Election Systems & Software, LLC

Bruno Roger

Michael Davis

Mike Dvorak

Casey Ballentine

Kevin Day

Christopher Horvath

Various voting systems are disclosed that include a voting device configured to: provide a user interface that presents one or more voting choices for each of one or more contests and enables a voter to select one or more of the voting choices for each of the one or more contests; create a bitmap comprising a plurality of bit cells each of which corresponds to one of the voting choices of one of the contests, wherein each of the bit cells stores a binary digit that indicates whether the voter selected the voting choice corresponding to the bit cell; convert the binary digits stored in the bitmap to a compressed string of characters; generate one or more selection barcodes that encode the compressed string of characters; and print the one or more selection barcodes on a paper medium to create a paper ballot. The voting systems also include a ballot tabulation device configured to: read the one or more selection barcodes printed on the paper ballot to decode the compressed string of characters; convert the compressed string of characters to binary digits; analyze the binary digits to determine the selected voting choices; and store the selected voting choices in a cast vote record for the paper ballot. Various voting methods that utilize encoding schemas for compressing voting selection data are also disclosed.

Voting systems and methods for encoding voting selection data in a compressed format

A ballot tabulation device includes a scanner operable to obtain an image of at least a portion of a paper ballot that includes a voter response area. A processor applies a virtual template to the image to identify a center point for the voter response area. The virtual template comprises a set of characteristic points positioned in predetermined locations in relation to the center point of the voter response area, wherein the characteristic points comprise points that are common to a plurality of sample ballot images. The processor also defines a response window that is centered on the center point of the voter response area, and analyzes the response window to determine if the voter response area is marked by a voter.

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Omaha, NE, United States of America

Bruno Roger