CA2086488A1 - Touch-tone telephone voting systems - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure A touch-tone telephone voting system including a touch-tone telephone network, one or more programmable voice response units, one or more programmable digital computers and a ballot for each voter, each ballot bearing descriptions of offices and/or issues to be voted upon, statements of selections available to the voter with respect to each office or issue, and a coded designation for each office, issue and selection. In some versions of the disclosed touch-tone telephone voting system each ballot bears a ballot identification number or code designation uniquely identifying that ballot in a particular electoral district in a particular election.

Description

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1 . ., 2 . .
3TOUCH-TON~ TELEPHONE VOTING SYSTEM

5Backaround of the Invention 7Field of the Invention. My present invention relates to 8 voting systems, and more particularly to systems for efficiently 9 gathering and tabulating votes via touch-tone telephone, both in regulated elections such as political elections and in unregulated 11 elections ~uch aq elections of "all-star" sports teams and players.
12 Descri~tion of the Prior Art. systems for voting by 13 telephone are well known in the prior art.
14 An ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM is disclosed in United States Patent No. 3,502,813 issued to Harold R. Walker on March 24, 1970.
16 The telephone voting system of Walker is comprised of a p~urality 17 of voter boxes or touch-tone telephones. When the voter hears his 18 or her telephone ring he or she operates a pushbutton of his or her 19 voter bo~ or raises the handset of his or her telephone and thereby connects hi~ or her voter box or telephone to the telephone line.
21 Sub~equently the voter manipulates the switching arrangement of the 22 voter box or telephone to provide signals corresponding to his or 23 her ~elections of particular re~ponses to particular issues to be 24 voted upon, and these ~elections are transmitted via a touch-tone tolephone system, usually through a central office, to a 26 centralized receiving center.
27 In the system of Walker the telephone numbers to be 28 called, i.e., the telephone numbers of the voters to be polled, are 29 prearranged and stored on tape as dial tones. Also stored on a tape are control tones which perform switching functions. To start 31 the system, an operator ~tarts a tape recorder. A control tone 32 then causes a switching device to open a plurality of lines to a . . .

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telephone exchange. After a discrete period to allow for dial 2 tones to be received, the tape recorder sends out a plurality of 3 dialing tones, i.e., touch-tone coded audio tones which cause the 4 exchange to dial the telephone numbers of the voters being polled.
After the last dialing tone code has been transmitted, the 6 switchinq device parallels all of the dialed lines by what is 7 commonly referred to as conference bridging.
8 At this time, an operator using a microphone or a 9 recorded voice asks the answering voters to wait a moment for a poll or vote. After a di~crete period, when it is assumed that all 11 have answered, the voice will state the question to be voted upon 12 and ask those on the line to vote at the sound of the tone. The 13 tone, when given, breaks the conference bridge and leaves each 14 voter connected to an individual response recorder. The vote is stored in a suitable memory device and then scanned by a stepping 16 device to record all of the votes in a recording device. Once the 17 vote has been stored in the recording device the operator can again 18 parallel all line~ for another question or thank the pollees and 19 cause al 1 to han~ up.
In other words, the system of Walker contemplates the 21 voice tran~mission of the ballot issues or questions to the voters, 22 seriatim, and the receipt of corresponding responses from the 23 individual voter~ by way of the voter boxes of Walker or by way of 24 conventional touch-tone telephone instruments.
A METHOD FOR THE USE OF A TELEPHONE SYSTEM WITH COMMON
26 SIGNALING CHANNEL FOR THE CASTING OF VOTES is disclosed in United 27 States Patent No. 4,962,525, issued to Horst Beckh on October 9, 28 1990, and assigned to Siemens Aktiengesellschaft of Berlin, Federal 29 Republ ic of Germany.
The method of Beckh for the collection of selection 31 indicationJ of votes from callers who have dialed a particular vote 32 subscriber number of a de5tination switching center corresponting ~1 æ~
~`to a particular vote comprises the steps of: providing a common 2 signaling channel between a plurality of source switching centers and the destination switching center; answering and counting votes 4 cast by callers at each of said plurality of source switching ¦
centers for incoming calls which correspond to the particular vote 6 subscriber number dialed, and inhibiting the connection of the 7 incoming calls to a destination switching center; summing the vote 8 count of each of said plurality of source switching centers and I ~ I
9 periodically transferring a sum vaiue of the vote count to the 10 destination switching center using the common signalling channel; I -11 and adding the sum values from the source switching centers at the 12 destination switching center.
13 Japane~e Patent Document No. 1-98362(A) of Yoshitaka 14 O~akabe, dated ~pril 17, 1989, relates to an AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE
15 VOTING COLLECTION DEVICE. ;
16 In a system of O~akabe, when a caller dials a designated 17 vote collecting telephone number and that call is received by the 18 vote recorder a response circuit sends a reply signal to an 19 xchange and ~tart~ a voice signal transmission unit, whereby a fir~t voting is~ue defining voice message is transmitted to the I
21 caller, informing the caller of the nature of the question or issue 22 on which he or she is currently voting. The caller then transmits !
23 data indicating his or her selection on that issue or question, and 24 the ~ame process is repeated for each additional issue or question ¦
to be pre~entet to the voter. A control section records the 26 selections and displays the cumulative selections on a display I I
27 device.
28 Japanese Patent Document No. 56-31265(A), dated March 30, 29 1981, of Seiichi Terauchi discloses a TELEPHONE VOTE SYSTEM for voting from any dial pulse telephone set.
31 In the system of Terauchi the signal transmitted from the 32 dial pul~e telephone set is inputted to a receiver through an - 2 ~ 8 ~ `acoustic coupler and is converted to digital information. This 2 digital information is inputted to a common input register and is 3 then inputted to a central processing unit through an adapter, 4 whereafter the inputted information is subjected to vote processing similar to that used in connection with touch-tone telephone sets.
6 Japane~e Patent Document No. 52-17740, dated September 2, 7 1977, of Kiyoshi Oikawa relates to TELEPHONE CIRCUIT INPUT TERMINAL
8 EQUIPMENT which is to be associated with the voter's telephone set 9 for the prevention of false voting by other persons than the voter.
Japanese Patent Document No. 54-53904, dated April 27, 11 1979, of Takehiko Tanaka, discloses a TERMINAL UNIT FOR TELEPHONE
12 VOTE for confirming the completion of a vote by signaling the 13 completion of the vote to the central processing computer by the 14 depression of a ~pecial key at the completion of the voting, and by tran~mitting a tone generated in the vote receiving terminal to the 16 voter simultaneously with the recording of the vote in the central 17 vote recording unit.
18 Japanose Patent Document No. 56-152365(A), dated November 19 2S, 1981, of Hiroa~i Xurozumi, discloses a RANDOM CALL GENERATING
SYSTEM IN TELEPHONE VOTE SYSTEM. In the Kurozumi system touch-tone 21 telephone~ are used a~ the input/output terminals of the system, 22 which includes a register which upon reaching a predetermined count 23 genorates an overflow signal, causing an address register to 24 commence operation, and causing vote data stored in a read-only momory to be read out successively.
26 Thus, it appears that a number of these prior art patent 27 documents are related to au~iliary equipment which is to be used in 28 connection with each voter's touch-tone telephone.
29 It further appears that several of these prior art patents relate to telephone voting systems wherein the several 31 ballot is~ues or questions are voice-transmitted to the voters 32 serially.

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1 No representation or admission is made that any of the 2 above-listed patent documénts is part of the prior art, or that no 3 more pertinent information exists.
4 A copy of each of the above-discussed patent documents is supplied to the Patent and Trademark Office herewith.

6 The term "prior art" as used hersin or in any statement 7 made by or on behalf of applicant means onlv that any document or .

8 thing referred to as prior art bears, directly or inferentially, a :
9 date which is earlier than the effective filing date hereof.

11 Summarv of the Invention 13 Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to 14 provide a touch-tone telephone voting system by means of which votes are efficiently gathered and tabulated, not only in regulated 16 elections such as political elections but also in unregulated 17 elections such as elections of "all-star" sports teams and players.
18 It i9 another object of the present invention to provide 19 a touch-tone telephono voting system which attains high efficiency in data transmission and data storage.
21 It i9 yet another object of the present invention to 22 provide a touch-tone tel.ephone voting system in which no code 23 changes need be made in the host system when it is being prepared 24 to present a new ballot or set of ballot questions or issues to the voters, because all such code changes can be made in the individual 26 voice re~ponse units (VRU).
27 It is another object of the present invention to provide 28 a telephone vot.ing system which takes advantage of the wide 29 availability of touch-tone telephones and the now well established ability of practically everyone to use such telephones, even 31 perJons who are incapable oE properly manipulating a personal l oomputer kelboard, and at the same time ec ~ telephone 2 traffic time and equipment to an extent not hitherto realized.
3 It is yet another object of the present invention to 4 provide a telephone voting system which is particularly adapted for use by blind or otherwise disabled voters, thereby effectively 6 enfranchising many individuals who are at present practically 7 disenfranchised by their inability to reach poling places, mark 8 paper ballotq or operate voting machines. Thus, in the case of 9 blind voters, the present invention makes it possible for the blind voter to secure verbal confirmation of his or her recorded 11 selection on each ballot guestion or issue presented on a Braille 12 ballot without the aide of a sighted assistant. In accordance with 13 particular embodimcnts of the present invention the ballot 14 questions or issues being voted on can be displayed on a touch-tone telephone of the known type which incorporates a display screen, as 16 can the voter's selections. To accommodate voters having d,eficits 17 in both sight and hearing the voter's telephone may be used to 18 inform tho voter both aurally and visually of the questions and 19 i~sues votet upon and alqo of his or her recorded selections.
It i-q a yet further object of the present invention to 21 provide a touch-tone telephone voting system whereby the amount of 22 telephono traffic time per voter is reduced by the use of paper 23 ballots sent to oach individual voter prior to the time of vote 24 casting.
It is yet another object of the present invention to 26 provide touch-tone telephone voting systems in which the paper 27 ballots sent to the individual voters bear ballot identification 28 numbers (BIN) uniquely identified with each voter and known only to 29 the particular voter by means of the ballot he receives, which ballot idontification number becomes a part of the identifying 31 indicia which must bo entered into the telephone voting system, via 32 /~/

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1 ~ l touch-tone telephone, in order to verify the identity of a 2 particular voter so that his or her votes can be counted.
3 A further object of the present invention is to provide 4 a touch-tone telephone voting system wherein each voter, prior to the time of vote casting, is required to call an automatic voter 6 identification number (VIN) dispensing device which, in response to 7 the entering of a verification number such as the voter's ballot 8 identification number and/or social security number into the system 9 via the voter's touch-tone telephone, vocally dispenses to the voter a unigue voter identification number (VIN), which must be 11 presented to the voting system by the voter at the time of vote 12 casting. In many embodiments of the present invention the 13 automatic voter identification number dispensing device thereof is 14 con~tructed and arranged to issue a correct voter identification lS number only in response to a call from the voter's telephone 16 number, which is recorded in the voter registration databank 17 a9ainst the voter's name or ballot identification number, and which 18 is oonfirmed by the calling number identification (CNI) signal 19 received from the telephone company central office, i.e., the automatic voter identification number dispensing devices of these 21 particular embodiment-q compare the CNI signal received as part of 22 the voter identification number seeking telephone call with the 23 voter'~ proviously recorded telephone number before issuing a 24 correct voter identification number.
A yet further object of the present invention is to 26 provide a touch-tone telephone voting system wherein the automatic 27 voter identification number dispensing feature abovedescribed is 28 used as a method of registering or reregistering voters who wish to 29 convert from the standard voting method used in the particular olection in which they wish to vote to the touch-tone voting method 31 of the pre~ent invention. ~hus, in certain embodiments of my 32 invention the identification number dispensing device may be 2~
~ : further adapted to print out or otherwise record lists of such 2 "converted" voters, or to "flag" the names of such "converted"
3 voters in a preexisting voter registration database.
4 Another object of the present invention is to provide a S touch-tone telephone voting system which, before permanently 6 recording a voter's ballot selections, requires that the voter 7 submit via the keypad of the touch-tone telephone through which he 8 or she is voting two identification codes representing, e.g., a 9 correct ballot identification number (BIN) and a correct voter identification number (VIN) at two different stages of the voting 11 procedure, e.g., before ballot selection commences and some time 12 thereafter. -~ ;

13 A yet further object of the present invention is to .: : :
.. . ... .
14 provide a touch-tone telephone voting system wherein each voter callq a single telephone number to vote. It is to be understood 16 that the pre~ent invention also embraces touch-tone telephone 17 voting ~ystemq in which separate voter call-in numbers are used for 18 each voting precinct or other electoral tistrict or political 19 ~ubdivi~lon.
Yot another object of the pre-qent invention is to provide 21 a touch-tono telephone voting system in which the information 22 verbally tran~mitted to the voter at the commencement of each 23 ballot i~ue ~election i~ a brief identification of the ballot 24 i~sue to be voted upon, e.g., the number of the issue on the ballot, and not a complete verbal statement of the ballot issue.
26 A further object of the present invention is to provide 27 a touch-tone telephone voting system in which the voter's choice 28 with regard to each ballot issue or question is transmitted to a 29 VRU as the result of the depression by the voter of one or more of the pu~hbuttons of his or her touch-tone telephone.
31 Another ob~ect of the present invention is to provide a 32 touch-tone telephone voting system wherein the voter is given the ' ~' ' 2 ~ ~ & ~ 8 8 ~ ption of bypassing a particular ballot item expeditiously, or of 2 expeditiously bypassing all ballot items following a selected one.
3 A further object of the present invention is to provide 4 a touch-tone telephone voting system wherein the voter is given the option of "straight ticket" voting, as in some conventional voting 6 machines.
7 Yet another object of the present invention is to provide 8 a touch-tone telephone voting system in which the voter may review 9 his or her voting selections at the termination of the voting procedure, and before the voter's ballot selections are permanently 11 recorded.
12 An additional object of the present invention is to 13 provide touch-tone telephone voting systems in which the voter may 14 optionally dispense with the abovesaid review of his or her voting selections.
16 It iJ a yet further object of the present invention to 17 provide a touch-tone telephone voting system as abovedescribed 18 which optionally provideJ to the voter an expedited voting mode 19 wherein the voter can bypa~s the voice transmission to him or her of ~he numerical indication or designator of each ballot issue, and 21 can in~tead him~elf or herself key in ballot issue or question 22 identifier before keying in each corresponding selection.
23 A yet further object of the present invention is to 24 provide a touch-tone telephone voting system wherein the voter, having ~elected the expedited mode of voting, will receive a 26 compact voting summary voice transmitted at the end of the voting 27 proce~J, unless he or she chooses to dispense with the transmission 28 to him or hcr of this abbreviated voting summary.
29 Other objectJ of my present invention will in part be obviouJ and will in part appear hereinafter.
31 My preJent invention, accordingly, comprises the several 32 stepJ and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to J` 2~
1 ~ach of the others, and the apparatus embodying features of 2 construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts 3 which are adapted to affect such steps, all as exemplified in the 4 following disclosure, and the scope of my present invention will be indicated in the claims appended hereto.
6 In accordance with a principal feature of my present 7 invention touch-tone telephone voting systems are provided wherein 8 each voter in a particular election, whether regulated or 9 unregulated, is provided with a ballot which sets out every issue or office to be voted upon and every possible selection to be made 11 by the voter in response to each such issue or question, and which 12 ballot provides a unigue code number corresponding to every 13 selection on the ballot.
14 ~ In accordance with another principal feature of my present invention each ballot in a given election is marked with a 16 ballot identification number unique to that ballot.
17 In accordance with a yet further principal feature of my 18 prosent invention the telephone voting systems of certain 19 embodiments thereof include voter identification number dispensing moan~ which are tolophonically accessed by each voter prior to the 21 time of vote casting, and which dispense to each voter, in response 22 to the keying in of that voter's Social Security number andtor BIN, 23 a unique voter identification number (VIN) to be subsequently used 24 at the time of vote casting.
In accordance with another principal feature of my 26 present invention the same voice response units (VRU) used in 27 voting, differently programmed, may also be used as voter 28 identification number diqpensers (VIND).
29 In accordance with an additional principal feature of my present inventio~ touch-tone telephone voting systems are provided 31 wherein, during the votin9 process, the identification of each 32 ballot is9ue to bo voted upon is vocally transmitted to the voter -:~ 2~8~48g l ::
1 only by way of a code number designation, and not by a complete 2 verbal statement of the ballot issue or question as in the above- ~ -3 described embodiments. :
4 In accordance with another principal feature of my pre.<ent invention a touch-tone telephone voting system is provided ¦
6 wherein each selection made by the voter is indicated by the voter !
7 by depressing one or more pushbuttons of his or her touch-tone I
8 telephone keypad.
9 In accordance with another principal feature of my present invention a touch-tone telephone voting system as abovesaid 11 i~ provided wherein the voter is given the choice of hearing any 12 one or more of the ballot issues or guestions fully stated, as on 13 the ballot. ~`~
14 In accordance with yet another principal feature of my pre~ent invention a touch-tone telephone voting system as 16 abovedescribed provides the voter with the option of byp~ssing a 17 particular ballot item and immediately commencing the announcement 18 of the code designation of the next ballot item as it appears on ~
19 the ballot. ~ :
In accordance with yet another principal feature of my 21 pre~ent invention a touch-tone telephone voting system as I ~
22 abovedescribed is provided wherein the voter may chose to receive ¦ -23 verbal confirmation of each ballot selection made by him or her 24 immediately after the ma~ing of that selection. l .
In accordance with another principal feature of my 26 present invention a touch-tone telephone voting system as abovesaid 27 is provided where.in the voter is given the option of reviewing all 28 of his or her selections for verification and then finally 29 submitting all of his or her selections as a group for permanent recording, or of finally submitting all of his or her selections 31 for pormanent recording as a group without thus verifying them.

2 ~ 8 1 In accordance with yet another principal feature of my 2 present invention a touch-tone telephone voting system as 3 abovedescribed is provided wherein the voter can chose to forego 4 the voice identification to him or her of each ballot issue and instead enter into the keypad of his or her touch-tone telephone 6 the designator of each ballot issue or question followed by the 7 corresponding selection designation.
8 ~n accordance with another principal feature of my 9 present invention a touch-tone telephone voting system as abovedcscribed is provided which includes a queuing sub-system 11 whereby the voter who calls the intake telephone number of the 12 ~ystem when it is unavailable, e.g., "busy" or in maintenance, is 13 put on hold and assigned a priority number, is periodically 14 notified of his or her priority number, i.e., his or her position in the gùeue, and is automatically connected to a port of a voice 16 se~ponse unit when a line becomes available. The voter may also be 17 periodically notified of the estimated time until he or she can 18 begin voting.
19 For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of my present invention, reference should be had to the following 21 detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying 22 drawings.

24 Brief De~criDtion of the Drawinas 26 Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a touch-tone telephone 27 voting system embodying my present invention;
28 Fig. 2 is an illustration of a part of a typical ballot 29 used in connection with a particular embodiment of the touch-tone telephone voting system of my present invention;

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1 Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the Answer phase of 2 one operating cycle of the touch-tone voting system of the first 3 preferred embodiment of my invention;
4 Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the Intro Menu phase of one operating cycle of the touch-tone telephone voting system of 6 the first preferred embodiment of my invention;
7 Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the BIN phase of one I i-8 operating cycle of the touch-tone telephone voting system of the 9 first preferred embodiment of my invention; , ' Fig.6 is a flow chart illustrating the ID Confirm phase ~
11 of one operating cycle of the touch-tone telephone voting system of j 12 the first preferred embodiment of my invention;
13 Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the Voting Method 14 phase of one operating cycle of the touch-tone telephone voting system of the first preferred embodiment of my invention;
16 Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the Read Ballot phase 17 of one operating cycle of the touch-tone telephone voting system of 18 the firJt proferred embodiment of my invention;
19 Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the Accept Choice phase of one operating cycle of the touch-tone telephone voting 21 ~ystem of the first preferred embodiment of my invention; ~ -22 Fig. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the Accept Votes j 23 pha~e of one operating cycle of the touch-tone telephone voting I
24 system of the first preferred embodiment of my invention; and Fig. 11 is a flow chart illustrating the Commit Ballot 26 phase of one operating cycle of the touch-tone telephone voting 27 system of the first preferred embodiment of my invention.

29 DescriPtion of the Preferred Embodiment ~ g ~ ~J ~ -1 Referring now to Fig. 1 there is shown a schematic j 2 diagram of a touch-tone telephone voting system 10 constructed in 3 accordance with the present invention.
4 As seen in Fig. 1, touch-tone telephone voting system 10 is comprised of a plurality of existing touch-tone telephones 12 6 connected by means of an existing telephone network 13 to a I
7 plurality of well-known and commercially available voice response ! -8 units (VRU) 14. Voice response units 14 are connected with a 9 plurality of host units (HU) 16, each host unit being a general ~-~
purpo~e digital computer of well known and commercially available 11 type.
12 Each voice response unit may, for example, be a 13 Periphonics Model 7500 or Model 9500, a Texas Instruments Model 14 9000, or an InterVoice RobotOperator system. `~
Each host unit may, for example, be a Tandem CLX820, a 16 Hewlett-Packard 3000, or an IBM AT486 computer.
17 The programming and interconnecting of these voice 18 responJo units and host units to provide a touch-tone telephone 19 voting system of tho present invention i9 well within the scope of those having ordinary skill in the art, informed by the present 21 disclosure.
22 Telephone network 13 may in some embodiments of my 23 invention be a network of the type generally referred to `
24 commercially a~ an "800 network", although it is to be understood that my invention is not limited to systems incorporating 800 26 networks.
27 The preferred telephone network 13 is interconnected with 28 voice re~ponse units 14 via a Local DMS Switch 13' of the kind made I
29 and sold by Northern Telecom or an ACD or UCD Centrex system 13''.
In accordance with a principal feature of the present 31 invention the switching unit or units 13', 13", or both, of the 32 network 13 of certain preferred embodiments of the invention are ~ ,programmed to periodically report by voice message to any voting 2 voter whc has been put "on hold" because of temporary overload of 3 the voice response units 14 of that system either the position of 4 that voter in the waiting queue or the estimated time llntil the voter can commence voting, or both.
6 Touch-tone telephone voting system 10, like all of the 7 touch-tone telephone voting systems of the present invention, 8 provides a service which will allow voters an alternative method of 9 voting using state-of-the-art technologies. Using a standard touch-tone telephone a voter can vote interactively by pressing 11 designated keys on the telephone key pad.
12 In accordance with the principles of the present 13 invention every voter in a large block of voters in a particular 14 election, or every voter in a particular election, commences the selection of his or her ballot choices by calling a single number, 16 sometimes herein called the "intake number". In other words, in 17 touch-tone voting systems of the present inventi~n all of the 18 voters of a large bloc~ of voters, or all of the voters in the 19 election, call the same telephone number to cast their ballots.
The ~y~tem of the invention transfers the incoming voting calls, 21 seriatim, to telephone lines to which are connected voice response 22 unit (VRU) ports or maintains certain ones of those voters in queue 23 until a VRU port is available.
24 ~he touch-tone telephone voting systems of the present invention are adapted for use in both regulated and unregulated 26 elections. Regulated elections are those the conduct of which is 27 pre~cribed by law, e.g., a political election. Regulated voting in 28 a regulated election reguires that the voting system be certified 29 by a duly constituted authority such as the Secretary of State of a particular state, and that all voters be registered and vote one 31 ballot per election.

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1 There are two different types of unregulated voting, one-2 person-one-vote, or multiple voting wherein each voter is permitted 3 to vote several times on at least one particular ballot item or set 4 of ballot items.

6 The Voter Identification Number Procurement I :
7 Procedure of the First Preferred Embodiment 9 The voter identification number procurement procedure I -followed by each voter in procuring his or her voter identification 11 number (VIN) via a touch-tone telephone voting system 10 of the .
12 fir~t preferred embodiment of the present invention may be I -.
13 described as follows.
14 As e~plained hereinabove, the same voice response units 14 which are used in casting ballots via a touch-tone telephone 16 voting ~y~tem of the first preferred embodiment of the present 17 invention may also be u~ed for dispensing voter identification 18 number~ (VIN).
19 In accordance with my present invention, the telephone numbor called to procure a voter identification number may be the 21 same as the telephone number called by the voter in order to cast 22 his or her ballot. Alternatively, different telephone numbers may ¦
23 bo provided, i.e., one number may be provided for voter ~ .
24 identification number dispensing and another provided for voting. I ~
25 Assuming, then, that the voter wishes to procure his or I ~;
26 her voter identification number, the voter calls the telephone I :
27 number provided for voter identification number procurement and 28 waits for a responsive voice message. I
29 It is assumed, of course, that the voter has already received his or her ballot, and thus knows his or her ballot 31 identlfication number; and that the voter also knows his or her 32 Social Security number.

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1~ The first responsive voice message after the keying in of 2 the voter identification number procurement telephone number is a 3 request to the voter to key in his or her Social Security number, 4 which the voter does.
A second voice message then requests that the voter 6 cubmit hi8 or her ballot identification number via his or her 7 touch-tone telephone keypad.
8 The voice response unit which is in telephonic contact 9 with the voter and is serving as a voter identification number dispensing device then looks up the voter's ballot identification 11 number in an internally-stored ballot identification number versus 12 Social Security number (BIN-SS) file and finds, correlated with 13 that ballot identification number, the voter's authentic Social 14 Security number.
The voice response unit then compares the keyed-in Social 16 Security number with the Social Security number derived from the 17 internal BIN-SS file and, if it finds th~se numbers to be 18 identical, initiates the dispensing to the voter by voice mess~ge 19 of the voter identification number which is correlated with the voter's ballot identification number in an internal BIN-VIN file.
21 Aq will be evident to those having ordinary skill in the 22 art, informed by the present disclosure, the programming of any one 23 of the one widely-known and available voice response units listed 24 in this qpecification to carry out the voter identification number dispensing function as hereindescribed is well within the scope of 26 those having ordinary skill in the art.
27 In accordance with the principles of my invention the 28 security of the voter identification number dispensing system just 29 deRcribed may be increased by comparing the telephone number of the voter'~ designated telephone, stored in a ballot identification 31 number ver8es voter's telephone number (BIN-VTN) file within the 32 volce re~pon~e unit, with the calling number derived from the 1~ 2 ~
. ..calling number identification (CNI; unit of the telephone company 2 central office, and disconnecting the connected telephone from the 3 voice response unit if the internally-stored (BIN-VIN) number for 4 the voter'~ decignated telephone is not identical with the calling number derived from the CNI unit of the telephone company central .
6 office.
7 It is to be understood that in accordance with my .~
8 invention different voter identification number procurement I ~.
9 telephone numbers may be supplied to voters in each precinct, just ' .
aq different voting numbers may be provided to voters in each 11 precinct.

13 The Votin~ Procedure of the .
14 First Preferred Embodiment `
16 The voting procedure followed by each voter in casting 17 hi~ or her ballot via a touch-tone telephone voting system of the 18 fir~t preferred embodiment of the present invention may be i 19 de~cribed as follows.
20 The voter call~ the intake number of the system and is ..
21 either immediately connected to the voice response unit (VRU) of I :
22 the system or i~ notified by a responding voice message that he or 23 she i~ in queue awaiting the opportunity to cast his or her ballot.
24 Immediately or after having reached the head of the 25 gueue, the voter is guided through a log-on or voter identification 26 procedure by recorded voice messages. For example, the voter may 27 be a~ked by a recorded voice message to key in his or her ballot 28 identification number (BIN) or VIN. I .
29 Upon the completion of the voter identification procedure !
the voter hears a voice messase or announcement describing the 31 first office or ballot issue to be voted on. (In some embodiments 32 of the invention thi~ announcement consists merely of the , -: :

8~g 1 ~
~ identifying number set next to the particular office or ballot 2 issue on the ballot used in connection with this system, while in 3 other embodiments of the invention the announcement consists of a 4 verbatim reading of the description of the office or ballot issue found on the ballot.) 6 After the announcement of the first office or ballot 7 issue the identities of the candidates will be announced along with 8 the touch-tone ~election code for each of them, or the touch-tone 9 selection code for each ballot issue choice will be announced.
~n accordance with the principles of the present 11 invention a ballot which was previously mailed to the voter bears, 12 next to each ballot selection, i.e., next to the name of each 13 candidate or each ballot issue choice, a numerical selection code.
14 In some embodiment~ of the present inventio~ the ballot also bears a code number next to the description of each office or ballot 16 issue.
17 Referring now to Fig. 2, which illustrates a ballot of 18 the kind which may be used in connection with the present 19 ~n~ention, it will be ~een that four ballot items are illustrated, to which are a~igned th~ successive ballot item codes 01 through 21 04.
22 It will also be seen that three of these four ballot 23 ltom~ relate to particular political offices. Thus, the first 24 three it~m codes on this sample ballot, viz., 01 through 03, may be more particularly called "office codes".
26 Similarly, it will be seen in Pig. 2 that code 04 27 corresponds to a ballot proposition. Thus, item code 04 shown in 28 Fig. 2 will sometimes al~o be called herein a "proposition code".
29 As also ~een in Fig. 2, the first ballot item, identified by the item code 01, is followed by four selection codes, viz., 01 31 through 04.

L 2 1D ~
~ Similarly, the fourth ballot item shown in Fig. 2, 2 identified by item code 04, is followed by the statement of the two 3 alternative ballot choices, "Yes" and "No" and their respective 4 selection codes, 01 and 02. Thus, a "Yes" vote on the fourth item of the ballot shown in Fig. 2, which item is a ballot proposition 6 identified by item code 04, may be entered by keying 01 into the 7 voter's touch-tone telephone in response to the announcement via 8 that telephone of the verbal statement of ballot item 04 as found 9 on the ballot.
It i~ also to be noted that the number 123-2567-1234 I1 appear~ at the top of the sample ballot shown in Fig. 2. This 12 number i~ the ballot identification number (BIN) of that particular 13 ballot, and i~ unique to that particular ballot, appearing in no 14 other ballot in the same election. This ballot identification number is for the use of the voter in the voter identification 16 number dispensing procedure described hereinabove.
17 Continuing with tho description of the voting procedure 18 of the present invention, and assuming that the ballot of Fig. 2 to 19 be the ballot u~ed in that procedure, it will be ullderstood that once the voter identification procedure is successfully completed 21 the opportunity to vote on the first ballot item (01) will then be 22 announced to the voter by the word "President".
23 A~suming that the voter has determined to vote for Donald 24 H. Duck III for Pre~ident, the voter then keys the selection code "04" into the keypad of hi~ touch-tone telephone.
26 Immediately after the voter has thus indicated his or her 27 ballot ~election on the first ballot item he or she will be 28 prompted by voice announcement to verify his or her ballot 29 ~election. This verification will be carried out by the voter, e.g., by depre~sing the # key or by re-keying the same selection 31 code .

~ ~n accordance with my present invention, if the voter 2 does not wish to make a selection corresponding to any particular 3 ballot item he or she may bypass that item without making a 4 selection, e.g., by keying into his or her touch-tone telephone a special item bypass code given in a portion of the ballot not shown 6 in Fig. 2 or the accompanying election instructions, or supplied by 7 Yoi ce message from the VRU.
8 In certain embodiments of my invention the voter may 9 bypass ~everal ballot items and go on to the next ballot item on which he or she cares to make a selection, e.g., by keying in a 11 special bypass code (also indicated in the ballot) followed by the 12 item code of the next item on which he or she cares to vote.
13 At the conclusion of the voting on each ballot item, or 14 the bypassing of certain items, the voter will hear an announcement indicating that he or she may if he or she wishes hear a review of 16 his or her selections for verification before they are finally 17 recorded. The same announcement will indicate to the voter the 18 code that he or she should key in for verification review and, 19 altornatively, the codo that he or she should key in to record his or her ballot selections without review.
21 In accordance with a principal feature of the present 22 invention an expert mode is available in this embodiment for those 23 voters who desire to expedite the voting process.
24 In accordance with this expert mode the voter can dispense with the announcement of each ballot selection by (1) 26 selecting the expert voting mode and (2) keying in a desired item 27 code (e.g., 03) immediately followed by the corresponding selection 28 code (e.g., 02) and then followed by the pound sign. Thus, for 29 example, to select the second choice on the third ballot item in Fig. 2, i.e., to vote for John Seymour for senator, two year term, 31 the voter would key 0302# into the keypad of his or her touch-tone 32 telephone, in the oxpert voting mode.

I :

. ~.. ".............. . . .
: ... ,., ~ . : ~

'~ 8 ~ ::
~-~ Referring again to Fig. 2, it will be seen that if a 2 particular voter wished to vote for Donald H. Duck ~II, Barbara 3 Bo~er and John Seymour, and to vote "Yes" on Proposition 104, he or 4 she would ~ey in the symbol strings or expert codes 0104#, 0201#, 0302~, and 0401t in the expert mode.
6 It is to be understood that in accordance with the 7 principles of the present invention the identities of the voters in 8 a particular election, i.e., the voter registration list, and the 9 selections made by the particular voters when casting their ballots are stored in scparate databases, whereby it is assured that there 11 will not be any way to correlate the identity of a voter with his ! . :. ~;
12 or her ballot ~election~
13 A flag or status indicator is added to the identity of 14 each voter in the voter file of the system when that voter's ballot selections as a group are entered into the voter selection file, 16 which flag or status indicator serves to prevent the registration 17 of a ~econd ballot selection or group of ballot selections in the 18 voter ~election file by the same voter.
19 In accordance with another principal feature of my invention voters in a particular election may register to vote by 21 way of a touch-tone telephone voting system embodying my invention, 22 either for the pre~ent election only or for future elections as 1 23 well, in accordance with the prevailing election code and ¦
24 regulations, etc. I I
That is to say, the voters informational package, which 26 i~ received by voters in most states well prior to the date of the 27 election, may contain instructions for registering for telephone , 28 voting, along with the usual instructions for regiQtering for I ~ I
29 ab~entee voting.
In states in which the election laws permit, or are 31 amended to permit, the voter upon receiving his or her voting 32 information packet may register by telephone for telephone voting.

For this purpose, systems of the present invention may be 2 programmed to respond to a telephone call from the voter who elects 3 to vote by telephone, and if the voter properly identifies himself 4 or herself, transfer the name and other corresponding data of that voter from the master voter list maintained by the election 6 authority to the telephone voter list maintain~d in the voter file 7 which iis a part of the system of the present invention. Such voter 8 liist~ may be election-wide or precinct-wide. Preferably, in the 9 preferred embodiment of the present invention, the name of the telephone voter and ais~ociated data is not removed from the master 11 voter liist, but rather is flagged in the master voter database 12 maintained by the election authority.
13 Another embodiment of the invention makes use of a voice 14 recognition system along with the voter's telephone number and ballot identification number for added security.
16 In order to meet the requirements of certain election 17 authoritieis it may be found desirable in certain embodiments of the 18 preisent invention to also encrypt the ballot identification number, 19 the user'~ telephone number, or both.

21 The Svistem ComDonents of the Preferred Embodiment 23 As will be evident to those having ordinary skill in the 24 art, informed by the present disclosure, the same hardware componentJ~ may be employed in assembling touch-tone telephone 26 voting systems in accordance with many different embodiments of the 27 pre~ent invention.
28 The two principal components of these various embodiments 29 of the present invention are voice response units (VRU) 14 and host units (HU) 16.
31 ~he Voice ResDonse Units tVRU~. The voice response units 32 (VRU) of the touch-tone telephone voting systems of the present ~` 2~ 88 invention serve to (1) answer all telephone calls of voters to the 2 intake telephone number of the system or of each precinct, (2) 3 aurally prompt the voter regarding voter identification information 4 to be ~upplied, telephone voting procedures to be used by the voter, the office or ballot i~sue on which the voter is about to 6 vote, the options available to the voter such as bypassing 7 particular ballot items or receiving an oral review of his or her 8 voting ~elections, (3) cumulate the selections made by each voter, 9 and (4) tran~mit the complete set of selections made by each voter to a ho~t unit (NU) for tabulation and storage. As explained 11 above, the~e VRUQ, or some of them, may also serve as voter 12 identification number dispensinq devices.
13 Referring again to Fig. 1, there is schematically shown 14 a touch-tone telephone voting system 10 of the first preferred embodiment of the pre~ent invention.
16 As will be understood by those having ordinary skill in 17 the art, informed by the pre~ent disclosure, particular systems of 18 the pre~ent invention, adapted for particular elections, particular 19 voter populationJ, and for particular election laws and regulations will be comprised of more or less components than shown in Fig. 1, 21 the assembling and programming of any such system being within the 22 ability of tho~e having ordinary skill in the art, informed by the 23 present di~clo~ure.
24 ~ouch-~on~ To~phones ( TT ) . The touch-tone telephones 12 ~hown in Fig. 1 are ~tandard touch-tone telephones pro~iding tone 26 ~ervice. It i~ to be understood that the touch-tone telephones 12 27 of any particular touch-tone telephone voting system of the 28 invention neod nct be physically or electrically identical, nor 29 made by the same telephone manufacturer. The only requirement for touch-tone telephones to be incorporated in a system embodying the 31 pre~ont invention i~ that they all emit electrical signals 32 conformin~ to the ~ame touch-tone code when the keys of their : "' '' ~'~' ; ~ ~ 8 ~
--- keypads are operated in the same regimen. Thus, it is to be 2 understood that ~ome or all of the touch-tone telephones 12 may be 3 touch-tone display telephones of the well known type, which are 4 provided with numerical displays for displaying such items as the telephone number being called or the number of a calling telephone 6 (CNI). Further, some of the touch-tone telephones 12 may be touch-7 tone telephones of the well known type embodying credit card 8 reader~. Yet further, certain of the touch-tone telephones 12 may 9 be touch-tone telephones embodying "type-ahead" or storage 10 feature~. I
11 ~e~eDhone to VRU Interface. As wil~ be understood by 12 tho~e having ordinary ~kill in the art, informed by the present 13 disclosure, the interconnection between any touch-tone telephone 12 14 and any voice re~ponse unit 14 (Fig. 1) can be made by any existing touch-tone telephone switching system 13 adapted to utilize the 16 particular touch-tone code in which the touch-tone signals of the 17 touch-tone telephones 12 are emitted.
18 Each voice re~ponse unit 14 of a particular embodiment of 19 my invention may be a well known and commercially available voice respon~o unit ~uch as the Periphonics Model 7500 or Model 9500, the 21 Te~a~ Instruments Model 9000, or the InterVoice RobotOperator 22 System.
23 The programming of such voice response units, and the 24 recording therein of suitable voice messages for use in particular elections, and the interconnection of the same with telephone 26 central offices and with associated host units 16 (Fig. 1) are all 27 within the scope of those having ordinary skill in the art, 28 informed by the present di~closure.
29 As further seen in Fig. 1, each voice response unit 14 is interconnected with all of the host units 16 by means of 31 bldirectional connections 18.

~ -25-~8~88 1l 1 ~ ThUc~ it is to be understood that interconnections 18 not 2 only serve to carry voter selection information from any voice 3 response unit 14 to all host units 16, but that these 4 interconnections alqo QerVe, whep a particular voter calls the system or precinct intake number, to transmit a query from the 6 associated voice response unit 14 to the host units 16 as to 7 whether that particular voter has previously voted in the same 8 election.
9 More particularly, when said particular voter calls the intake number of the ~y~tem or precinct the voice response unit to 11 which he or she is connected asks for the voter identification 12 number (VIN), and upon receiving that VIN from the voter's touch-13 tone telephone transmits it to each host unit 16. Each host unit 14 maintain~ a listing of the voter identification numbers of voters lS who have already voted in that election, and signals the voice 16 re~pon~e unit~ 14 over interconnections 18 if the immediately 17 previouJly tran~mitted voter identification number corresponds to 18 a voter identification number already voted. If the voice response 19 unit to which the touch-tone telephone of said particular voter is connected receive~ such a signal, i.e., a signal indicating that 21 the ~ame ballot identification number is being used in a second 22 attempted voting, that voice reqponse unit 14 rejects any further 23 attempt~ of the voter to enter voting selections or other 24 information.
~nterface Between VRU and HU. In the systems of the 26 present invention the me~sage length between a voice response unit 27 and thc ho~t units will not exceed the ma~imum of a phYsical write-28 read of the voice re-~ponqe unit or the host unit. As will be 29 evident those having ordinary skill in the art, informed by the pre~ent di~clo~ure, thi~ design differs from the standard, 31 communication, which only bounds itself by the loaical write-read 32 length~.

.

~-~ 2~8~88 ~ Thus, systems embodying the present invention will ¦
2 utilize the communications protocol in the most efficient manner, 3 permitting the maximum number of voice response unit ports to be 4 conne~ted to a single host.
In accordance with the present invention each host unit 6 will contain the telephone voter list or voter pool database. For 7 regulated voting, or one-vote-per-voter elections/promotions the 8 VRU will send a message to the host unit to identify the voter 9 using the BIN as well as to determine if the voter has already exercised his or her right to vote. If the BIN is not found or if 11 the voter has already voted, the appropriate message will be sent 12 to the VRU and a prompt corresponding to the error message will be 13 pl ayed.
14 Connection Between Host Units. The connection or connections (20, Fig.1) between host units 16 will be necessary to 16 accumulate the votes in separate regions or to act as a backup host 17 in the case of processor failure.

19 S~stem Desian 21 The following features of the present invention will be 22 utilized by those having ordinary skill in the art in designing j 23 particular touch-tone telephone voting systems embodying the 24 present invention.
Ballot TemDIate. The ballot template of the touch-tone 26 telephone voting system of the present invention is so arranged as 27 to permit the updating of one or more ballot items or ballot 28 selections without recompiling the source code of the VRU program.
29 thuQ, the key words or variable portions of the various items appearing on the ballot are stored in a table, which table is 31 acce~sible from memory at run time. This feature gives the 32 op ltor or oporatoro of any parti~ular touch-tone telephone voting -~ -:

. :
. . :: , : , ' . : . , ' , . ... .

system of the present invention the ability to change, add, or 2 delete namei, issues, or choices without recompilation of the VRU3 source code. It is to be understood, however, that no recorded 4 ballot selection or set of ballot sielections can be altered by the operator or operator~ of the system without detection.
6 Further, it i~ to be understood that in accordance with 7 the present invention the ballot selections made by the voter via 8 hi~ or her touch-tone telephone keypad are accumulated in memory in 9 the VRU to which the voter~s touch-tone telephone is connected until the voting procedure is completed, immediately whereafter the 11 accumulated ballot ~election information selection is transferred 12 to each of the associated host units, and the ballot selection 13 memory space in that VRU cleared for the reception of the ballot 14 selection~ keyed in by a subseguent voter.
Tabulation File. The tabulation file of a touch-tone 16 telephone voting system of the pre ent invention, physically 17 maintained in the host units, holds the accumulated vote count for 18 each possible ballot selection. Each record in the tabulation file 19 contain~ the item code for a particular ballot item, a selection identifier identifying one of the ballot -~elect1ons corresponding 21 to that particular ballot item, and the accumulated total of all 22 the votor~ in the election who have made that particular selection.
23 The koy to each record in the tabulation file is the combination of 24 the item code and the ~election code. Tabulation file record selection count~ are incremented appropriately as votes are 26 received by telephone.
27 Ballot File. (The term "ballot record" as used herein 28 denotes a record of the set of ballot selections made by a 29 particular voter in a particular election.) The ballot file of each HU of a particular touch-tone telephone voting system of the 31 pro~ent invention storos representations of the ballot records of 32 all the voters who have used that HU in the casting of their - : , . .

~j 2~ 88 ballots. It is to be understood, however, that the ballot file 2 contains no information linking a particular ballot record with a 3 particular voter, thus insuring voter anonymity. Each ballot 4 Jelection can be repreJented by a two-byte field. Each such field 6 iJ in~erted into a cell correaponding to a particular item on the 6 ballot. In other word~, if a vote for Proposition 13 is the 40th 7 item on the ballot, and the selection "Yes" corresponds to the 8 number 12, then 12 will be -qtored in the eightieth and eighty-first 9 byte~ of record within the ballot file. If a particular voter chooJeJ not to vote on a given ballot item, then 00 will be stored 11 in the cell of the ballot record corresponding to that ballot item.
12 Voter File. In touch-tone telephone voting system of the 13 present invention a voter file is maintained in each host unit of 14 the Jy~tem.
The voter file holds security information insuring the 16 integrity of the voting system.
17 Each record in the voter file contains information 18 regarding a particular regiJtored voter. The voter file is 19 oJtabliJhed prior to the actual balloting by means of the regiJtration proceJ~.
21 In each particular embodiment of the telephone voting 22 JyJtom of my invention the voice response unit prompts each voter, 23 at the commenccment of the voting procedure for a ballot 24 identification number, and then checks the voter file to (1) confirm that the voter exists and is a fully gualified voter, and 26 t2) confirm that the voter ha~ not already voted.
27 In the fir~t preferred embodiment of the present 28 invention shown and deJcribcd herein the ballot identification 29 number conoistq of two items, viz., the voter's designated telephone number, i.e., tho number of the telephone from which the 31 votin9 call will originate, and a personal identification number.
32 The combination of the~o two items makes random guesses of any J~ 2 ~
l particular ballot identification number extremely unlikely, thereby 2~ protecting the telephone voting system of the present invention 3 from misuse. In addition to the ballot identification number 4 (which i~ the voter file key) each record in the voter file containJ a Julian timestamp, reflecting the exact time at which the 6 ballot was cast. If a timestamp already exists in a particular 7 voter file, it indicates that the voter has already voted.
8 Messaae from VRU to HU. Each ballot record message sent 9 from the individual output ports of the individual voice response units 14 to each of the associated host units 16 comprises the 11 entire ballot selection information for a single voter. Upon the 12 receipt of oach <uch mes~age each host unit 16 reconfirms that the 13 corregponding voter exiis,t3 and has not yet voted, i.e., 14 authenticates the status of the corresponding voter. If the authenticity status of the corresponding voter is thus determined 16 to be affirmative, i.e., the voter exists in the voter file and has 17 not yet previously voted in the same election, host unit 16 then 18 updates its tabulation and/or ballot files with the voter selection 19 information oontainod in said message, and then updates the record of tho corrospond1ng votor in the voter file with a timestamp as 21 hore~nabove described.
22 In accordance with the principles of the present 23 invontion each such me~agé transmitted from one of the ports of a 24 voicc re~ponJo unit 14 to each of the associated host units 16 comprisos not only information repreqenting the totality of the 26 ballot choices of a single voter, but also information representing 27 that votor's ballot idontification number.
28 Each ~,uch message will sometimes hereinafter be called a 29 "ballot messago" (BM).
In accordanco with a principal feature of the present 31 lnvontion each ballot mesgage (BM) is so formatted as to minimize 32 transmiJsion time, and thus, by making the corresponding voice 2 ~
~ response unit available to receive the next voter's input as 2 quickly as possible, minimizes the amount of equipment necessary 3 for handling a particular number of telephone voters in a 4 particular election.
This ballot message format, which is a particular feature 6 of the present invention, ha~ the following characteristic 7 features.
8 The ballot identification number (BIN) is stored in each 9 host unit 16 in a binary format, thereby limiting its size to four bytes.
11 The ballot ~elections are bit-mapped. Each ballot 12 iselection correspondQ to a particular cell or block of cells in the 13 ballot message.
14 Thus, because of the unique ballot message format of the preeent invention, a maximum of 2,016 ballot selections is 16 available if the entire ballot message is to be restricted to 256 17 bytes, i.e., four bytes for the ballot identification number plus 18 252 bytei~ or 2,016 bits for the ballot selection information field.
19 Thu~, ~ince the byte length of each ballot message is limited to 256 becau~e of the highly efficient ballot contents 21 me~isage format of the prosent invention the transmission time for 22 each ballot contents message, and thus the amount of equipment 23 necoisi~ary for a particular number of telephone voters in a 24 particular election is minimized.
It iiq to be understood that the present invention is not 26 limited to the particular ballot message format described 27 immediately hereinabove.
28 Glossarv. The following terms are used herein in their 29 broadest acceptation, and thus are to be understood to embrace the definition iqet out below next to each of these terms, but not to be 31 limitod theroby.
32 /~/

2~8~ 8 ~:
~ ~ Bal iot Identification Number (B~N) - A number or other 2 code designation printed on each telephone voter ballot in a ~ -3 particular election, which number is unique in the sense that no 4 such number is found on more than one of the paper telephone voter ballots for any particular electoral district, e.g., precinct, in 6 any particular election. In accordance with the present invention 7 the voter's ballot identification number (BIN) can in some 8 election~ be used as the voter's VAN or the voter's VIN. In 9 accordance with the principles of the invention the voter's VAN
and/or BIN can be u-~ed to procure the voter's VIN.
11 Ballot - A paper sent to a particular touch-tone I
12 telephone voter (TTV) in a particular election, bearing a !
13 representation in human language of each office or issue to be 14 voted on and a representation, after each such representation of an 15 office or issue, of all possible voter selections corresponding to I 1 16 that office or issue.
17 Ballot Item - A single office or issue represented on a I -18 touch-tone telephone voter ballot of the present invention. ¦
19 Ballot Message - A set of ~ignals representing a ballot I :
record.
21 Ballot Record - The set of ballot selections made by a 22 particular voter in a particular election.
23 B~llot Selection - One of the possible options, choices, 24 or seloctions listet on a particular ballot of the present invention after one of the ballot items listed thereon.
26 CNI - calling number identification signal. A signal 27 provided by a telephone company central office or other sub-system 28 of the telephone network to a voice response unit of the present 29 invention, which signal represeDts in a predetermined code the telophone number of a telephone instrument from which a call is 31 being placod to an intake telephone number of a touch-tone 32 telephone voting ~ystem of the present invention.

-~ 2~8~8~
i~ Election - An event wherein voting or a selection of 2 choiceq occur~.
3 Host Computer - A computer which stores the database.
4 The ho3t computer or computers, or host units, of each of the touch-tone telephone voting ~ystems of the present invention is a 6 computer in which i~ stored the database or databases of that 7 ~y~tem. In each touch-tone telephone voting system of the present 8 invention the ho~t computer or host unit serves to collect and 9 tabulate representations of the ballot selections ~ade by the individùal voter~, and also to store, in a separate database, a 11 li~t of all eligible telephone voters in that particular election.
12 Hunt Group - A collection of telephone numbers. Usùally, 13 any particular hunt group includes one or more central access 14 number(s), which central access number(s) will issue a transfer to the fir~t available telephone number in the group of telephone 16 number~.
17 ~ouch-tone Telephone - A telephone in~tru.ment capable of 18 transmitting over a telephone line a serie~ of electro-acoustic 19 ~ignals each of which represent~ the depression of one of the keys of tho keypad with which that telephone is eguipped.
21 Voter Acco~ Number (VAN) - a number or other code 22 designation ~upplied to a particular voter in a particular election 23 for the purpose of gaining access to his or. her voter 24 identification number (VIN) which i9 stored in one or more voter identification number dispensing units (VIND). In particular 26 embodiments of the preqent invention the VAN of a particular voter 27 may bo supplied to that voter as his or her ballot identification 28 number (BIN), or may be supplied to the voter by a mailing ~eparate 29 from that of the voter's ballot.
Voter Identification Number (VIN) - a number or other 31 code d~i9nation 9ubmitted by a partioular voter via by hic or her Il ~ touch-tone telephone to identify himself or herself at the time of ~ .
2 voting in a particular election. ~:
3 Voice Response Unit (VRU) - A device capable of I -4 responding to an incoming telephone call with one or a plurality of voice announcement~, responding to the caller by way of one or more 6 of such voice announcoments, and accepting touch-tone input signals 7 originating at a touch-tone telephone. In accordance with the 8 pre~ent invention a voice response unit in a particular embodiment -~
9 of the invention may be programmed to respond selectively in any ;
one of a plurality of languages. I
11 Operator - A human individual who is in charge of or who 12 ha~ ro-~pon~ibility for the operation of a touch-tone telephone , ~-13 voting ~y~tem of the pre~ent invention.
14 Transfer - the switching of a calling voter who has 15 improperly e~ecuted some part of a voting procedure or voter -- ~-~
16 identifieation numbor obtaining procedure to a telephone manned by 17 a human operator who can provide voting assistance.
18 Votor File - A file or table which contains a list of 19 eligiblo or rogi~torod tolophone voters in a particular election in whieh tho toueh-tone tolephone voting system of the present 21 invention i~ employed. Sueh voter files are primarily employed in 22 eonneetion with regulated election~.
23 Pound Sign (#) - The symbol on the key of the keypad of ¦~
24 a ~tandard toueh-tone telephone which is located directly below the key boaring the number "9".
26 ~~
27 ~he Proaram of the Srstem of the Preferred Embodiment 28 .
29 Reforring now to Figs. 3 through 11, there is ~ehematically illustrated the voice response unit (VRU) program of 31 tho fir~t proforred embodiment of the present invention, -34- :

i The VRU program illustrated in Figs. 3 through 11 will 2 sometimes hereinafter be called the "VRU program" or simply the 3 "proqram", and will be generally be referred to herein by the 4 reference numeral 30.
Each subprogram or routine shown in one of the figures 3 6 through 11 will be individually referred to herein by a reference 7 numeral consisting of the number 30 and a decimal point followed by 8 the figure Dumber of the figure in which the particular routine is 9 shown. Thus, the BIN subprogram or routine showD in Fig. 5 will be designated by the reference numeral 30.5, and the Commit Ballot 11 routinc shown in Fig. 1 will be referred to by the reference 12 numeral 30.11.
13 As will be understood by those having ordinary skill in 14 the art, informed by the preisent discloisiure, program 30 is actually the program which is contained in and operates each voice response 16 unit 14 and indopendently operates each port thereof. The 17 programming of the host units 16 to cooperate with the thus 18 programmed voice response units 14 is within the scope of those 19 having ordinary iskill in the art, informed by the present diJ.cloisure, and thui~ the operating program contained in and 21 operating each of the host units 16 is not shown or described 22 herein.
23 $n the known manner, many of the subprograms shown in 24 particular figures of the drawings commence with an origin block and end with a termination block. Thus, for example, Answer 26 routine 30.3 of Fig. 3 commences with an origin block 32 labeled 27 Answcr and ends with a termination block 34 labeled Intro Menu.
28 Also in the .well known manner, the succession or 29 interaction betwoen the subprograms illustrated in Figures 3 through 11 is indicated by the fact that a terminal block of a 31 predece~i~or subprogram flowchart is given the same label as the 32 origin block of itq immediate successor subprogram flowchart.

l~ 2~8g~8~
Thus, the fact that the execution of subprogram 30.3 is immediately 2 followed by the execution of subprogram 30.4 is indicated by the 3 fact that the terminal block 34 of the subprogram 30.3 flowchart is 4 provided with the same label as the origin block 36 of the subprogram 30.4 flowchart.

6 Further, by way of example, the two loops in Intro Menu 7 subprogram 30.4 are conventionally indicated by the fact that 8 blocks 36, 38 and 64 of subprogram 30.4 all bear the label Intro 9 Menu.

Further, in the known manner, the fact that subprogram 11 30.4 branches to either subprogram 30.7 of Fig. 7 or subprogram 12 30.5 of Fig.5 is conventionally indicated by the fact that 13 termination block 40 of Pig.4 is labeled Voting Method, as is the 14 origin block 44 of Fig.7, and terminal block 42 of subprogram 30.4 a~ shown in Fig. 4 is labeled BIN, as is origin block 46 of 16 qubprogram 30.5 shown in Fig. 5.
17 Referring again to Fig.3, it will be seen by those having 18 ordinary skill in the art, informed by the present disclosure, that 19 ~ubprogram 30.3, the Answer subprogram, directs each voice response unit 14 of the ~ystem of the first preferred embodiment in carrying 21 out the following functions.
22 An incoming touch-tone telephoné call is received, a 23 touch-tone vote initiating qignal is detected and recorded, and the 24 calling number received from a switching unit (13', 13") of the telephone network 13 is detected and recorded (block 48).
26 At block 50 the touch-tone vote initiating signal ~block 27 48) is converted to suitable electrical form and is then registered 28 in the touch-tone signal register of the receiving VRU.

29 At block 52 the contents of said touch-tone signal rogister are e~amined, and if any touch-tone signal is registered 31 thorein the execution of program 30 proceeds to subprogram 30.4, 32 the Intro Menu ~ubprogram.

., . .~, . . .
; . : ` , ~ . ~ , ,,., ,' ~. ~ ' " ' , , ' " . " ", ' . ' ~ If no content is found in said touch-tone signal register I
2 the disconnect/transfer function of the voice response unit is ¦
3 actuated (block 51), and the voice response unit is disconnected 4 from the calling touch-tone telephone. Alternatively, in some embodiments of the invention, the calling voter may be transferred 6 to an attended telephone in order to receive voting assistance from 7 a human operator. It is to be understood that the provision of a 8 disconnect function or a transfer function at each 9 disconnect/transfer block of the flow chart of an embodiment of the 10 pre~ent invention is a ~election to be made by the programmer for 11 a particular election. -12 Similarly, if the caller hangs up the voice response unit ~ I
13 is disconnected. ;~
14 It is to be noted that the test at block 52 tests for a touch-tone signal produced when the caller touches any key of the 16 keypad of his or her touch-tone telephone.
17 Roferring now to Fig. 4, and assuming that a registered 18 touch-tone ~ignal wa~ detected by the test at block 52 (Fig. 3), it 19 will be ~een that at block 54 a voice message or prompt called "Intro Menu" is delivered to the caller via his or her touch-tone 21 telephone.
22 This "Intro Menu" voice message instructs the caller that 23 he or she may receivo more detailed information by depressing the 24 "0" key (block 60) on his or her keypad, or may proceed with voting by depres~ing the "1" key (block 56) on his or her telephone I
26 keypad.
27 If the caller pressed the 1 key (block 56) the next step 28 to be carried out is determined by the nature of the election.
29 If the election is a regulated election, and thus the -voting in that election is one-time-only voting, the program 31 proceeds to termination block 42 (Fig. 4), and thus to origin block 32 46 of ~ubprogram 30.5 (Fig. 5).
' .

-37- -:

Il 2~8g~8~
1 l If, on the other hand, the nature of the election is such ¦
2 that the voting is unrestricted as to the number of times any voter 3 votes, program 30.4 proceeds to its termination block 40, and thus 4 to origin block 44 of subprogram 30.7 (Fig.
Referring again to Fig. 4, it will be seen that if the ¦
6 caller pres-~es the "0" key of his or her touch-tone telephone I ~-7 keypad (block 60), subprogram 30.4 proceeds to block 62, and thus I
8 a more detailed voice mes~age regarding voting procedures is 9 delivered to the caller, whereafter program 30.4 returns to block I
36 via block 64 and thus the "Intro Menu" voice message is I
11 dolivered to tho caller, etc., as described hereinabove. ~`
12 If the caller pre~ es any other key, or a predetermined 13 time elapses, the previou~ly zeroed excessive retry counter of the 14 voice rosponse unit i~ incremented by one (blocks 66, 68, 70) and ~ubprogram 30.4 recommences (blocks 38, 36).
16 If the caller continues to depress invalid keys or delay ! :~;
17 koy dopro~ion during repeated cycles of this loop the count stored I
18 in tho oxco~ive rotry countor reaches a predetermined number, 19 whoroafter the next invalid keying by the caller results in the di~connection or transfor of the voice response unit from the 21 caller'~ telephone (blocks 71, 72).
22 Referring now to Fig. S, and assuming that program 30.4 23 (Fig.4) has ju~t proceeded to block 42, the execution of routine 24 30.5 (BIN) commonco~.
25 At block 74 the voice response unit delivers a voice -~
26 mo~sage to the caller requesting that the caller enter his or her 27 ballot identification number, followed by "#", into the keypad of 28 the touch-tone telephone being used.
29 At block 76 the thus keyed-in ballot identification numbor, otc., is ontorod into the ballot identification number 31 reg~ ~ter of the voice response unit.

~8~88 1 :-~ ~ If the caller has inputted his or her 12-digit ballot 2 identification number and then depressed the "~" key, pursuant to 3 the ju-~t previously received voice message, the test of block 78 is 4 satisfied, and subprogram 30.5 proceeds to its termination block 80, whereafter program 30 proceeds to the origin block 82 of 6 subprogram 30.6 (Fig. 6).
7 Returning to Fig.5, however, it will be seen that if the i - -8 calling voter depres~es only the "0" key of his or her touch-tone 9 telephone (block 84) the voice response unit delivers a more ¦
detailed voice me~ago to the caller, informing him or her in ll detail of the correct BIN procedure (bloc~ 8S) and the operation of 12 ~ubprogram 30.5 recommences (blocks 86 and 46).
13 If any key combination other than twelve digits followed I
14 by the pound ~ign or the single digit "0" is entered into the I --15 telephone keypad by the caller (block 87) an invalid key voice ! ~ ~-16 me~sage is delivered to the caller (block 88) and then the 17 e~ecution of subprogram 30.5 recommences (block 89 and block 46).
18 At the lame time, the excessive retries counter of the voice 19 reJponse unit i~ incremented.
If the caller continues to transmit invalid key 21 combination~ (block 87) from the keypad of his or her telephone, 22 oach such invalid key combination results in the incrementing of 23 the excelsive tries counter. When the content of the excessive 24 retries counter reaches a predetermined number (block 90) the next invalid entry by the caller result~ in the transmission of a 26 disconnect message (block 91) and the subsequent disconnection of 27 the voice response unit from the caller's telephone (block 92).
28 ~eferring now to ~ig. 6, and assuming that the execution 29 of subprogram 30.6 ha~ been initiated by the transmission from the 30 caller's touch-tone telephone of twelve digit signals followed by 1 31 the "#" ~ignal, thereby commencing the execution of subprogram 30.6 32 (block~ 80 and 82), the twelve-digit number which the caller just -39- ~ .

i,. , :. .- .. - -'~8~8 previously keyed into his or her telephone is delivered- to the 2 caller as a voice message (block 93).
3 Another voice message is then delivered to the caller 4 asking him or her to confirm the previously delivered number as his 5 or her ballot identification number (block 94).

6 The caller then keys his or her telephone set as 7 instructed to indicate that the number just previously delivered to 8 him or her a~ a voice message is the correct ballot identification 9 number, if that be the fact, and this confirmation signal is entered into the touch-tone signal register of the voice response 11 unit (block 95).
12 If the confirmation signal received from the caller 13 indicates that the voice delivered twelve-digit number is his or 14 her ballot identification number, the voice response unit transmits that twelve-digit number to the host unit (block 96), along with 16 the voter'~ BIN and designated telephone number.
17 After the host unit check~ its voter file it returns a 18 corro~ponding ~ignal to the voice response unit (block 97).
19 If tho message from the host unit confirms the cor.roctness of the ballot identification number transmitted to it 21 (block 98), program 30 proceeds to subprogram 30.7 (Fig. 7) via 22 block 99 and block 44.
23 If the message from the host unit indicates that the 24 purported ballot identification number was not found in the voter file (block 100) an invalid ballot identification number voice 26 message iq delivered to the caller (block 101), the excessive retry 27 counter, previously zeroed, is incremented (block 102), and 28 subprogram 30.5 ~Fig. 5) is recommenced (block 104 and block 46).
29 If the ballot identification number confirmation signal transmitted by the caller (block 94) indicates that the ballot 31 identification number just previously tran9mitted to him or her by 32 voice me~age is not the ballot identification number found on his . ~ . ~ . ..

' . ., .': ,~ .V . ' ' , . ' ' ~, ' ' '"'"' ' ""' , '"'.,.;',, . '`' `' ' ' ' ~',`", ' ~6~88 or her ballot, subprogram 30.6 proceeds to block 102, the excessive ¦
2 retry counter is incremented, and program 30 proceeds to subprogram 3 30.5 via block 104 and block 46.
4 If the reply received from the host unit indicates that 5 the caller has already voted, i.e., using the ballot identification -6 number tran-qmitted to the ho~t unit during the execution of 7 subprogram 30.6 (block 106), a voice message indicating that that 8 ballot ha~ already becn voted is transmitted to the caller (block 9 108) and the voice response unit is disconnected from the caller's telephone (block 110).
11 Referring now to Fig.7, and assuming that subprogram 30.6 ! : I
12 (Fig. 6) ha~ been properly carried out, and the caller's ballot 13 identifioation number confirmed (block 98), the execution of i 14 subprogram 30.7 will now be commenced via blocks 99 and 44.
At the commencement of subprogram 30.7 a series of voting 16 instructions i8 delivered to the caller as a voice message (block 17 112).
18 Immediately after the delivery of the voting instructions 19 voico me~age to the callor an additional voice message is delivered to tho caller which outlines two voting procedure options 1 21 and instruct~ the caller to select one of these voting procedure i 22 option~ by depre~ing either "1" or "2" on the keypad of his or her 23 telephone.
24 The identity of the number key thus depressed by the caller is then recorded in the touch-tone signal register of the 26 voice re~pon~e unit (block 116). ¦ ~
27 If the caller presses the "1" key of his or her telephone ~-28 (block 118) 3ubprogram 30.7 proceeds to initiate the operation of 29 ~ubprogram 30.8 (Fig. 8) via block 120 and block 122.
If, on the other hand, the caller depresses the "2" key 31 of his or her keypad (block 124) subprogram 30.7 commences the 32 ~e¢ution of 5ubprogram 30.10 (Fig. 10) via blocks 126 and 128.
. :.

-41- ~ -J~ 2 ~ 8 : - -i ~ Referring now to Fig. 8, and assuming that the caller has 2 selected the "Read Ballot" subprogram, i.e., subprogram 30.8 of3 Fig. 8, by depressing the 'Il'' key, it will be evident to those 4 having ordinary skill in the art, informed by the present disclosure, that this subprogram (Fig. 8) functions reiteratively 6 to read each ballot item to the caller so that the caller can make 7 his or hcr selection regarding each ballot item by means of 8 subprogram 30.9 (Accept Choice-Fig. 9).
9 Referring again to Fig. 8, it will be seen that at each recur~ion to block 128 the next successive ballot item is retrieved 11 from storage in the voice re~ponse unit connected to the caller's 12 telephone.
13 As is well-known to those having ordinary skill in the 14 art, each voice respon~e unit is provided with many input ports, and each input port is separately controlled by its own program.
16 After the retrieval of each successive ballot item (block 17 128) it is delivered to the caller as a voice message (block 130).
18 More particularly, the reading of each ballot item to the 19 caller tells the caller whether he or she is voting for a particular office or on a particular issue, and if so, what office 21 or i~sue.
22 After the announcement of any particular ballot item to 23 the caller (block 130) the first ballot selection corresponding to 24 that ballot item is retrieved from storage (block 132).
Thi~ ballot selection is then delivered to the caller by 26 voice message (block 134).
27 At block 136 the ballot selection memory is examined to 28 determine whether the voter has more selections corresponding to 29 the just previously tran9mitted ballot item and if so the loop con~i~ting of blocks 132, 134, and 136 is repeated, thereby 31 tràn8mitting to the caller a voice message representing the next 32 ballot selection.

... ...

Il I .
8~88 ~ Thus, the delivery of ballot selections to the caller by 2 voice me~sage is continued until the test at block 136 of the 3 ballot selection storage indicates that there are no further ballot 4 selections to be delivered to the caller, ~t which time the e~ecution of subprogram 30.8 halts and the execution of subprogram 6 30.9 commences (block 138 to block 140).
7 Referring now to Fig. 9, it will be seen that whenever 8 program 30 branches to subprogram or routine 30.9, i.e., goes from 9 block 138 of Fig. 8 to block 140 of Fig. 9, the following operations are carried out by the voice response unit.
11 At block 142 the voice respon-qe unit delivers a voice 12 message to the caller via his or her touch-tone telephone 13 instructing the caller to key in the code corresponding to his or 14 her choice of the selections just previously delivered by voice message under the control of subprogram or routine 30.8 (Fig. 8).
16 The voice response unit then stores in a touch-tone 17 signal rogistor an oguivalent of the selection code received from 18 tho touoh-tone telephono of tho callor (block 144).
19 At block 146 the just received touch-tone selection signal in tho touch-tono signal register is examined to determined 21 whothor it is valid, i.e., whether it is one of the selection codes 22 transmittod by voice mossage to the caller (block 134, Fig. 8).
23 If the touch-tone signal submitted by the caller was 24 invalid, tho e~ces~ive retries counter is incremented (block 148) and the callor receivos a voice message indicating that he or she 26 ha-~ transmittod an invalid selection code (block 150).
27 Further, if the predetermined error count of the 28 e~ces8ive retries counter was exceeded by this incrementation 29 (block 152) the voice response unit is disconnected from the caller's t~lophono (block 154).
3l On the other hand, if the predetermined count in the 32 o~ces3ive retries counter is not exceeded, subprogram or routine ~ ....

- : ~ : . :. . .
, . . . .. ... ~ . ~ ... .

~ 30.9 returns to block 142 via flowline 156, whereupon the caller is 2 again in~tructed to key in his or her ballot selection.
3 If the ballot selection code first submitted by the 4 caller ~as valid (block 146), routine 30.9 proceeds to block 158 5 whereat a voice mes~age corresponding to the ballot selection ;
6 previously made is delivered to the caller, along with a request 7 that the correctnes~ of this selection be confirmed by keying in a ~
8 particular touch-tone code (block 160). 1 ~-9 At block 162, if the caller has submitted the correct confirmation code, the previously submitted ballot selection is 11 stored in the ballot selection accumulation memory (block 164) and 12 program 30 returns to routine 30.8 (block 166 and block 170).
13 If, on the other hand, the caller does not key in the -14 correct confirmation code (flowline 168), the excess retries countar i~ incremented and then routine 30.9 either proceeds to 16 di~connoct block 154 or proceeds via flowline 156 to choose message 17 delivery block 142, as abovedescribed. I
18 Roforring again to Fig. 8, it will be seen that when 19 program 30 roturn~ to routino 30.8 via block 166 (Fig. 9) and block 170 ~Fiq. 8), tho ballot memory is consulted (block 172) to 21 determine whether there are more ballot items to be transmitted to 22 the caller. ~f it is dotormined that there are one or more ballot 23 items yot to be transmitted to the caller, routine 30.8 returns to 24 block 128 via flowlino 174, and the steps described above with l relation to blocks 130, 132, 134, 136, and 138 are carried out with !
26 re~pect to the ballot item newly retrieved at block 128. 1 -~
27 If it is determined at block 172 that no more ballot 28 items remain to bo transmitted to the caller, routine 30.8 proceeds 29 to block 176, and thence to routine 30.11 (Fig. 11) via block 178 30 (Fig. 11 ) .
31 Reforring now to Fig. 11, block 178, it will be seen that 32 a voico mos~aqe i~ first delivered to the caller (block 180), ,' ',' ; ', ' '.'' ., . ' ' '"' "'' ' ' Ll ~8~88 1 asking whether the caller wishes to have his or her ballot 2 ~elections permanently recorded, and directing the caller to key in 3 a ~pecified touch-tone code if this is his or her choice.

4 At block 182 the caller's touch-tone response is recorded ~ in the touch-tone signal register of the voice response unit.

6 At block 184 the caller's touch-tone response stored in 7 the touch-tone signal register is examined to determine whether the 8 caller tran~mitted a touch-tone respon~e indicating his or her 9 desire to have hi3 or her ballot selection recorded, or did not do 10 .~o.

11 If the caller did not transmit the correct "commit 12 ballot" signal, an announcement to this effect is transmitted to 13 the caller (block 186) and the voice response unit is disconnected 14 from thc caller' 9 telephone (block 188).
If, on the other hand, the caller transmitted the correct 16 "commit ballot" touch-tone signal, the caller's complete set of 17 ballot choices is transmitted to the host units in compacted form 18 (block 190) and the host units, under their own internal 19 programming, update their tabulation files (block 191).
As e~plained hereinabove, the same accumulated voter 21 ballot selection information is transmitted to all of the host 22 units of the system of th~ invention and is processed in the same 23 way in each host unit.
24 It i5 to be understood that each host unit, before adding the caller'~ ballot selections to its tabulation file, rechecks the 26 caller's voter status, e.g., determines that the voter has not 27 previously voted in the same election, and only after doing so 28 accumulates the caller's ballot selections to its tabulation file.
29 At block 192 the particular port of the voice response unit being utilized receive~ status signals from the host units 31 indicating that the caller's voter status has been authenticated 2 ~ 8 ~ 1 -~ and the voter's ballot selections have been added into the 2 tabulation files.
3 If affirmative status signals are received from all of 4 the host units at block 192 a "thanks for voting" voice message is S transmitted to the caller (block 194) and the voice response unit 6 is disconnected from the caller's telephone (block 196).
7 If, on the other hand, a negative status signal is ¦
8 received from any one of the host units at block 192, a voice 9 message indicating that there have been voting system problems, and requesting that the caller repeat the voting procedure, is 11 transmitted to the caller at block 198, whereafter the voice i 12 response unit is disconnected from the caller's telephone (block 13 196).
14 Referring again to Fig. 7, and to the above text relating j lS thereto, it will be recalled that the caller may select a different 16 and much more expeditious method of voting by depressing the "2"
17 key of hi-~ or her telephone during the execution of routine 30.7 18 (block 124).
19 ~f tho caller thus depresses the "2" key of his touch-tone tolophone, program 30 then proceeds to subprogram or routine 21 30.10 tFig. 10) via blocks 126 and 128.
22 Referring now to Fig. 10, it will be evident to those I
23 having ordinary skill in the art, informed by the present 24 tisclosure, that routine 30.10 serves to carry out the expert mode of voting referred to hereinabove. Thus, it will be seen that the 26 depression by the caller of the "2" key of his touch-tone telephone 27 during the execution of routine 30.7 (Fig. 7) permits the caller to 28 vote in accordance with the expert mode of voting of the present 29 invention.
Returning to Fig. 10, and comparing it with Fig. 7, it 31 will be seen that immediately after the caller depresses the "2"
32 key of his telephone during the execution of the 30.7 or voting ~ . : : - . :

.. ~ , .. . .

8~88 ~ method selection routine, the caller receives a voice message 2 (block 200) in-~tructing him or her to vote by successively keying i 3 in expert codes representing his or her selection with regard to 4 each ballot item.
Thus, for example, if the caller is voting by the ballot 6 shown in Fig.2 and wishes to vote for Donald H. Duck III, Barbara I -7 Boxer and John Seymour, and to vote "Yes" on Proposition 104, the 8 requisite expert codes are 0104#, 0201#, 0302#, and 0401#. It is 9 to be noted that in accordance with the present invention it is not necessary to enter these expert codes in the order in which the ll correQponding item numbers appear on the ballot.
12 To register the vote indicated by these expert codes, 13 then, routine 30.10 would operate as follows. -14 Immediately after depressing the expert voting method selection key "2", the caller receives the "enter next selection"
16 voice message (block 200), and thus keys the first expert code, I ~ I
17 viz., 0104~, into hi~ or her touch-tone telephone, and it is ¦ ~ -18 recorded in the touch-tone signal register (block 202).
l9 The "cnter ne~t selection" voice message includes the 1nJtruction to press "##" onlv if the voter has no more ballot 21 selection~ to make.
22 Thus, after keying in "0104#", the caller refrains from 23 keying in "~#". -24 Routine 30.10 then proceeds to block 204 where the keyed in expert code "0104#" is tested to determine whether it 26 corresponds to a valid ballot selection. I ~i 27 If, for example, the number keyed in were inadvertently ¦
28 "0114#", instead of "0104~", the caller would receive a voice 29 message indicatiny that his or her code entry is invalid (block 206j, followed by the "enter next selection" voice message (block 31 200), and at that time would enter the correct expert code "0104#".

~ ~' ` If that expert code is correctly keyed in, and "t#" is 2 not keyed in, then routine 30.10 proceeds to block 208, via block 3 203, etc., where that expert code "0104#" is compared with the 4 previously entered expert codes.
$f the expert code just entered is identical to any 6 previously entered expert code, routine 30.10 proceeds to block 210 7 whereat a voice message is delivered to the caller indicating that 8 a conflict exists between the just previously entered expert code 9 and an earlier entered expert code, which voice message is followed by the "enter next ~election" voice message (block 200).
11 If the caller then enters the correct expert code, which 12 is different from all previously entered expert codes, routine 13 30.10 proceeds to block 212, whereat the expert code, viz., 14 "0104#", is stored in the ballot selection register of the voice response unit.
16 The identity of the selection just made is then d,elivered 17 to the caller by voice message for confirmation (block 214). For 18 example, aft-r the caller's vote for Donald H. Duck III is stored 19 in the ballot ~election rogister of the voice response unit the caller hears tho voice message "Donald H. Duck III" delivered via 21 his or her touch-tone telephone.
22 Routine 30.10 then proceeds via flowline 216 to block 23 200, and the "enter next selection" voice message is again 24 dolivored to the caller.
The caller then enters his next selection,i.e., expert 26 code "0201#", and if this second expert code is correctly entered 27 routine 30.10 then proceeds to block 212, wherein the corresponding 28 ballot selection is stored in the ballot selection register of the 29 voice response unit.
As is well known to those having ordinary skill in the 31 art, voice response units of the kind specified hereinabove are 32 provided with large numbers of ports, each of which ports functions i `essentially independently. Thus, it is to be understood that in 2 many places in the present specification the term "voice response 3 unit" or "VRU" denotes a single port of a voice response unit and 4 its functional properties. Similarly, many of the terms used herein to refer to parts or functions of a voice response unit 6 refer not to the physical apparatus but rather to a single port of 7 a voice response unit.
8 Thus, for example, the expression "ballot selection 9 register of the voice re~ponse unit", as u~ed in a previous paragraph, denotes the ballot selection register associated with Il the particular port of the physical voice response unit 14 to which 12 the calling voter's telephone is connected during the voting 13 procedure described immediately hereinabove and hereinafter.
14 Immediately thereafter the caller hears the voice message "Barbara Boxer" confirming that the second expert code "0201#" was 16 correctly determined and correctly entered.
.. ~
17 In the next two operating cycle~ of routine 30.10 the 18 caller entors the expert codes "0302#" and "0401~", thus voting for 19 John 8eymour and voting "Yes" on Proposition 104.
After hearing the voice message "Yes" the caller twice 21 depresses the "#" key (block 217), and program 30 proceeds from 22 routine 30.10 to the above-described routine 30.11.
23 As will be understood by those having ordinary s~ill in 24 the art, informed by the present disclosure, embodiments of the present invontion may be provided in which the above-identified 26 codes are truncated by the elimination of the first two digits, 27 pro~ided that the votor i~ constrained to vote in ballot order, in 28 which ca~e the voter's de~ire to refrain from voting on a 29 particular office or i~sue would be signaled by the code "00#".
It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, 31 among those made apparent from the preceding description, are 32 effic~ently attained, and since certain changes may be made in the ..~

~ above constructions and the methods carried out thereby without 2 l departing from the scope of the present invention, it is intended 3 that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the 4 accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative only, and not in a limiting sense.
6 It is also to be understood that the following claims are 7 intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the 8 present invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope 9 of the present invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to f~ll therebetween.

12 I . .
13 I ~ .

31 .

Claims (15)

1. A touch-tone telephone voting system, comprising:
a touch-tone telephone network including a plurality of touch-tone telephones and a switching system;
at least one programmable voice response unit for delivering voice messages via particular ones of said touch-tone telephones and for processing ballot selections and other data submitted by voters by manipulating keys of particular ones of said touch-tone telephones; and at least one programmable digital computer for accumulating ballot selection information collected by said at least one voice response unit.

2. A touch-tono telephone voting system as claimed in claim 1, furthor comprising a plurality of ballots distributed respectively to said voters for use in a particular election, each of said ballots bearing a description in human readable form of each office or issue involved in said election and a code designation corresponding to each of them, and a description in human readable form of each ballot selection available to said voters and a code designation corresponding to each of them.

3. A touch-tone telephone voting system as claimed in claim 2 in which eaah of said ballots which is to be used in a particular olectoral distrlct bears a representation in human readablo form of a ballot identification code which is unique to that particular ballot.

4. A touch-tone telephone voting system as claimed in claim 1 in which said at least one programmable voice response unit responds to each call from a voter wishing to cast his or her ballot by successively requesting that particular items of identifying data be keyed into the voter's touch-tone telephone and announcing to the voter that his or her ballot selections will not be recorded when any such item of identifying data is not properly keyed into the voter's designated touch-tone telephone.

5. A touch-tone telephone voting system as claimed in claim 2 in which said at least one programmable voice response unit responds to each call from a voter wishing to cast his or her ballot by successively requesting that particular items of identifying data be keyed into the voter's touch-tone telephone and announcing to the voter that his or her ballot selections will not be recorded when any such item of identifying data is not properly keyed into the voter's designated touch-tone telephone.

6. A touch-tone telephone voting system as claimed in claim 3 in which said at least one programmable voice response unit responds to each call from a voter wishing to cast his or her ballot by successively requesting that particular items of identifying data be keyed into the voter's touch-tone telephone and announcing to the voter that his or her ballot selections will not be recorded when any such item of identifying data is not properly keyed into the voter's designated touch-tone telephone.

7. A touch-tone telephone voting system as claimed in claim 4 in which one of said items of identifying data is a voter identification number which was supplied to the voter via said touch-telephone voting system prior to the day of said election.

8. A touch-tone telephone voting system as claimed in claim 1 in which said at least one voice response unit is programmed to compare the telephone number of the telephone being used by each calling voter, as supplied by said switching system, with the number of the calling voter's designated voting telephone, and if these telephone numbers are not identical to notify said calling voter by voice message that his or her ballot selections will not be recorded.

9. A touch-tone telephone voting system as claimed in claim 2 in which calling the voter may select a mode of voting in which the identification of each office or ballot issue to be voted upon is vocally transmitted to the voter only by way of a code number designation, and not by a complete verbal statement.

10. A touch-tone telephone voting system as claimed in claim 2 in which the full ballot description of each office, issue and selection is transmitted to the calling voter by voice message.

11. A touch-tone telephone voting system as claimed in claim 2 in which the calling voter, when voting, can by depressing one or more keys of his or her touch-tone telephone bypass a particular office or issue and cause the voice response unit being called to commence the announcement of the next office or issue as it appears on the ballot.

12. A touch-tone telephone voting system, comprising:
a touch-tone telephone network including a plurality of touch-tone telephones and a switching system;
said switching system including programmable switching means;
said switching means being programmed to maintain voters whose calls exceed the capacity of the voting system in a waiting queue and to periodically announce to each such excess voter his or her position in the queue.

13. A touch-tone telephone voting system, comprising:
a touch-tone telephone network including a plurality of touch-tone telephones and a switching system;
said switching system including programmable switching means;
said switching means being programmed to maintain voters whose calls exceed the capacity of the voting system in a waiting queue and to periodically announce to each such excess voter the estimated time lapse before he or she can begin voting.

14. A touch-tone telephone voting system as claimed in claim 1 in which said switching system includes programmable switching means and said switching means is programmed to maintain voters whose calls exceed the capacity of the voting system in a waiting queue and to periodically announce to each such excess voter his or her position in the queue.

15. A touch-tone telephone voting system as claimed in claim 1 in which said switching system includes programmable switching means and said switching means is programmed to maintain voters whose calls exceed the capacity of the voting system in a waiting queue and to periodically announce to each such excess voter the estimated time lapse before he or she can begin voting.