System and method for monitoring precinct-based ballot tabulation devices

摘要

A system for remotely monitoring a plurality of ballot tabulation devices is provided. The ballot tabulation devices are located at a plurality of polling locations, each of which is operable to process a plurality of marked paper ballots and maintain health status information for the device. The system includes a central server located remotely from the ballot tabulation devices that is operable to periodically receive the health status information for each device and generate an alert that identifies any irregularities associated with each device based on the received health status information. Preferably, the health status information is encoded in a machine-readable code that is displayed on a display screen of the ballot tabulation device, and a reading device is used to read the machine-readable code from the display screen and transmit the health status information to the central server.

主权项

1. A system for remotely monitoring a plurality of ballot tabulation devices across a jurisdiction, comprising:
a plurality of ballot tabulation devices located at a plurality of polling locations for the jurisdiction, wherein each ballot tabulation device comprises:
a scanner assembly operable to scan at least a portion of a paper ballot with one or more marked voting selections to capture an image of the paper ballot;a processing circuit programmed to analyze the image of the paper ballot so as to decode and tabulate the marked voting selections, wherein the processing circuit is also programmed to generate and maintain health status information that provides an indication of any irregularities associated with operation of the ballot tabulation device and encode the health status information in a machine-readable code;a display screen operable to display the machine-readable code; a reading device associated with each polling location and operable to read the machine-readable code from the display screen of at least one ballot tabulation device located at the polling location and transmit the health status information over a communication network to a central election office for the jurisdiction; and a central server located at the central election office for the jurisdiction remote from the ballot tabulation devices and each reading device at each polling location, wherein the central server is operable to periodically receive the health status information for each ballot tabulation device from each reading device and is programmed to generate an alert that identifies any irregularities associated with operation of the ballot tabulation device based on the received health status information.