JPH06348737A - Electronic voting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automate the sum-up of voted results at the various kinds of elections and to enable voting even without visiting a polling place. CONSTITUTION:A voting ticket 22 is made into a mark system, and a candidate is selected by painting out a mark, for example. An electronic ballot box 25 reads the mark of the voting ticket 22, recognizes it, sums up the results and reports it to a computer 23 for sum-up at a polling place C. Thus, the voted results are speedily summed up. On the other hand, when a telephone calling card is distributed to an elector and this card is inserted to a telephone set, voting is accepted by a telephone answering system. Therefore, voting is enabled by the telephone set at any place in the country.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic voting system for automatically counting the votes of parliamentarians, city councilors, etc.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art National and local governments regularly hold elections to select members of the Diet and city council. The election results will be finalized and the winning decision will be decided. Such a conventional voting system has been performed as follows. Figure 2
Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a conventional voting system. As shown in the figure, the polling place A is provided in each voting area, and the voter 1 visits here to vote. The voter 1 presents the postcard 2 to the election manager 3 to confirm that he / she is the individual. And
In exchange for the postcard, the ballot form 4 is received, and the name of the candidate is written. Voter 1 throws ballot 4 into ballot box 5 to end the election. The ballot box 5 into which such a ballot is put is then carried to the ballot counting place B by the transportation means 6. At the voting place B, the election manager 8 determines whether the votes are invalid or valid, and counts the voting districts or electoral districts. Then, the counting result is collected at the counting place C and counted. At the counting place C, if it is a local government, the whole region is totaled, and in the case of the election of the members of the Diet, etc., it is totaled in the whole country.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a conventional counting method. As shown in the figure, for example, when there are a large number of electoral districts R1, R2, ..., Several voting stations A1, A2, A3, ... Are provided in each electoral district. Then, the voting stations B1 and B2 are provided for each electoral district, and the results of voting here are finally collected at one counting station C and counted. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional aggregation notification method. The notification of the counting result from the counting place B to the counting place C shown in FIG.
X) 10 or telephone 11 or the like. In addition, at the counting place C, the counting is performed by the counting computer 12 or the like.

[0004]

By the way, the conventional voting system as described above has the following problems to be solved. As shown in FIG. 2, conventionally, the vote counting work at the vote counting place B has been manually performed by an election manager. Therefore, there is a problem that it takes a long time to count the votes and it takes a long time to announce the result. In addition, when a voter fills out the candidate's name on the ballot, it is handwritten, so typographical errors are likely to occur, which may cause unreadable or invalid votes when counting the votes. It was In addition, since many parts of the counting work and the counting work are manually performed, an error is likely to occur in the counting result, and the counting is often performed again.

Further, in the usual case, the voting day is limited to a certain day, and it is possible to use a system such as absentee voting. However, in the case that it is not convenient for some reason on the voting day, the abstention is absent. In many cases, it causes a decrease in the voting rate. In addition, it is not impossible to set election dates for multiple days, but in reality, it is not easy to borrow polling stations such as elementary and junior high schools and public halls over multiple days. Moreover, it is not easy to secure the personnel of the election manager who will attend the election during that time.

[0006] In addition, voters usually have to go to a designated polling place, and it is not easy to vote, for example, during a trip or during a long-term business trip. For example, in elections for members of the Diet, it is possible to build a system that allows voting anywhere in the country. In this case, a list of all voters is prepared at all polling stations, and the voters are candidates for voting in the district. It is necessary to prepare a list of persons. This is practically very difficult with conventional systems. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an electronic voting system that solves various problems as described above.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a voting ticket reader for receiving a mark type voting ticket in which a voter selects and marks a candidate and reading the mark, and an output of the voting ticket reader are described. The present invention relates to an electronic voting system comprising: a voting result counting machine that accepts and counts the number of votes for each candidate. A second invention is a telephone call card which is distributed to voters and records the identification information of the voters themselves and the telephone call number of a response system for executing a voting procedure, and information recorded on the telephone call card through the telephone. And a response system for executing a voting procedure while interacting with the voters and totaling voting results.

[0008]

In the first aspect of the invention, the voting ticket is of the mark type, and the candidate is selected by filling the mark, for example. The electronic ballot box reads the mark on the voting ticket, recognizes it, counts it up, and notifies the counting computer at the counting place. In this way, the voting results are processed quickly. In the second aspect of the invention, a telephone calling card is distributed to voters, and when the card is inserted into a telephone, the telephone answering system accepts a vote. Therefore, it is possible to vote by telephone anywhere in the country.

[0009]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an electronic voting system of the first invention. In this system, an entry board 21, a voting ticket 22 and an electronic voting box 25 are prepared at each polling place. Voting ticket 22
Electronic ballot box 25 with well-known mark-type configuration
In order to read the information, the mark reader 31, the voting ticket reader 32, the candidate list 33, and the voting result totalizer 34
Also, a communication control unit 35 is provided. In addition, polling place A
A communication line 26 connects between and the collection point C. Then, the counting result in the electronic ballot box 25 is notified to the counting computer 23. A counting console 24 is connected to the counting computer 23, and the counting result is displayed here.

FIG. 5 shows a plan view of the electronic voting ticket as described above. This example is used when selecting a political party rather than a candidate. Here, the political party name and its corresponding identification number are displayed in advance at the polling place, and this number is entered on the voting ticket. The number is the mark entry part 4 shown in the figure
Specified by filling in 1. The configuration itself of the device for reading such a mark type voting ticket is the same as that well known in the art, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 6 shows a plan view of an example of a voting ticket of a different form from that of FIG. In this example, the name of the candidate is written on the voting ticket, and it is selected by the mark sheet method. The mark entry section 41 is provided below each candidate, and the vote is performed by confirming the candidate name and filling the corresponding mark. The mark reader 31 in the electronic ballot box shown in FIG. 1 is a device for reading the mark as described above. Further, the betting ticket reader 32 is a part for collating the reading result by the mark reader 31 with the candidate list 33 and recognizing which candidate has been marked. The voting-result aggregator 34 is a part that aggregates the recognition results and automatically obtains the voting results for each polling place. The communication control unit 35 is a part that notifies the counting computer 23 of the counting result by the voting result counting machine 34 via the communication line 26.

FIG. 7 shows a sectional view of the electronic ballot box. The electronic ballot box itself has, for example, as shown in this figure, an insertion slot 36 for receiving a voting ticket, a mark reader 31, and an accept stacker 38 and a reject stacker 39 for storing the read voting ticket. Gate 37
Guides that the voting ticket in which the mark is normally read is sent to the accept stacker 38, and the voting ticket in which the reading result is abnormal is guided to the reject stacker 39. The content of the voting ticket accepted by the reject stacker 39 is confirmed by the election manager, and the voting ticket is incorporated into the voting result if necessary.

According to the electronic voting system of the first aspect of the present invention, the voters complete the election by filling in the required marks on the voting ticket and putting it in the electronic ballot box 25. In the electronic ballot box 25, the mark is read, the voting results are totaled, and the communication line 2 is connected to the totaling computer 23 of the totaling point C.
Notify through 6 Upon receiving such a notification from the polling stations A nationwide, the tallying computer 23 immediately tallies the whole country and displays it on the tallying console 24. As a result, the voting results are aggregated in real time and the election results can be aggregated and announced very quickly.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of the counting method by the system of the first invention. As shown in the figure, in the system of the present invention, the voting results at the polling stations A1, A2, A3 ...
Each is directly notified to the counting place C via the communication line 26. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide an intermediate counting place other than the polling place, and the counting work is easy and errors are unlikely to occur.

FIG. 9 shows a conceptual diagram of the electronic voting system of the second invention. The system of the first invention is the same as the conventional system in designating the place and date and time when voters vote. In the second invention, a well-known telephone card or the like is used to enable voting from anywhere in the country. In the system shown, the election manager 51
Distributes the telephone calling card 52 to the voters 53 in advance. The telephone calling card 52 is a so-called telephone card, and, for example, identification information for identifying a voter and a telephone calling number of a response system for performing a voting procedure are recorded therein. This identification information is information for confirming whether the voters themselves are calling.

This telephone calling card 52 is a public telephone 54
It is for voting using the above. of course,
Other than this, for example, a city hall or other place may be provided with a voting device capable of reading a telephone calling card and making a notification or the like. This public telephone 54 is connected to a response system 56 via a telephone line 55. The response system 56 includes a voice response unit 57,
A signal recognition unit 58 and a control unit 59 are provided. The response system 56 is for receiving a call by the telephone call card 52, making a voice response with the voter 53, and proceeding with the voting procedure. In order to execute such a voting procedure, the response system 56 is connected in advance to the totaling system 60 via another telephone line 55. The totaling system 60 includes a database 61 that stores various information such as an electoral list and a candidate list.

The system as described above is used as follows. FIG. 10 shows a response content explanatory diagram of the response system according to the second invention. The voice response unit 57 shown in FIG.
Is configured to sequentially perform voice guidance as shown in a to f of FIG. First, when the voters 53 set the telephone calling card 52 into the public telephone 54, the public telephone 54
Calls the response system 56. The response system 56
According to this call, first, the identification information of the voters recorded on the telephone calling card 52 is read. Then, the identification information identifies the constituency to which the voters belong and the polling place where the voters should originally vote. As a result, referring to the database 61 of the totaling system 60, the person is confirmed.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the database contents according to the second invention. For example, as shown in this figure, the electoral district names P1, P2, P3 ... Corresponding to the identification information of the voters are read from the database, and the candidate names M1, M2, M3 ... Registered for each electoral district. Is read. Next, the voters are notified of the votes that they can vote for.
This is because, for example, the members of parliament to be selected may differ for each district, or the members of the city may be elected at the same time.

In the voice guidance, a description such as "First, vote for Election 1" will be given, and guidance such as "The candidates for election P1 are candidates M1, M2, and M3." Furthermore, guidance such as "I will read the name of the candidate again after the number. Please press the * button after pressing the number of the candidate for voting." Then, after that, guidance such as "first candidate M1 and second candidate M2" is given. When voters press the * button after hearing such a candidate's name, the confirmation guidance such as "Your candidate for voting is candidate M1" is displayed, and the "* button again if correct". Press, and if not, press the # button. " Such a so-called conventional seat reservation and other methods widely used in various information input systems using telephones can be used to vote.

With such a system, a voter uses a telephone calling card to make a call to a large number of answering systems provided all over the country, and the answering system stores all the necessary information only in the whole country. Access two databases to recognize voters and complete the required elections. Similar to the first invention, the total is directly written in, for example, a database or the like. As a result, the voting date is not limited to one day, and the polling place does not need to be specially prepared. Further, the database may be provided in one place nationwide, the cost is low, and errors are unlikely to occur.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The first invention has shown an example in which a mark is written on a voting ticket, for example, using a pencil, but this may be configured to electrically write the mark. Further, the counting does not necessarily have to be performed inside the electronic ballot box, and the counting may be performed by a separately provided counting device or the like. Further, in addition to the above-mentioned information, various kinds of information for confirming the identity of the person and various kinds of information indicating the electoral district, etc. may be written on the telephone calling card in the second invention. It doesn't matter. Further, although it is preferable to provide one database nationwide, it may be appropriately distributed in consideration of concentration of access.

[0022]

In the electronic voting system of the present invention described above, a mark type voting ticket is used, which is read by a voting ticket reader and sent to a counting place via a communication line to count the voting results. As a result, it is difficult for voters to make mistakes in entering candidates, and accurate election results can be aggregated. Also, because the election results are tabulated electronically promptly, the results are announced promptly,
Errors in counting results are unlikely to occur.

In the second invention, a telephone call card in which the identification information of the person and the telephone call number of the voting system are recorded is distributed to the voters, and the telephone accepts the telephone call card to call the response system, Since the voting process is executed while interacting with the voters, it is not always limited to one day as in the past and the polling place is not limited, giving voters more opportunities to vote. And prevent abstention. In addition, there is no need to set up polling stations or secure the personnel of election managers, and the procedure for elections will be easier. Furthermore, an easy election can be performed by using a public telephone or the like, and the counting result is electronically counted and published, so that the election result can be announced promptly and accurately as in the first invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an electronic voting system of a first invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a conventional voting system.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional counting method.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional aggregation notification method.

FIG. 5 is a plan view (1) of an example of a voting ticket for implementing the first invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a voting ticket example (part 2) for carrying out the first invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an electronic ballot box.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a counting method by the system of the first invention.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram of an electronic voting system of a second invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of response contents according to the second invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of database contents according to the second invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 22 voting ticket 23 computer for counting 25 electronic ballot box 26 communication line 31 mark reader 32 voting ticket reader 34 voting result counting machine

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A voting ticket reader for accepting a mark type voting ticket in which a voter selects and marks a candidate, and a vote ticket reading machine for reading the mark, and the output of this voting ticket reader for accepting the number of votes for each candidate. An electronic voting system comprising a voting result counting machine for counting. 2. A telephone call card, which is distributed to voters and records the identification information of the voters and the telephone call number of a response system for executing the voting procedure, and the information recorded on the telephone call card through the telephone. And a response system for counting voting results and executing voting procedures while interacting with the voters.