character recognition (OCR) by utilizing a first hash produced from the first data set. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising confirming an accuracy of an optical character recognition (OCR) by comparing a first hash produced from the first data set to a second hash, wherein the second hash is at least part of the encoded data. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the comparison of the first data set and the second data set is used to confirm an accuracy of an optical character recognition (OCR) process by confirming that the at least one vote selection that the first data set is based at least in part on matches the at least one vote selection that the second data set is based at least in part on. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the cast vote record is based on the first data set. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein using optical character recognition (OCR) on the first information to generate a first data set further comprises recursively modifying an OCR process applied to the voter readable text. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the cast vote record is configured to be tabulated with other records to indicate the outcome of an election. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein after the cast vote record is generated, the cast vote record is utilized during a tabulation of an election. 
     
     
         28 . An electronic voting system for using printed vote records, comprising:
 a printer configured to generate a printed vote record of at least one vote selection of a voter, the printed vote record including voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection;   a scanner configured to electronically capture first information from the printed vote record, the first information including the voter readable text; and   a processor configured to use optical character recognition (OCR) on the first information to generate a first data set based at least in part on the voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection,   wherein the processor is configured to recursively modify the first data set, and   wherein the processor is further configured to provide a cast vote record indicating the voter's at least one vote selection based on the first data set.   
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 28 ,
 wherein the scanner is further configured to electronically capture second information from the printed vote record, to generate a second data set, the second information comprising encoded data, and   wherein the processor is further configured to generate an OCR hash from the first data set, and to compare the OCR hash to an encoded hash extracted from the encoded data on the printed vote record.   
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the processor is configured to recursively modify the first data set by generating an additional OCR hash for comparison to the encoded hash until the additional OCR hash matches the encoded hash. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the processor is configured to recursively modify the first data set by, in response to a mismatch between the OCR hash and the encoded hash, selecting a valid alternate OCR output. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the processor is configured to recursively modify the first data set by generating an OCR string from the voter readable text, and comparing the OCR string to at least one comparison string. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the comparison string comprises data from an election dictionary including at least a part of a candidate's name and additional data. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the processor is configured to recursively modify the first data set by:
 generating an OCR string from the voter readable text; and   calculating a distance between the OCR string and at least one comparison string.   
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the distance is a Levenshtein distance. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the processor is further configured to recursively modify the first data set by identifying an alternative comparison string having distance below a defined threshold. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein the distance is a Levenshtein distance. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  28 ,
 wherein the scanner is further configured to electronically capture second information from the printed vote record, to generate a second data set, the second information comprising encoded data, and   wherein the processor is further configured to confirm, prior to generating the cast vote record, an accuracy of data to be cast based at least in part on a comparison of the first data set and the second data set.   
     
     
         39 . A method for electronic voting using printed vote records, comprising:
 generating a printed vote record of at least one vote selection of a voter;   providing, on the printed vote record, voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection;   electronically capturing first information from the printed vote record;   using optical character recognition (OCR) on the first information to generate a first data set, the first data set based at least in part on the voter readable text indicating the voter's at least one vote selection;   electronically capturing second information from the printed vote record, to generate a second data set, the second information comprising encoded data;   comparing the first data set to a second data set;   confirming an accuracy of the at least one vote selection of the voter based at least in part on a comparison of the first data set and the second data set; and   after confirming an accuracy of the at least one vote selection, generating a cast vote record indicating the voter's at least one vote selection as determined by the first data set;   wherein the cast vote record is configured to be utilized for tabulating of an election.   
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39 , further comprising using an election dictionary to assist in confirming an accuracy of the first data set. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein comparing the first data set to the second data set comprises comparing a first hash produced from the first data set to a second hash extracted from the encoded data on the printed vote record. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 39 , further comprising recursively modifying the first data set, prior to generating the cast vote record. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein the recursively modifying the first data set comprises generating an additional OCR hash for comparison to a second hash extracted from the encoded data on the printed vote record, until the additional OCR hash matches the second hash. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein recursively modifying the first data set further comprises: based on the comparison of the first data set to the second data set, selecting a valid alternate OCR output based on the OCR process applied to the voter readable text. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein recursively modifying the first data set further comprises generating an OCR string from the voter readable text, and comparing the OCR string to at least one comparison string. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the comparison string comprises data from an election dictionary including at least a part of a candidate's name and additional data. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein generating the first data set further comprises:
 generating an OCR string from the voter readable text; and   calculating a distance between the OCR string and at least one comparison string.   
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 47 , wherein the distance is a Levenshtein distance. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 47 , wherein generating the first data set further comprises identifying an alternative comparison string having distance below a defined threshold. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 49 , wherein the distance is a Levenshtein distance. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 39 , further comprising: utilizing the cast vote record in tabulating the results of an election.