JP2010039753A - Electronic voting system and program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the following problems: a conventional electronic voting system has low business satisfaction, and cannot sufficiently satisfy the requirement for fairness of election, eradication of an invalid vote and system trouble or the like. <P>SOLUTION: This electronic voting system comprises: electronic voting media to be distributed to identified voters at voting; and an electronic voting machine in which the electronic voting medium is installed for voting. The electronic voting medium has: an all-candidate list holding an all-candidate list stored in advance, and allowing a user to see the all-candidate list at a glance in addition to the electronic voting medium; a candidate information input means used for inputting candidate information selected from the all-candidate list; and a recording means for writing the specific candidate information input by the candidate information input means into a voting slip. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic voting system and a program thereof.

  Many of the current elections bring the confirmation postcard (voting place admission ticket) sent by the elector (the person who voted) in advance to the designated polling place, and check whether it is an elector at the reception desk. It is a voting method in which a ballot is received, a candidate name or a party name is entered on the ballot, and the ballot box is posted. In some municipal elections, an electronic voting system has been introduced, but there are various problems and the electronic voting system is not widely used.

  One reason for this is that elections are held only once every few years, devices used in electronic voting systems are infrequently used, and rental is the mainstream. For this reason, companies (vendors) that provide electronic voting system devices do not need to mass-produce devices, and it is difficult to make a large profit only by renting complex dedicated devices that require development costs.

  In addition, when an electronic voting system is introduced, election management committees and vendors that run elections carry many risks. For example, if a problem with the electronic voting system occurs during an election and a large number of invalid votes are issued, it will be necessary to conduct a re-election, and the re-election will result in a reversal of winning and losing. If there is a risk of being sued by a candidate. Because of this risk, the side that runs the election cannot actively establish regulations to introduce the electronic voting system.

On the other hand, the electronic voting system is considered to be popular in the future because it is effective in speeding up the voting process and eliminating invalid voting by unreadable characters. For example, in order to improve the voting method and voting work, a wireless tag (RFID tag) technology that can read and write information in a contactless manner is used to incorporate an IC chip for a wireless tag into a voting sheet, and a candidate selected by a voter An electronic voting system in which information for identifying a person is encrypted and written in an IC chip for a wireless tag has been considered (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-141568 A

The purpose of a general electronic voting system is to solve problems such as reducing the cost of voting by speeding up voting, eliminating invalid voting, realizing remote voting, and preventing spoofing. The following issues that hinder the introduction of the voting system must be solved.
(1) The frequency of use of devices used in the electronic voting system is low, the market size is small mainly for rental, and the device itself does not establish a business. In addition, these dedicated devices need to be maintained for each type of election, which is very expensive.
(2) In a general electronic voting system, a candidate list is displayed on a monitor screen of an electronic voting machine. In this case, there are limits to the number of candidates and political parties that can be displayed on one screen due to restrictions such as the screen size and resolution of the monitor. For this reason, in the case of a proportional representation system in national elections or an election in which a large number of candidates are running, it must be handled by “next screen display” or “scroll display (display that moves to a non-display part on a multi-page screen)”. . As a result, there is a problem that the candidate who is not displayed on the first screen becomes disadvantageous because candidates who are not displayed on the first screen become advantageous because the election fairness is lacking. Alternatively, a large display device or a touch panel is required for displaying on one screen, and the price of the electronic voting system is increased.
(3) The electronic voting system has been tried in various countries, but has caused many troubles. The electronic voting system performed by machines is difficult to completely prevent breakdowns and operational mistakes. When troubles in the electronic voting system affect the election results, many election management committees and vendors execute the election. Must bear the risk of. For example, in addition to the cost of re-election, it is necessary to hold a re-election if a large number of invalid votes are issued due to a malfunction of the electronic voting system at the time of election. There is a risk that a candidate will be litigated if the result of the loss is reversed. In particular, there is concern that vendors may lose their social credibility (brand image).

  As described above, various problems must be solved for the introduction of the electronic voting system.

  The purpose of the present invention is not only to speed up the number of votes, but also to realize a highly versatile device regardless of the type of election, high cost and high business performance, fairness of elections, elimination of invalid votes, system trouble, etc. To provide an electronic voting system and its program with a view to remote voting in the future.

  An electronic voting system according to the present invention is an electronic voting system comprising an electronic voting medium distributed to an elector who has been identified at the time of voting, and an electronic voting machine that mounts the electronic voting medium for voting. The medium holds a list of all candidates stored in advance, and includes a list of all candidates that can be viewed at a glance apart from the electronic voting medium, and candidate information selected from the list of all candidates. Candidate information input means for inputting, and recording means for writing specific candidate information input by the candidate information input means on a ballot paper.

  Preferably, display means for displaying a candidate name is further provided, and the electronic voting machine reads out a candidate name corresponding to the candidate information input by the candidate information input means from the electronic voting medium. It displays on the said display means, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  Preferably, the ballot paper is integrated with a storage medium capable of reading and writing information, and the ballot recording means stores the specific candidate information input by the candidate information input means in the ballot paper storage medium. It is memorized.

  Preferably, printing means for printing characters and figures on the voting paper is further provided, and the voting recording means uses the printing means to input a specific candidate name input by the candidate information input means. It is characterized by printing.

  Preferably, the voting recording unit includes a specific candidate name input by the candidate information input unit and a digital code indicating the specific candidate information input by the candidate information input unit, The voting paper is printed by the printing means.

  Preferably, the digital code printed by the printing means is a one-dimensional code or a two-dimensional code printed with binary gradation.

  Preferably, the electronic voting machine is activated when the electronic voting medium is mounted, and after the voting is completed, the electronic voting medium is ejected to end the operation.

  Preferably, a ballot box having a reading device for reading information on the ballot paper, and a communication unit for transmitting information read from the ballot paper by the ballot box reading device to a predetermined server via a network. It is provided.

  Preferably, the reading device reads candidate information from a storage medium integrated with the ballot paper.

  Preferably, the reading device reads a digital code printed on the voting paper.

  Preferably, the digital code read by the reading device is a one-dimensional code or a two-dimensional code printed with binary gradation.

  Preferably, the reading device is an OCR (optical character reading device) that reads a candidate name printed on the ballot and converts it into electronic data.

  Preferably, a notification means is further provided, and the electronic voting machine notifies the occurrence of the operation error by the notification means when an operation error occurs.

  Preferably, the electronic voting machine is further provided with operation status communication means for transmitting the operation status to a predetermined management center via a network.

  Preferably, the electronic voting machine makes the electronic voting medium unavailable when a predetermined code stored in the attached electronic voting medium does not match.

  Preferably, a network authentication device that performs identity verification via a network based on a polling place admission ticket sent to an elector in advance, and a server that stores electoral list data to which the network authentication device is connected It is further provided that the network authentication device performs identity verification when distributing the electronic voting medium at the time of voting.

  The electronic voting system program according to the present invention is an electronic voting system comprising an electronic voting medium distributed to an elector who has been confirmed at the time of voting, and an electronic voting machine that mounts the electronic voting medium for voting. In an electronic voting system program executed by a computer constituting the electronic voting machine, an activation procedure for starting an operation when the electronic voting medium holding a list of all candidates stored in advance is mounted on the electronic voting machine; , Candidate information input procedure for inputting candidate information selected by an elector by looking at a list of all candidates different from the electronic voting medium, and specific candidate information input by the candidate information input procedure And a voting recording procedure for writing the voting information on the voting paper.

  According to the present invention, it is not necessary to store the entire candidate list on the electronic voting machine side for each election, and by holding the all candidate list in advance in an electronic voting medium distributed to each elector at the time of voting, An electronic voting machine that does not depend on the type of election can be realized. As a result, the business of the electronic voting system is established for the vendor, and it becomes possible to operate the electronic voting system at a low cost for the side (such as the country and local governments) that carries out the election, and it becomes easy to introduce the electronic voting system.

  Further, since the entire candidate list is not displayed on the monitor of the electronic voting machine, the fairness of the election can be maintained.

  In addition, at the time of voting, it is possible to speed up the counting of votes by selecting from a list of candidates stored in advance in an electronic voting medium from information specifying candidates entered by the elector and recording it electronically on a ballot. Become.

  Further, since the character information is printed on the voting paper, even if a system trouble occurs, the voter can check the character information, so that it is not an invalid vote, and safety and reliability can be ensured.

  In this way, it is possible to realize an electronic voting system that can be relied upon not only by electors and candidates but also by election administration committees and vendors.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of an electronic voting system and its program according to the present invention will be described. The electronic voting system according to the present embodiment is a method for voting by bringing a polling place admission ticket mailed in advance to an elector to a designated polling place, and this part is the same as the conventional voting system. Further, in the present embodiment, candidate information voted by an elector is recorded as electronic data on a ballot paper. Here, the electronic data includes information recorded on an IC chip (wireless tag), a digital code printed on a voting paper, and the like. The ballot on which electronic data is recorded is posted by an elector in a ballot box at a polling place, as in the conventional voting method. At the time of vote counting, the electronic data recorded on the ballot paper is read by the reading device, so that the vote counting can be quickly performed. Further, the contents of the vote such as the names of candidates and political parties that the electors vote for are printed on the ballot with character information that can be recognized by humans. Thereby, when electronic data cannot be read for some reason at the time of counting votes, a human can confirm the content of the vote on the ballot.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic voting system 100 according to the present embodiment includes a voting side system including an electronic voting machine 101, an electronic voting card 151, and a voting paper 153. The system for counting votes includes a reading device 401, a totaling PC (personal computer) 402, and the like. Note that the ballot box 301 is included in both the voting side system and the balloting side system.

Next, a series of voting procedures by the electronic voting system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described.
[Voting procedure]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a series of voting procedures by the electronic voting system 100 according to the present embodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 2, steps indicated by dotted line frames indicate processing performed by humans, and steps indicated by solid line frames indicate processing performed by the electronic voting machine 101.

  (Step S101) The elector brings a polling place admission ticket and goes to the designated polling place.

  (Step S102) The receptionist at the polling place checks the polling place admission ticket and the electoral list, and confirms that the person who came is the elector himself. The elector list may be a file printed on paper, or may use elector information stored in advance in an electronic device such as a computer, or elector information obtained via a network.

  (Step S103) After confirming that the person who has arrived is the elector, the polling place receptionist hands over the electronic voting card 151 as shown in FIG. 3 to the elector. If the polling place admission ticket does not match the elector's list, or if there is a problem such as a difference in gender, take appropriate measures such as pointing out to the person who came to the event. .

  The electronic voting system 100 according to the present embodiment uses an electronic voting card 151 as shown in FIG. 3 in a polling place. This electronic voting card 151 is an IC card on which an IC chip 152 capable of reading and writing information without contact is mounted. The IC chip 152 of the electronic voting card 151 stores information such as names of all candidates and numbers in order of notification. The information on the IC chip 152 of the electronic voting card 151 cannot be written without a predetermined encryption key or password in order to maintain security. This is to prevent falsification of candidate data by a third party. In addition, on the surface of the electronic voting card 151, it is possible to print the name of the election and the name of the election management committee, which can be rewritten according to each local government. After the same electronic voting card 151 is mass-produced, surface printing and information writing may be performed. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the electronic voting card 151 has a card shape, but it does not have to be a card shape, and may be any other shape as long as it is composed of an electronic medium capable of holding information.

  Thus, the elector vote in the polling place using the electronic voting card 151, and the electronic voting card is collected at the reception after the voting is completed.

  (Step S104) The elector who has received the electronic voting card 151 at the reception goes to a voting booth where a plurality of electronic voting machines 101 as shown in FIG. 4 are installed, and electronically enters the card insertion slot 102 of the electronic voting machine 101. A voting card 151 is inserted.

  Here, the configuration of the electronic voting machine 101 will be described with reference to FIG. 5, the electronic voting machine 101 includes a display unit 103, a control unit 104, an operation unit 105, a printer 106, an IC card I / F 107, an alarm notification unit 108, and an electronic recording unit 109. The The control unit 104 includes a CPU, a memory, an interface circuit, and the like. The control unit 104 operates according to a program stored in the memory in advance, and via the interface circuit, the display unit 103, the operation unit 105, the printer 106, the IC card I / F 107, an alarm Controls the notification unit 108, the electronic recording unit 109, and the like. Therefore, in this flowchart, the steps indicated by the solid frame indicate processing performed in accordance with a program stored in advance in the memory of the control unit 104 of the electronic voting machine 101.

  Next, FIG. 4 shows an external view of the electronic voting machine 101. In FIG. 4, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. For example, the operation unit 105 includes “number buttons” 105a from 0 to 9, a “voting button” 105b, a “change button” 105c, and a “white vote button” 105d. Further, a label 154 describing an operation method is attached to the surface of the electronic voting machine 101. For example, the label 154 is described as follows.

(Method of operation)
・ Selecting candidates: Enter candidate information with the “numeric buttons”.
・ Change of candidate: Press the “change button” and re-enter the candidate information with the “number button”.

・ Voting: Press the voting button.
・ White vote: Press the white vote button.

  Thus, an elector who does not know the operation method can check the operation method by looking at the label 154.

  (Step S105) When the elector inserts the electronic voting card 151 into the card insertion slot 102 of the electronic voting machine 101 in step S104, the control unit 104 of the electronic voting machine 101 uses the electronic voting card via the IC card I / F 107. The information 151 (predetermined code) is read, and whether or not the card is a correct card is authenticated based on whether or not the predetermined code matches a code determined in advance and stored in the electronic voting machine 101. If the inserted electronic voting card 151 is a legitimate card, the process proceeds to the next step S106. If the inserted electronic voting card 151 is not a legitimate card, the control unit 104 of the electronic voting machine 101 automatically ejects the electronic voting card 151 inserted into the card insertion slot 102 and displays “accept” on the display unit 103. Please bring the electronic voting card 151 to "." To stop the voting process. The predetermined code is composed of an encryption key such as a master key, and the electronic voting machine 101 does not need to store the codes of all the electronic voting cards 151 used.

  (Step S106) The control unit 104 of the electronic voting machine 101 activates voting processing (system activation), and displays a message “Please start voting” on the screen of the display unit 103.

  In this way, in the electronic voting machine 101, when the electronic voting card 151 is not inserted, voting processing other than the card recognition processing is stopped, and when the regular electronic voting card 151 is inserted into the card insertion slot 102, The voting process is automatically started. As a result, improper voting such as spoofed voting and mischief to the electronic voting machine 101 is prevented.

  (Step S107) The elector determines the contents of the vote by looking at the candidate list as shown in FIG. 6 and casting a candidate, a political party or a white vote to vote. This candidate list is printed on a single sheet of paper so that all candidate names and party names can be viewed fairly at once, and affixed in advance to the position where the elector can be seen at each voting booth. Has been.

  If there are candidates or political parties to vote, the process proceeds to step S108, and if it is desired to cast a white vote, the process proceeds to step S110.

  (Step S108) The elector sees the candidate list shown in FIG. 6 and confirms the number assigned to the name of the candidate who wants to vote, and from 0 to 9 in the operation unit 105 of the electronic voting machine 101 The candidate number (candidate information) is input using the “numeric button” 105a. In addition, the number given to each candidate name is given, for example, in order of notification of the candidacy. Here, the candidate information does not need to be a candidate number, and a symbol such as an alphabet may be used.

  (Step S109) When the input of candidate information is completed, the display unit 103 of the electronic voting machine 101 displays a candidate name, a party name, and the like corresponding to the input candidate information. At this time, the control unit 104 of the electronic voting machine 101 determines whether or not the input of the candidate information is completed based on the number of digits of the input number. For example, since the candidate list of FIG. 6 is given a two-digit number, the control unit 104 determines that the input of candidate information is completed when the “numeric button” 105a is pressed twice. To do. Further, when the number of candidates is larger, by assigning the same number of digits to a three-digit number (100 to 999), the number of times the “number button” 105a is pressed is similarly set. Input completion can be determined. Alternatively, when numbers are assigned in order from 1, an “input confirmation button” is provided on the operation unit 105, and when the “input confirmation button” is pressed, it is determined that the input of candidate information has been completed. It doesn't matter.

  (Step S110) The elector sees the candidate list shown in FIG. 6 and, if there is no candidate to vote, presses the “white vote button” 105d on the operation unit 105 without inputting candidate information. .

  (Step S111) When the “white slip button” 105d in the operation unit 105 is pressed, the display unit 103 of the electronic voting machine 101 displays a white vote such as “white card”.

  (Step S112) The elector confirms the voting content (candidate name, political party name, white vote, etc.) displayed on the display unit 103. When changing the voting content displayed on the display unit 103, the process proceeds to step S113. If the vote content displayed on the display unit 103 is OK, the process proceeds to step S114.

  (Step S113) When the elector wants to change the content of the vote displayed on the display unit 103, he presses the “change button” 105c. When the “change button” 105c is pressed, the content of the vote displayed on the display unit 103 is deleted, a message “Please start voting” is displayed, and the process returns to step S107. Then, the processing from step S107 to step S112 is repeated again.

  (Step S114) If the voting content displayed on the display unit 103 is acceptable, the elector presses the “voting button” 105b.

  (Step S <b> 115) The control unit 104 of the electronic voting machine 101 instructs the electronic recording unit 109 to write voting content data to the IC chip 201 of the voting paper 153.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 7A, the voting sheet 153 is a dedicated sheet on which an IC chip 201 that can read and write information without contact is mounted inside or on the surface. In this embodiment, the IC chip 201 is mounted on the top of the strip-shaped voting paper 153. However, the IC chip 201 does not have to be strip-shaped, and may be placed anywhere as long as the IC chip 201 is mounted so that it cannot be removed. . When the electronic recording unit 109 of the electronic voting machine 101 outputs the voting paper 153 from the printer 106, the electronic chip 109 displays the selected candidate name (or information indicating a candidate such as candidate information) or information indicating a white vote. 201. Note that information recorded on the IC chip 201 of the voting paper 153 cannot be read or written without a predetermined encryption key in order to maintain security.

  (Step S <b> 116) The control unit 104 of the electronic voting machine 101 outputs the voting paper 153 from the voting paper discharge port 155 of the printer 106. Here, the voting form 153 has a print portion 202 where characters can be entered. The printer 106 of the electronic voting machine 101 prints the content voted by the elector on the printed portion 202 of the voting paper 153 as character information that can be recognized by humans. For example, a character information image such as the name of the candidate voted by the elector “○ × Taro” or “white vote” when a white vote is cast is printed on the print portion 202.

  It should be noted that the voting paper 153 output from the printer 106 has the IC chip 201 mounted in advance, and if the voting paper 153 prepared in, for example, a roll is no longer in the electronic voting machine 101, the control unit 104 notifies the error from the alarm notification unit 108 by light or sound. As a result, the person in charge of the election that is waiting in the polling place can easily know that the electronic voting machine 101 is in error, and can take measures such as exchanging ballots. .

  (Step S117) When the voting paper 153 is output from the printer 106, the control unit 104 of the electronic voting machine 101 displays on the display unit 103 “voting has ended. Please place the voting paper 153 in the ballot box.” Message is displayed.

  (Step S118) The control unit 104 of the electronic voting machine 101 ejects the electronic voting card 151 from the card insertion slot 102, and stops the voting process of the electronic voting machine 101 (system stop).

  (Step S119) The elector receives the electronic voting card 151 and the voting paper 153 discharged from the electronic voting machine 101, goes to the voting box 301 as shown in FIG. Post to. Here, it is possible to prevent the electronic ballot card 151 from being mistakenly placed in the ballot box 301 by setting the size of the slot into which the ballot paper 153 is inserted into the ballot box 301 so that the electronic ballot card 151 does not enter.

  (Step S120) The elector who has finished placing the ballot paper 153 in the ballot box 301 returns the electronic ballot card 151 to the reception when leaving the polling place.

  This completes a series of voting procedures.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7A, the IC chip 201 is mounted on the voting paper 153 and the voting content is recorded on the IC chip 201. I do not care. For example, as shown in FIG. 7B, the voting content may be encoded into a one-dimensional code 203 and printed on a voting sheet 153a. In this case, since the IC chip 201 is not used, the electronic voting machine 101 of FIG. Instead, the control unit 104 performs a process of encoding vote contents such as candidate information and a white vote, generates a one-dimensional code 203, and performs a process of printing on the ballot paper 153a by the printer 106.

  Alternatively, a two-dimensional code 204 as shown in FIG. 7C may be used instead of the one-dimensional code 203 shown in FIG. In this case, the control unit 104 performs a process of encoding vote contents such as candidate information and a white vote, generates a two-dimensional code 204, and performs a process of printing on the ballot paper 153b by the printer 106. In addition, the alarm notification unit 108 of the electronic voting machine 101 notifies not only of the voting sheet running out, but also an error such as when the electronic voting card 151 cannot be ejected or the voting sheet 153 is jammed. As a result, the person in charge on the election implementation side can take quick action such as installing a substitute device.

  As described above, a series of voting procedures using the electronic voting machine 101, the electronic voting card 151, and the voting paper 153 that constitute the voting system of the electronic voting system 100 according to the present embodiment is completed. If the elector notices that the printed part 202 of the ballot paper 153 output from the electronic voting machine 101 is different from the selected candidate, or if he wants to vote for another candidate If the voting paper 153 is brought to the reception, the voting may be redone once. In this case, it is necessary to reliably discard the ballot paper 153 at the reception, so after performing the cutting process (invalidation process) of the ballot paper 153 in the presence of the voting witness, again (once Voting is necessary).

Next, the vote counting procedure will be described.
[Voting procedure]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a series of voting procedures when the electronic voting system 100 according to the present embodiment is used. In the flowchart of FIG. 9, the steps indicated by dotted line frames indicate processing performed by humans, and the steps indicated by solid line frames are processing performed in accordance with a program installed in advance in the totaling PC 402 constituting the vote-voting side system of FIG. Indicates. The tabulation PC 402 reads the electronic data stored in the ballot paper 153 posted in the ballot box 301 transported from the polling place by using the reading device 401 that constitutes the vote counting system. And count by political party.

  (Step S201) When the predetermined voting time is over, each polling place transports the ballot box 301 in which the ballot paper 153 is posted to a predetermined counting place by car. For example, a reading device 401 as shown in FIG. 10A and a totaling PC 402 that counts information read by the reading device 401 are arranged at the ticketing office.

  (Step S202) As shown in FIG. 10A, the transported ballot box 301 is placed on the reader 401 and recorded on the IC chip 201 of a plurality of ballot sheets 153 placed in the ballot box 301. Read the contents of the vote.

  In addition, the method of reading the voting contents stored in the plurality of IC chips 201 by a non-contact method is realized by using a well-known technique used in a wireless tag (RFID tag) or a non-contact type IC card. it can.

  Further, a reading device 401a as shown in FIG. 10B may be used. The reading device 401a can put a plurality of ballot boxes 301 transported from each polling place on the belt conveyor 403 in order and pass through the gate of the reading device 401a. As a result, the totalizing PC 402 connected to the reading device 401a can efficiently and quickly read the voting contents recorded on the IC chip 201.

  Alternatively, a reading device 401b as shown in FIG. 10C may be used. In the reading device 401b, a plurality of antennas 405a, 405b, 405c, and 405d are installed on a support column arranged in a gate shape. Then, by passing a carriage 404 on which a plurality of ballot boxes 301 are mounted between the columns, the counting PC 402 connected to the reading device 401b reads the contents of the votes recorded on the IC chip 201 efficiently and quickly. be able to.

  In this manner, the contents of the vote recorded on the IC chip 201 of the ballot paper 153 placed in the ballot box 301 can be read by the reading device 401 and input to the totaling PC 402 at each vote counting place.

  Here, when the voting paper 153 described with reference to FIG. 7A is used as the voting paper, the content of the voting recorded on the IC chip 201 mounted on the voting paper 153 may be read without contact. When the voting paper 153a shown in FIG. 7B or the voting paper 153b shown in FIG. 7C is used, the voting paper 153a and the voting paper 153b are taken out from the voting box 301, and the printed digital code is printed. It is necessary to place them one by one on a belt conveyor and read them with a laser scanner or an image sensor. Even in this case, it is possible to significantly increase the vote opening speed as compared with the conventional case where handwritten voting content is identified manually.

  Or you may make it read by OCR (optical character reader) which reads the character information printed on the printing part 202 of voting paper 153,153a, 153b. Even in this case, since it is not a handwritten character but a character printed by the electronic voting machine 101, the recognition accuracy of OCR is good, and a high practical character recognition rate can be realized.

  (Step S <b> 204) The counting PC 402 counts the voting contents read from the IC chip 201 of the plurality of voting sheets 153. At this time, the total number (corresponding to the number of read voting sheets 153) is collated with the number of voting sheets placed in the voting box 301. Note that the number of ballots placed in the ballot box 301 matches the number of electors checked at the reception at the polling place. The number of electors checked at the reception desk shall be reported to the counting office together with the ballot box. The number of electors is input to the totaling PC 402 at the time of reading.

  Then, the totaling PC 402 collates the total number read and totaled by the reading device 401 with the number of voted electors, and if the total number matches the number of voted electors, the process proceeds to step S206. If the total number does not match the number of electors who voted, the process proceeds to step S205.

  (Step S205) It is determined whether or not the processing from step S202 to step S204 has been repeated a predetermined number of times. This processing step displays an error on the totaling PC 402 and terminates the vote opening operation for the ballot box 301 when the total number counted does not match the number of voted electors even after a predetermined number of readings. If the predetermined number of readings has not been performed, the process returns to step S202 and the processes from step S202 to step S204 are repeated.

  Here, in step S205, if the total number counted by the totaling PC 402 does not match the number of voters who voted, there is a voting sheet 153 that cannot be read. In this case, since there is a possibility that a reading failure has occurred, the reading operation by the reading device 401 is performed again. If the number of ballots does not match the number of tabulations on the tabulation PC 402 even after multiple readings, there is a possibility that the IC chip 201 of the ballots 153 is defective. A conventional voting operation is performed in which a person confirms the contents of the vote printed on 153. Thereby, it can prevent that an incorrect vote result is totaled or it becomes an invalid vote.

  (Step S206) If the total number read and totaled by the reading device 401 matches the number of electors who voted, the totaling PC 402 applies to the IC chips 201 of all the ballots 153 posted in the ballot box 301. It is determined that the stored voting contents are totaled, and the balloting of the voting box 301 is completed.

  (Step S207) If there are a plurality of ballot boxes 301 and all the ballot boxes have not been opened, the process returns to step S202, and the processes from step S202 to step S206 are repeated. If all the ballot boxes have been voted, the process proceeds to step S208.

  The above-described series of vote-voting procedures completes the vote-voting process at one ticketing place. If there is a small local election where there is only one ballot office, the balloting is ended here, a ballot record 701 is created, and the election results are announced.

  Next, a procedure for counting votes when there are a plurality of ticketing stations will be described.

  (Step S208) Aggregation data of the aggregation PCs 402 at a plurality of billing stations is transmitted to the aggregation server 163 of the information communication center facility 162 installed at each municipality level connected via a dedicated network (regional intranet 161). Is done.

  Here, the overall configuration of the electronic voting system 100a in the case where there are a plurality of billing stations will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 11, the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

  In FIG. 11, polling places that are carried by car to the × vote place are voting boxes 301 at three locations: XX vote place, XXX vote place, and XXX voting place. In these three polling places, the electronic voting machine 101 described earlier in the “voting procedure” is installed, and the elector vote by using the electronic voting card 151, and the ballot 153 is put in the ballot box 301. Post and vote.

  Similarly, the polling places that are carried by car to the voting place are three voting boxes 301a: XX voting place, XX voting place, and XXX voting place. In addition, the electronic voting machine 101a described earlier in the [voting procedure] is also installed in these three polling places. Electors vote using the electronic voting card 151a, and the ballot paper 153a is placed in the ballot box 301a. Post and vote.

  Then, a totaling PC 402 summing up the voting contents of the three ballot boxes 301 that have been carried to the vote counting place, and a counting PC 402a summing up the voting contents of the three ballot boxes 301a that have been carried to the vote counting place. Is transmitted to the information communication center facility 162 via the regional intranet 161 and received by the aggregation server 163 connected to the information communication center facility 162.

  (Step S209) The tabulation server 163 further tabulates the tabulation data sent from each counting place. Then, the number of votes obtained for each candidate or for each political party is obtained, and for example, the vote at the municipal level is completed.

  In the case of elections at the prefectural level or the country level, the information is transmitted from the aggregation servers 163 of the information communication centers 162 at a plurality of locations at each municipality level to the higher aggregation server 165 via the general administrative network (LGWAN) 164. The Then, the higher-order aggregation server 165 integrates the aggregation data at the municipality level sent from the aggregation servers 163 of the information communication centers 162 at a plurality of locations and outputs the aggregation results at the prefecture level and the country level. That is, in the case of a prefecture-level election or a country-level election, the totaling result in the totaling server 165 is the final totaling result.

  In this way, the voting results of all the electors are aggregated.

  (Step S <b> 210) The counting results are collected in a vote record 701 (counting result printed on paper) in which the number of votes obtained for each candidate or political party is described.

  (Step S211) The election management committee generally publishes the vote-voting results compiled in the ballot record 701.

  As described above, the electronic voting system 100 according to the present embodiment does not need to store the entire candidate list in the electronic voting machine 101 for each election, and distributes the electronic voting card 151 (electronic voting medium) to each elector at the time of voting. ) In advance, the same electronic voting machine 101 can be used only by rewriting the stored contents of the electronic voting card 151 regardless of the type of election. As a result, vendors have established an electronic voting system business, and it is possible for the parties (such as the national government and local governments) who run the election to operate the electronic voting system at a low cost, making it easier to introduce the electronic voting system. . In particular, a vendor can develop a business by writing a candidate list to the electronic voting card 151 or providing a ballot. In addition, by storing all candidate data in the electronic voting card 151 in advance, the main body of the electronic voting machine 101 does not require an external connection connector for writing candidate data, and a connector is used to maintain security. Since there is no need to mechanically close it, it is safe and cost-effective.

  In addition, the electronic voting system 100 according to the present embodiment does not display the entire candidate list on the display unit 103 of the electronic voting machine 101, and can list all candidate names and political party names at one time. By looking at the table, you can decide the candidates and political parties you want to vote on, so you can maintain the fairness of the election.

  Furthermore, the electronic voting system 100 according to the present embodiment selects from the candidate list previously stored in the electronic voting card 151 from the information for specifying the candidate input by the elector at the time of voting, and selects the electronic ballot on the ballot paper 153. Since data is recorded, it is possible to speed up the counting of votes.

  In addition, the electronic voting system 100 according to the present embodiment records the voting content such as candidate information and white vote on the IC chip 201 of the voting paper 153 and also prints the same voting content on the voting paper 153 with the printer 106. The elector can confirm the content of the vote and can post the ballot 153 in the ballot box with confidence. In particular, even when the IC chip 201 of the voting sheet 153 cannot read the voting content recorded on the IC chip 201 at the time of voting for some reason such as defective parts or damage during transportation, a person prints on the printed portion 202 of the voting sheet 153. The contents of the vote can be confirmed by reading the characters. As a result, it is possible to avoid the problem that the voting result is not reflected due to a malfunction of the electronic voting machine 101 or the system, and it is possible to eliminate invalid votes and ensure the safety and reliability of the election. In addition, the reliability of the election is improved, and it is possible to avoid redoing of the election due to system troubles and lawsuits.

  As described above, the electronic voting system 100 according to the present embodiment can realize an electronic voting system that can be relieved not only by the elector and the candidate but also by the election management committee and the vendor.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the electronic voting system and the program thereof according to the present invention will be described. Unlike the first embodiment, the electronic voting system according to the present embodiment does not need to transport the voting box 301 from the polling place to the counting place by car.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic voting system 100b according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 12, the counting PC 451 installed in the polling place is connected to the reading device 453 mounted inside the ballot box 452, and each time the elector places the ballot paper 153 in the ballot box 452, the ballot paper 153 The contents of the voting recorded in electronic data are read. Since the totaling PC 451 is connected to the regional intranet 161 via a dedicated line, telephone line, or wireless line (encrypted wireless LAN or the like) as described with reference to FIG. The contents of the vote can be transmitted directly to the information communication center facility 162 via the regional intranet 161. The contents of the vote sent from the aggregation PCs 451 installed at a plurality of polling stations can be aggregated by the aggregation server 163 connected to the information communication center facility 162. As a result, it is no longer necessary to transport the ballot box from the polling place to the counting place by car, so that quicker counting of votes can be performed. As described above, in this embodiment, the aggregation PC 451 is used instead of the aggregation PC 402 of the first embodiment, and the aggregation processing is performed according to the electronic voting program installed in the aggregation PC 451 in advance.

  Here, when the reading device 453 provided inside the ballot box 452 uses the ballot paper 153 as described in FIG. 7A of the first embodiment, the IC chip mounted on the ballot paper 153. This corresponds to a device for reading 201 recorded voting contents. When the voting paper 153a shown in FIG. 7B or the voting paper 153b shown in FIG. 7C is used, the reading device 453 is configured by a laser scanner or an image sensor. Alternatively, the reading device 453 may be configured by an OCR (optical character reading device) that reads character information printed on the printing portions 202 of the voting papers 153, 153a, and 153b. In this case, since it is not a handwritten character but a character printed by the electronic voting machine 101, OCR recognition accuracy is good, and a high practical character recognition rate can be realized.

  Thus, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the electronic voting system 100b and the program according to the present embodiment can shift from the manual vote counting operation to the machine counting vote operation, thereby speeding up the counting of votes and the cost of counting votes. Reduction and invalid voting (invalid voting with handwritten unreadable characters) can be eradicated.

  Further, it can be connected to the information communication center facility 162 via the polling place and the regional intranet 161, and further connected to the national level network via the LGWAN 164 as described in FIG. 11 of the first embodiment. Can do. For this reason, a reception PC is arranged at the reception of the polling place and is connected to the information communication center facility 162 via the regional intranet 161 or the nationwide via the higher-level LGWAN 164 in the same manner as the aggregation PC 451 of FIG. If it is possible to connect to the network of the level, the elector can be confirmed at any polling place in the whole country. In this case, a network authentication device (PC for network authentication device) 167 that performs identity verification via the network based on a polling place admission ticket sent to the elector in advance, and an elector who is connected to the network authentication device 167 It is necessary to connect the server (electoral list server) 166 storing the list data to the LGWAN 164.

  Thus, the electronic voting system 100b according to the present embodiment is a base for realizing future remote voting.

  Furthermore, as with the totaling PC 451 in FIG. 12, if the electronic voting machine 101 can be connected to the information communication center facility 162 or a predetermined election management center via the regional intranet 161, the operation of the electronic voting machine 101 will be improved. The status can be transmitted to a predetermined election management center, and the operating status of the electronic voting machines 101 at each polling place can be managed collectively. In this case, instead of the alarm notification unit 108 of the electronic voting machine 101, it is necessary to provide an operation status communication unit that communicates the operation status to a predetermined election management center via the regional intranet 161. Alternatively, an operation status communication unit may be provided separately from the alarm notification unit 108.

As described above, as described in each embodiment, the electronic voting system and the program thereof according to the present invention can be expected to have the following effects.
(1) A large monitor for displaying all candidate names on the display unit 103 of the electronic voting machine 101, a touch panel for selecting candidates, and the like become unnecessary. As a result, the price of the electronic voting system 100 such as the electronic voting machine 101 is reduced, and the storage space can be reduced, so that the cost can be reduced.
(2) Since it is not necessary to store candidate data in the main body of the electronic voting machine 101, it is easy to deal with various elections. Since the electronic voting card 151 is simply created for various elections, it is not necessary to change the software or hardware of the main body of the electronic voting machine 101, and the electronic voting machine 101 can be generalized. As a result, the electronic voting machine 101 can be manufactured at low cost. Also, even if it is not used in national elections once every few years, it can be diverted to other elections, so the rental frequency will be high and even if the election side wants to reduce the rental fee, the rental business will be established To do.

  Furthermore, the candidate data writing operation to the electronic voting card 151 is an IC card that does not take up a work space, and can be performed in a non-contact manner, and can be performed collectively on the electronic voting machine 101 body that takes up space. However, it is possible to reduce the work cost. In particular, the electronic voting card 151 simply writes candidate data for each municipality with different elections and constituencies to a general-purpose card, and it can be reused within the polling place. Then, the electronic voting card 151 can be used again for other elections. For this reason, it is not necessary to prepare the electronic voting cards 151 by the number of electors, and the cost can be reduced.

In addition, since the candidate data is supplied from the electronic voting card 151, an external connection connector for data writing is not required on the main body of the electronic voting machine 101. In general, since the connector of the voting related device is required to be physically blocked in order to prevent mischief, this work is also unnecessary, and the cost can be further reduced.
(3) Even in elections where a large number of candidates and a large number of political parties are running, the names of all candidates are not displayed on the display section, so there is no need to create a scroll screen, and software development and hardware costs are reduced. be able to. In particular, since it is not necessary to display the candidates in a scroll display, the candidates can be treated with fairness and peace of mind, and the risk of litigation can be avoided.
(4) In the case of the first embodiment, the main hardware device for the electronic voting system 100 is only the electronic voting machine 101 (including voting paper), and the electronic voting card 151 is a special purpose IC card. It is only necessary to use an encryption key, and the reading device 401 at the billing office can use a general-purpose reading device, and the counting PC 402 only needs to be equipped with a dedicated software on a general-purpose personal computer. Even in the case of the second embodiment, in addition to the above, only the ballot box 452 with the reading device 453 is required, and the ballot box 452 can be shared regardless of the election, so that the cost can be increased. First, the transportation cost of the ballot box 301 in the case of the first embodiment, the speeding up of the vote counting, and the safety and reliability of the vote counting can be offset.

  As described above, the electronic voting system and the program thereof according to the present invention can realize not only quick votes but also a highly versatile device regardless of the type of election. In addition, it is low-cost and highly business-friendly, and can respond to election fairness, elimination of invalid voting and system troubles. It can be voted by hand, so it is safe and reliable for the side of the election, and it is easy to introduce. Furthermore, by making it possible to connect to the regional intranet 161 and LGWAN 164, it is possible to construct an electronic voting system that also considers future remote voting.

1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration example of an electronic voting system 100. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows a voting procedure. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the electronic voting card 151. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of an external appearance of the electronic voting machine 101. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an electronic voting machine 101. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a candidate list. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of voting paper 153,153a, 153b. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the ballot box 301. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows a vote-voting procedure. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the readers 401, 401a, and 401b. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the electronic voting system 100a. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the electronic voting system 100b.

Explanation of symbols

100, 100a, 100b ... electronic voting system 101 ... electronic voting machine 102 ... card insertion slot 103 ... display unit 104 ... control unit 105 ... operation unit 106 ... printer 107 ..IC card I / F
108 ... Alarm notification unit 109 ... Electronic recording unit 105a ... Number button 105b ... Voting button 105c ... Change button 105d ... White vote button 151 ... Electronic voting cards 153, 153a, 153b ... Voting paper 155 ... Voting paper outlet 161 ... Regional intranet 162 ... Information and communication center facility 163 ... Aggregation server 164 ... LGWAN
165... Total server 166... Electoral list server 167... Network authentication device PC
201 ... IC chip (wireless tag)
202: Printed portion 203 ... One-dimensional code 204 ... Two-dimensional code 301 ... Voting box 401, 401a ... Reading device 402 ... Totaling PC

Claims (17)

In an electronic voting system consisting of an electronic voting medium distributed to an elector who has been verified at the time of voting, and an electronic voting machine that carries out voting by wearing the electronic voting medium,
The electronic voting medium holds a list of all candidates stored in advance,
In addition to the electronic voting medium, a list of all candidates that can see the list of all candidates,
Candidate information input means for inputting candidate information selected from the list of all candidates,
An electronic voting system comprising: recording means for writing specific candidate information input by the candidate information input means on a ballot paper. The electronic voting system according to claim 1.
A display means for displaying the candidate name is further provided.
The electronic voting system, wherein a candidate name corresponding to candidate information input by the candidate information input means is read from the electronic voting medium and displayed on the display means. The electronic voting system according to claim 1 or 2,
The ballot is integrated with a storage medium that can read and write information,
The electronic voting system, wherein the vote recording means stores the specific candidate information input by the candidate information input means in a storage medium of the ballot paper. In the electronic voting system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Further provided with a printing means for printing characters and figures on the ballot paper,
The electronic voting system, wherein the voting recording means prints the specific candidate name input by the candidate information input means on the voting paper by the printing means. The electronic voting system according to claim 4,
The voting recording means outputs the specific candidate name input by the candidate information input means and the digital code indicating the specific candidate information input by the candidate information input means by the printing means. An electronic voting system that prints on a ballot. The electronic voting system according to claim 5.
The digital voting system printed by the printing means is a one-dimensional code or a two-dimensional code printed with binary gradation. In the electronic voting system according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The electronic voting system is activated when the electronic voting medium is mounted, and after the voting is finished, the electronic voting medium is discharged and the operation is ended. In the electronic voting system according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A ballot box having a reading device for reading information on the ballot;
An electronic voting system, further comprising: communication means for transmitting information read from the ballot paper by the ballot box reader to a predetermined server via a network. The electronic voting system according to claim 8,
The electronic voting system, wherein the reading device reads candidate information from a storage medium integrated with the ballot. The electronic voting system according to claim 8,
The electronic voting system, wherein the reading device reads a digital code printed on the ballot paper. The electronic voting system according to claim 10,
The digital voting system, wherein the digital code read by the reading device is a one-dimensional code or a two-dimensional code printed with binary gradation. The electronic voting system according to claim 8,
The electronic voting system, wherein the reading device is an OCR (optical character reading device) that reads a candidate name printed on the ballot paper and converts it into electronic data. The electronic voting system according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
Provide further reporting means,
The electronic voting system, wherein when an operation error occurs, the notification means notifies the occurrence of the operation error. The electronic voting system according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
An electronic voting system, further comprising an operation status communication means for transmitting an operation status to a predetermined management center via a network in the electronic voting machine. The electronic voting system according to any one of claims 1 to 14,
The electronic voting system makes the electronic voting medium unavailable when a predetermined code stored in an attached electronic voting medium does not match. The electronic voting system according to claim 1.
A network authentication device that performs identity verification via the network based on a polling place admission ticket sent to the elector in advance;
A server storing electoral roster data to which the network authentication device is connected;
An electronic voting system, wherein the network authentication device performs identity verification when distributing the electronic voting medium at the time of voting. An electronic voting system comprising an electronic voting medium distributed to an elector who has been identified at the time of voting, and an electronic voting machine that mounts the electronic voting medium for voting, and an electronic computer executed by a computer constituting the electronic voting machine In the voting system program,
An activation procedure for activating an operation when the electronic voting medium holding a list of all candidates stored in advance is attached to the electronic voting machine;
Candidate information input procedure for inputting candidate information selected by the elector by looking at a list of all candidates different from the electronic voting medium;
A voting recording procedure for writing specific candidate information input by the candidate information input procedure on a ballot paper.

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