Marginal marks with pixel count
View Patent ↗A system, method and computer program for tabulating votes and creating an audit trail is provided. A ballot processing device may include a paper feed mechanism, a computer, a ballot processing application loaded on the computer, and a digital scanning device linked to the computer. The ballot processing application may process the digital image to establish a series of processing results defining one or more voting results for the paper ballot, and also an audit trail. The ballot processing application may process the digital image to define the voting results based on criteria established by election officials, including ambiguous mark criteria. The audit trail enables election officials to verify that particular paper ballots have been processed correctly in accordance with these criteria.
1. A method for determining votes recorded on a voter-marked paper ballot, comprising:
receiving, at a ballot processing computer, optical image data comprising an optical image of a voter-marked paper ballot, the voter-marked paper ballot including voter selection areas;
performing a pixel determination of one or more voter selection areas, the pixel determination identifying pixels in the optical image that contain a voter marking;
determining that a first subset of the one or more voter selection areas have been selected based on the pixel determination when a pixel count of one or more voter selection areas exceed a predefined first threshold value for determining a specific voter selection area has been selected;
determining that a second subset of the one or more voter selection areas have not been selected when a pixel count of one or more voter selection areas fall below a predefined second threshold value for determining a specific voter selection area has not been selected;
determining that a third subset of the one or more voter selection areas includes at least one ambiguous mark when a pixel count of one or more voter selection areas fall between the predefined first threshold value and second threshold value; and
outputting an indication that one or more voter selection areas are ambiguous when it is determined that the voter-marked paper ballot includes at least one ambiguous mark.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the outputting an indication comprises:
identifying marks on the voter-marked paper ballot determined to be ambiguous marks.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
routing the voter-marked paper ballot to a first location when it is determined that the voter-marked paper ballot does not include at least one ambiguous mark; and
routing the voter-marked paper ballot to a second location when it is determined that the voter-marked paper ballot does include at least one ambiguous mark.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first location comprises a ballot box.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein routing the voter-marked paper ballot to a second location comprises:
returning the voter-marked paper ballot to the voter.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining one or more votes based on one or more voter selection areas that have been determined to have been selected.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
identifying an overvote when votes for an identified race exceed an allowed number of votes for the identified race.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a pixel determination of each voter selection area, the pixel determination identifying pixels in the optical image that comprise a voter marking.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the determining steps are performed based on the pixel determination for each voter selection area.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the predefined first threshold value comprises a minimum number of pixels to be classified as a vote.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the predefined second threshold value comprises a maximum number of pixels to be classified as a non-vote.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the maximum number of pixels to be classified as a non-vote is zero pixels.
13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining one or more votes based on one or more voter selection areas that have been determined to have been selected; and
generating a vote stamp comprising the one or more votes.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
appending an image of the vote stamp to the optical image of the voter-marked paper ballot.
15. A system for determining votes recorded on a voter-marked paper ballot, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory in electronic communication with the processor, wherein the memory stores executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving optical image data comprising an optical image of a voter-marked paper ballot, the voter-marked paper ballot including voter selection areas;
performing a pixel determination of one or more voter selection areas, the pixel determination identifying pixels in the optical image that contain a voter marking;
determining that a first subset of the one or more voter selection areas have been selected based on the pixel determination when a pixel count of one or more voter selection areas exceed a predefined first threshold value for determining a specific voter selection area has been selected;
determining that a second subset of the one or more voter selection areas have not been selected when a pixel count of one or more voter selection areas fall below a predefined second threshold value for determining a specific voter selection area has not been selected;
determining that a third subset of the one or more voter selection areas includes at least one ambiguous mark when a pixel count of one or more voter selection areas fall between the predefined first threshold value and second threshold value; and
outputting an indication that one or more voter selection areas are ambiguous when it is determined that the voter-marked paper ballot includes at least one ambiguous mark.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the memory stores further executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:
determining one or more votes based on one or more voter selection areas that have been determined to have been selected.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the memory stores further executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:
performing a pixel determination of each voter selection area, the pixel determination identifying pixels in the optical image that comprise a voter marking.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the predefined first threshold value comprises a minimum number of pixels to be classified as a vote.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the predefined second threshold value comprises a maximum number of pixels to be classified as a non-vote.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the maximum number of pixels to be classified as a non-vote is zero pixels.