WO2021132804A1

WO2021132804A1 - Electronic voting system and electronic voting control method

Info

Publication number: WO2021132804A1
Application number: PCT/KR2020/003953
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yong Hi Kim
Original assignee: Ermi
Priority date: 2019-12-26
Filing date: 2020-03-23
Publication date: 2021-07-01

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic voting system in which a plurality of voters vote using one ballot, and an electronic voting control method in the system. The electronic voting system includes a voting activate paper in which voting right exercise information for voting one time is recorded, a ballot which is provided in each voting booth and on which identification information of each candidate registered as a candidate in an electoral district is recorded, an electronic marking bar configured to obtain identification information of the candidate who is marked by a voter from the ballot and transmit the identification information, and an electronic voting machine configured to read the voting right exercise information and then print the identification information of the marked candidate transmitted from the electronic marking bar or a voting result sheet on which candidate information corresponding to the identification information is recorded or transmit the identification information or the voting result sheet to a printer connected to the electronic voting machine in a wireless or wired manner.

Description

ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM AND ELECTRONIC VOTING CONTROL METHOD

This invention relates to an electronic voting system, and more particularly, to an electronic voting system, in which a plurality of voters vote using one ballot, and an electronic voting control method in the system.

Currently, as voting methods in most national elections, a method of voting using paper ballots is being used. In a basic voting procedure, in order to vote, a voter goes to a polling place, verifies his or her identify, receives a ballot, makes a mark on a marking column of a desired political party or candidate, and inserts the marked ballot into a ballot box. At the end of a voting period, the ballot box is opened in the polling place and ballots are counted in the polling place, or the ballot box is transferred to a ballot counting place and ballots are counted in the ballot counting place. The ballot counting is performed by counting the ballots by hand. Such a method is used as a current traditional method of voting and ballot counting.

The traditional voting method has a problem in that, since as many ballots are produced and used as the number of voters, an excessive production cost is required, resulting in a waste of resources and the destruction of nature. In addition, the ballot counting process is time consuming and requires a lot of manpower, the ballot counting time becomes longer after the voting ends, humans are involved in the counting process, and thus the method is a cause of distrust in election results.

In order to address the above problems, electronic voting systems using an electronic voting machine are being introduced. However, in the conventional electronic voting machine, candidates are displayed in units of electoral districts so that the voter chooses one of the displayed candidates to vote. Such a system has an advantage in that there is no need to produce as many ballots as the number of voters. However, in such a system, a display screen of the electronic voting machine becomes larger because all the registered candidates should be displayed, a production cost of the electronic voting machine increases because the display screen needs to be reconfigured, and an initial cost of introducing the electronic voting machine, such as a cost of purchasing a large capacity power supply for large scale equipment operation, is very high. In addition, the voters have difficulties using the new electronic voting machine, and in particular, there is also a problem of a digital divide (gap in information access) among the young and the elderly, and among the poor and the rich, which makes it difficult to introduce the electronic voting machine.

In order to address the above problems, a method is proposed in which, while an electronic voting machine is introduced, voters may choose political parties or candidates on the existing paper ballots to easily vote in the new system without dissimilarity, all the voters may vote using only one ballot per voting booth so that costs may be reduced, and the usage of a battery of the miniaturized electronic voting machine may be significantly reduced so that resource waste and resource damage may be minimized.

[Document of Related Art]

[Patent Document]

(Patent Document 1) Korean Patent No. 10-0643182

The present invention is directed to providing an electronic voting system, in which a plurality of voters may vote using one ballot, and an electronic voting control method in the system.

Furthermore, the present invention is directed to providing an electronic voting system, in which a plurality of voters may vote using one ballot, and only marked candidate information may be displayed so that a lightweight, thin, short, and small ultra-compact electronic voting machine may be implemented to be used and which may be easily utilized even in regions with poor infrastructure by minimizing power consumption, and an electronic voting control method in the system.

The present invention is also directed to providing an electronic voting system, in which time and manpower required for ballot counting and totaling are minimized while reducing an election management cost, and an electronic voting control method in the system.

Furthermore, the present invention is also directed to providing an electronic voting system, in which the same voter may be prevented from repeatedly voting, and an electronic voting control method in the system.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic voting system including a voting activate paper in which voting right exercise information for voting one time is recorded, a ballot which is provided in each voting booth and on which identification information of each candidate registered as a candidate in an electoral district is recorded, an electronic marking bar configured to obtain identification information of the candidate who is marked by a voter from the ballot and transmit the identification information, and an electronic voting machine configured to read the voting right exercise information and then print the identification information of the marked candidate transmitted from the electronic marking bar or a voting result sheet on which candidate information corresponding to the identification information is recorded or transmit the identification information or the voting result sheet to a printer connected to the electronic voting machine in a wireless or wired manner.

The electronic voting machine may access an internal storage unit or an external device and may display candidate information corresponding to the identification information of the marked candidate transmitted from the electronic marking bar together with a marking confirmation message before printing the voting result sheet.

The electronic voting machine may include a storage unit in which the identification information of each candidate registered as the candidate in the electoral district and the candidate information corresponding to the identification information, and a voting result for each candidate may be accumulated and stored in the storage unit.

The electronic voting machine may transmit the voting result for each candidate stored in the storage unit together with identification information of the voter to a management server managed by a central election agency in a wireless or wired manner.

The electronic voting machine may authenticate the read voting right exercise information and may be selectively activated according to a result of the authentication.

In the above-described electronic voting system, the electronic marking bar may include an information obtainer configured to obtain the identification information of the candidate recorded on the ballot, a manipulating unit configured to receive voter marking manipulation, a control unit configured to drive the information obtainer when the voter marking manipulation is input, and a communication unit configured to transmit the identification information of the candidate obtained by the information obtainer to the electronic voting machine in a wireless or wired manner.

The electronic marking bar may further include an operation state display unit configured to display a voting operation state with any one of light, sound, voice, vibration, and sign to the outside, and the control unit may drive and control the operation state display unit when the voter marking manipulation is input.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic voting control method of an electronic voting machine which includes reading voting right exercise information recorded on a voting activate paper, authenticating the read voting right exercise information, receiving identification information of a candidate who is marked by a voter from an electronic marking bar when the authenticating succeeds, accessing a storage unit and displaying candidate information corresponding to the received identification information of the candidate together with a marking confirmation message on a display unit, and in response to a voter confirmation command, printing the identification information of the candidate or a voting result sheet on which the candidate information is recorded or transmitting the identification information or the voting result sheet to a printer connected to the electronic voting machine in a wireless or wired manner.

In the authenticating of the voting right exercise information, a repeated voting action may be prevented by comparing polling place identification information or the polling place identification information and voting machine identification information which are included in the read voting right exercise information with the polling place identification information or the polling place identification information and the voting machine identification information which are stored in the storage unit.

Furthermore, the authenticating of the voting right exercise information may further include storing the read voting right exercise information in the storage unit, and the repeated voting action may be prevented by comparing newly read voting right exercise information with the pieces of the voting right exercise information stored in the storage unit.

According to solutions of the above-described technical problem, in an electronic voting system according to an embodiment of the present invention, only one ballot is provided in each voting booth and a plurality of voters can vote using the ballot, and thus a production cost of ballots can be reduced.

In addition, only information of a candidate who is marked by the voter is displayed on a display unit of an electronic voting machine of the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention, and thus the electronic voting machine can be manufactured as a lightweight, thin, short, and small product, and power required for operation of the miniaturized electronic voting machine can be minimized, thereby lowering a production cost and minimizing power consumption.

In the electronic voting machine of the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention, a voting result for each candidate can be accumulated by accumulating a record of the candidate who is marked by each voter, and at the end of a voting period, the accumulated voting results can be transmitted to a management server of a central election agency, which is located at a remote location, via a communication network, and thus time and manpower required for ballot counting and totaling can be minimized.

In addition, according to the present invention, the same voter can be prevented from repeatedly voting due to voting right exercise information authentication, and thus security and reliability of the electronic voting system can be enhanced.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram of an electronic voting procedure based on an electronic voting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram of a voting activate paper used in the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a ballot used in the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram of an electronic marking bar used in the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary block diagram of the electronic marking bar illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary block diagram of an electronic voting machine of the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary control flowchart for describing an electronic voting control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed descriptions of the present invention will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating examples of specific embodiments of the present invention in order to clarify objects, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention. These embodiments will be described in detail such that the present invention can be performed by those skilled in the art.

In addition, throughout the detailed descriptions and claims of the present invention, the term "comprises" and variations thereof are not intended to exclude other technical features, additives, components, or steps. Some of other objects, advantages, and features of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this specification or from the embodiments of the present invention. The following examples and drawings are provided by way of illustration and are not intended to limit the present invention. Moreover, the present invention encompasses all possible combinations of the embodiments indicated herein. It should be understood that various embodiments of the invention are different but are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Accordingly, there is no intent to limit the invention to detailed descriptions to be described below. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and encompasses all equivalents that fall within the scope of the appended claims. Like numbers refer to the same or like functions throughout the description of the figures.

Unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context, an item referred to in the singular encompasses the expression in the plural unless the context requires otherwise. In addition, in the description of the present invention, when it is determined that detailed descriptions of related well-known configurations or functions unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention. The following terms "voter" and "elector" will be interpreted as having the same meaning, and the term "candidate identification information" is referred to as information used to identify a registered candidate, can be composed of personal information of the candidate, election information, polling place information, serial number of the ballot paper and position information on the ballot paper, and should be interpreted as a concept that includes not only coded identification information such as a barcode, a three-dimensional barcode, a quick response (QR) code, or dot pattern but also a number, a symbol, a character, or a combination thereof or a serial number that can identify a candidate.

First, FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram of an electronic voting procedure based on an electronic voting system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram of a voting activate paper 50 used in the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a ballot 70 used in the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram of an electronic marking bar 100 used in the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Before referring to FIG. 1, the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention largely includes a voting activate paper 50 (see FIG. 2) which is issued by verifying a voter at a polling place, one ballot 70 (see FIG. 3) which is provided in each voting booth and used and shared by a plurality of voters, an electronic marking bar 100 (see FIG. 4) which is provided in the voting booth and obtains and transmits identification information of a candidate who is marked by the voter, and an electronic voting machine 200 (see FIG. 6) which is provided in each voting booth and outputs a voting result sheet on which the identification information of the candidate who is marked by the voter or information of the candidate who is marked by the voter is recorded.

Hereinafter, a procedure in which the technical components of the electronic voting system described above are provided at appropriates places in a polling place and electronic voting proceeds will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

First, a voter who enters the polling place is verified by checking an electoral list (①), and when the voter is verified, a voting activate paper 50 (voting right) for one-time voting is given to the voter (②).

As illustrated in FIG. 2, voting right exercise information (a barcode, a QR code, dot pattern, a near-field communication (NFC) tag, or other pieces of information capable of exercising voting right) is recorded on the voting activate paper 50. The voting right exercise information may be interpreted as information indicating that a voter can exercise his or her voting right one time at a designated place. The voting right exercise information may include polling place identification information or include polling place identification information and voting machine identification information in order to prevent the voter from voting again at another polling place or at another electronic voting machine. When it is determined that the voting right exercise information is normal (by the electronic voting machine) by authenticating the voting activate paper 50, the voter may vote using the electronic voting machine 200 to be described below. The voting activate paper 50 may be used as a medium for activating the electronic voting machine 200 to be described below. In order for the electronic voting machine 200 to facilitate recognition of the voting right exercise information, the voting right exercise information may be marked on both of front and rear surfaces of the voting activate paper 50.

In addition, the voting activate paper 50 on which the voting right exercise information is recorded may be implemented as an NFC tag or a voting activate paper to which a tag is attached. In this case, the electronic voting machine 200 may recognize the voting right exercise information contained in the NFC tag by just a tagging operation, thereby providing ease of use to the voter. The NFC tag or the voting activate paper to which the tag is attached may be collected and reused.

Meanwhile, the voter who receives the voting activate paper 50 moves to a voting booth provided with a ballot (③).As illustrated in FIG. 3, pieces of identification information of each candidate who is registered as a candidate in an electoral district are recorded on one ballot 70 provided in each voting booth. The identification information of each candidate is not only coded identification information such as a barcode, a three-dimensional barcode, a QR code, or dot pattern but also other pieces of information that can identify the candidate, and includes information for identifying the candidate. In some cases, information (such as a profile, a political party, a face image, or the like) of each candidate may be additionally recorded on the ballot 70. The one provided ballot 70 may be attached to a bottom of the voting booth or may be hard-coated and attached to the bottom of the voting booth to prevent damage.

The voter who moves to the voting booth activates the electronic voting machine 200 provided in the voting booth using the given voting activate paper 50 (④). The electronic voting machine 200 may be activated by inserting the voting activate paper 50 into a card insertion groove formed in the electronic voting machine 200 to read the voting right exercise information, by tagging the voting activate paper 50 on a card reader, or by reading the voting right exercise information recorded on the voting activate paper 50 using an information obtainer provided in the electronic voting machine 200. The information obtainer may be implemented as a scanner, a camera, or the like according to the voting right exercise information (e.g., the barcode, the QR code, the dot pattern, the NFC tag, or other information for exercising the voting right).

As will be described below, when it is authenticated that the read (or recognized) voting right exercise information is normal information, the electronic voting machine 200 is switched to an activated state and becomes a state of being capable of receiving marked information from the electronic marking bar 100.

The voter who activates the electronic voting machine 200 using the voting activate paper 50 chooses one candidate for marking from among the candidates recorded on the ballot 70 (⑤).

Subsequently, the voter makes a mark on the ballot 70 using the electronic marking bar 100 provided in the voting booth (⑥).

For example, the electronic marking bar 100 that is used for marking may be manufactured in the form of a pen, as illustrated in FIG. 4. The electronic marking bar 100 may be a device for obtaining the identification information of the candidate recorded on the ballot 70 and may include a scanner or a camera for reading a type of the identification information, that is, not only coded identification information such as a bar code, a 3-dimentional bar code, a QR code and dot pattern, but also other pieces of information that can identify a candidate, as an identification information obtainer 110. A time point at which the identification information is obtained by the provided canner or camera may be a time point at which the voter manipulates a manipulating unit provided in the electronic marking bar 100. The manipulating unit may be a manipulating button and may be a push button switch which is provided at an end of one side of the electronic marking bar 100 and pushed according to a marking action, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

When the voter chooses and marks any one candidate from among the candidates on the ballot 70 using the electronic marking bar 100, identification information of the candidate is obtained by the electronic marking bar 100 according to the marking action. The obtained identification information of the candidate is transmitted to the electronic voting machine 200 in a wireless manner (or may be transmitted in a wired manner according to an implementation method) and is printed as a voting result sheet (⑦). The method of printing the voting result sheet in the electronic voting machine 200 will be described below.

The identification information of the candidate who is marked by the voter or candidate information corresponding to the identification information is recorded on the printed voting result sheet. Subsequently, the voter inserts the printed voting result sheet into a ballot box, and thus a series of voting actions using the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention is terminated (⑧).

As described above, when the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention is used, only one ballot 70 is provided in each voting booth and a plurality of voters may vote using the ballot 70. Therefore, a production cost of the ballot 70 can be reduced.

Hereinafter, components of the electronic voting system used in each operation of the above-described electronic voting procedure will be described in more detail.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary block diagram of the electronic marking bar 100 illustrated in FIG. 4.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the electronic marking bar 100 includes a manipulating unit 105 for receiving voter marking manipulation, an information obtainer 110 for obtaining the identification information of the candidate recorded on the ballot 70, a control unit 115 for driving the information obtainer 110 when the voter marking manipulation is input, and a communication unit 120 for transmitting the identification information of the candidate obtained by the information obtainer 110 to the electronic voting machine 200 in a wireless or wired manner.

As described above, the manipulating unit 105 may be a unit for allowing the control unit 115 to recognize the marking action and may be implemented as a push button switch, which is located at an end of one side of the electronic marking bar 100 and pushed, as illustrated in FIG. 4, or may be implemented as a separate manipulating button.

The information obtainer 110 may be a camera, a barcode scanner, or a QR code scanner which is located in the electronic marking bar 100, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

In addition to the above-described components, the electronic marking bar 100 may further include an operation state display unit 125 configured to display a voting operation state with any one of light, sound, voice, vibration, and sign to the outside so that the voter can recognize that his or her marking action is normally performed. In this case, the control unit 115 drives and controls the operation state display unit 125 when the voter marking manipulation is input, that is, when the push button switch is operated or when a separate manipulating button is manipulated.

Referring to the operation of the electronic marking bar 100 including the above-described components in detail, when the voter places an end of one side of the electronic marking bar 100 on the identification information of the candidate who is chosen by the voter from among the candidates recorded on the ballot 70 and applies pressure downward, the push button switch is pressurized so that the control unit 115 recognizes a marking action and drives the information obtainer 110 located in the electronic marking bar 100 in response to the marking action.

Subsequently, the information obtainer 110 obtains the identification information of the candidate located at the end of one side of the electronic marking bar 100, and the control unit 115 receives the obtained identification information to transmit the obtained identification information to the electronic voting machine 200 to be described below through the communication unit 120 in short-range wireless communication.

In the embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 4, it is described that the electronic marking bar 100 is manufactured in a pen type, the information obtainer 110 is located in a pen-type main body of the electronic marking bar 100, and a pen-type end of one side of the electronic marking bar 100 is formed to communicate with an inner side of the pen-type main body so that the identification information obtainer 110 in the main body obtains the identification information of the candidate located at the pen-type end of one side thereof, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The electronic marking bar 100 may be manufactured in various shapes and using various methods.

For example, the electronic marking bar 100 may be manufactured so that the information obtainer 110 is operated when the information obtainer 110 is located at one side of the main body of the electronic marking bar 100 and then a manipulating button provided on an outer side of the main body of the electronic marking bar 100 is pressed.

Hereinafter, the electronic voting machine 200 which receives and processes the identification information of the candidate who is marked by the voter from the electronic marking bar 100 will be described. FIG. 6 is an exemplary block diagram of the electronic voting machine 200 of the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the electronic voting machine 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a voting activate paper reading unit 210 for reading voting right exercise information issued to a voter in a polling place. The voting activate paper reading unit 210 reads the voting right exercise information recorded on the voting activate paper 50 held by the voter and transmits the voting right exercise information to a control unit 225. The voting activate paper reading unit 210 may be implemented as a scanner, a camera, a tag reader, or the like according to the implemented form (a barcode, a QR code, dot pattern, an NFC tag, or the like) of the voting right exercise information.

Furthermore, the electronic voting machine 200 includes a communication unit 215 for receiving the identification information of the marked candidate from the electronic marking bar 100 in a wireless or wired manner. Preferably, the communication unit 215 may further include a near-field communication module, and a mobile communication module that can transmit and receive information to and from a management server managed by a central election agency.

The electronic voting machine 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include a printer 220 for directly outputting the identification information of the candidate who is marked by the voter or the voting result sheet on which the candidate information is printed. The printer 220 may be one optional component and may be removed to miniaturize the electronic voting machine 200. In this case, the voting result sheet may be output to a printer connectable through an interface (I/F) unit 250. Of course, data for printing in a wireless manner may be transmitted.

Furthermore, the electronic voting machine 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes the control unit 225 for controlling an overall operation thereof.

For example, the control unit 225 reads the voting right exercise information and then prints the identification information of the marked candidate transmitted from the electronic marking bar 100 or the voting result sheet on which the candidate information corresponding to the identification information is printed or transmits the identification information of the marked candidate or the voting result sheet to a printer connected to the electronic voting machine in a wireless or wired manner.

In some cases, before printing the voting result sheet, the control unit 225 of the electronic voting machine 200 may access an internal storage unit 230 or an external device (a management server managed by a national election commission) and display the candidate information corresponding to the identification information of the marked candidate transmitted from the electronic marking bar 100 together with a marking confirmation message.

In addition, the control unit 225 may authenticate the read voting right exercise information to selectively activate the electronic voting machine 200 according to a result of the authentication and to transmit a voting result for each candidate stored in the storage unit 230 together with identification information of the voter to the management server managed by the central election agency in a wireless or wired manner.

In addition to the above-described components, the electronic voting machine 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention further includes a storage unit 230 for storing identification information of each candidate registered as a candidate in an electoral district and candidate information corresponding to the identification information, a user I/F unit 235 including a display unit for inputting an operation command by a voter or an administrator and displaying various types of information, a memory 240 in which control program data for controlling the overall operation of the electronic voting machine 200 is stored, and an I/F unit 250 which is connected to a peripheral device such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drive or a printer and can transmit and receive information.

For reference, in the storage unit 230, the voting result for each candidate is accumulated and stored and polling place identification information or the polling place identification information and voting machine identification information necessary for authenticating the voting right exercise information are stored.

In some cases, the above-described electronic voting machine 200 may further include a camera 245. The camera 245 may be used to obtain identification information of a candidate to be marked in place of the electronic marking bar 100 or may be used to capture an image such as a ballot counting state and a ballot counting state table required by the central election agency.

Hereinafter, the operation of the electronic voting machine 200 including the above-described components will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary control flowchart for describing an electronic voting control method according to an embodiment of the present invention and the method is an electronic voting control method executable by the control unit 225 of the electronic voting machine 200.

Referring to FIG. 7, first, for example, the voter inserts the voting activate paper 50 into the card insertion groove formed in the electronic voting machine 200, tags the voting activate paper 50 on a card reader, or performs a scan operation so that the voting right exercise information recorded on the given voting activate paper 50 can be read by the voting activate paper reading unit 210.

The voting activate paper reading unit 210 reads the voting right exercise information recorded on the voting activate paper 50 according to the action of the voter and transmits the voting right exercise information to the control unit 225, and thus, in operation S100, the control unit 225 reads the voting right exercise information recorded on the voting activate paper 50.

Subsequently, the control unit 225 authenticates the read voting right exercise information (S110) to prevent two or more illegal voting attempts. The authentication of the voting right exercise information may be performed by comparing the polling place identification information or the polling place identification information and the voting machine identification information which are included in the read voting right exercise information with the polling place identification information or the polling place identification information and the voting machine identification information which are stored in the storage unit 230. That is, the voting right exercise information is used as information for limiting voting only to a designated electronic voting machine 200 of a designated place. In this case, since the same voter may repeatedly vote using the same electronic voting machine 200, the control unit 225 stores the read voting right exercise information in the storage unit 230 in order to prevent the repeated voting. By comparing newly read voting right exercise information with the pieces of the voting right exercise information stored in the storage unit 230, the same voter may be prevented from repeatedly voting using the same electronic voting machine 200.

As a result of authenticating the voting right exercise information in the manner described above, when it is determined that the authentication is not normally performed, the control unit 225 proceeds to operation S120 to refuse to exercise the voting right. That the voting right is refused to be exercised signifies that the electronic voting machine 200 is maintained in an inactive state.

On the contrary, in operation S110, when it is authenticated that the voting right exercise information is normal, the control unit 225 activates the electronic voting machine 200 and then waits for the identification information of the candidate to be transmitted from the electronic marking bar 100.

Meanwhile, the voter who activates the electronic voting machine 200 using the voting activate paper 50 chooses one of the candidates recorded on the ballot 70 provided in the voting booth in order to vote. The voter who chooses the candidate in order to vote makes a mark on the ballot 70 using the electronic marking bar 100. According to such a marking action, the identification information of the candidate is obtained from the electronic marking bar 100 and the obtained identification information of the candidate is transmitted to the electronic voting machine 200, and thus the control unit 225 may receive the identification information of the candidate who is marked by the voter (S130).

The control unit 225 which receives the identification information of the candidate who is marked by the voter accesses the storage unit 230 and displays the candidate information corresponding to the identification information of the corresponding candidate together with a marking confirmation message on the display unit, which is the user I/F unit 235 (S140).

Subsequently, when the voter determines whether the displayed candidate information matches the information of the candidate marked by the voter and inputs a confirmation command, the control unit 225 prints a voting result sheet on which the candidate information is recorded in response to the confirmation command of the voter (S150). When the printer 220 is not embedded in the electronic voting machine 200, the electronic voting machine 200 supports transmitting information of the voting result sheet on which the candidate information is recorded to a printer connected thereto through the I/F unit 250 and printing.

As described above, after the voting result sheet, on which the information of the candidate who is marked by the voter himself or herself is recorded, is printed, the voter inserts the corresponding voting result sheet into the ballot box, and thus the series of operations of the electronic voting procedure are completed.

Meanwhile, the control unit 225 may accumulate and store the identification information of the candidate who is marked by the voter in the storage unit 230 as a voting result for each candidate and then transmit the accumulated and stored voting result for each of the candidates together with identification information of the voter to the management server managed by the central election agency in a wireless manner at the end of a voting period. Of course, it is also possible to copy the voting result for each candidate to a separate portable device such as a USB flash drive so as to move the voting result for each candidate offline.

For reference, when a next operation does not proceed for a certain period of time during the voting process, a screen of the electronic voting machine 200 is automatically locked, and when there is an operation by the voter, the screen may be unlocked so that the operation is performed after the voting right exercise information is read again. In addition, when the displayed candidate information is not the information of the candidate who is marked by the voter or when the voter wants to mark again, the voter may issue a cancellation command in the operation of displaying the marking confirmation message. In this case, the control unit 225 may induce the voter to perform a re-marking procedure.

As described above, in the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention, only one ballot 70 is provided in each voting booth and a plurality of voters can vote using the ballot 70, and thus a production cost of the ballots 70 can be reduced.

Furthermore, the information of the candidate who is marked by the voter is displayed on the display unit of the electronic voting machine 200 of the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention, and thus the electronic voting machine 200 can be manufactured as a lightweight, thin, short, and small product, and at the same time, a production cost can be lowered, and power consumption can be reduced by minimizing operation power of the electronic voting machine.

In addition, in the electronic voting machine 200 of the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention, a voting result for each candidate can be accumulated by accumulating a record of the candidate who is marked by each voter, and at the end of a voting period, the accumulated voting results can be transmitted to a management server of a central election agency located at a remote location via a communication network, and thus time and manpower required for ballot counting and totaling can be minimized.

In addition, according to the present invention, the same voter can be prevented from repeatedly voting by authenticating the voting right exercise information, and thus security and reliability of the electronic voting system can be enhanced.

While the present invention has been described with reference to embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, these should be considered in a descriptive sense only and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various alterations and other equivalent embodiments may be made. For example, in the above embodiments, although the candidate information is described as being recorded and printed on the voting result sheet, only the identification information of the candidate received by the electronic voting machine may be printed and printed on the voting result sheet. In addition, for easy ballot counting or recounting, separate information may also be printed and output on the voting result sheet. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

An electronic voting system comprising:

a voting activate paper in which voting right exercise information for voting one time is recorded;

a ballot which is provided in each voting booth and on which identification information of each candidate registered as a candidate in an electoral district is recorded;

an electronic marking bar configured to obtain identification information of the candidate who is marked by a voter from the ballot and transmit the identification information; and

an electronic voting machine configured to read the voting right exercise information and then print the identification information of the marked candidate transmitted from the electronic marking bar or a voting result sheet on which candidate information corresponding to the identification information is recorded or transmit the identification information or the voting result sheet to a printer connected to the electronic voting machine in a wireless or wired manner.
The electronic voting system of claim 1, wherein the electronic voting machine accesses an internal storage unit or an external device and displays candidate information corresponding to the identification information of the marked candidate transmitted from the electronic marking bar together with a marking confirmation message before printing the voting result sheet.
The electronic voting system of claim 1, wherein the electronic voting machine includes a storage unit in which the identification information of each candidate registered as the candidate in the electoral district and the candidate information corresponding to the identification information, and a voting result for each candidate is accumulated and stored in the storage unit.
The electronic voting system of claim 3, wherein the electronic voting machine transmits the voting result for each candidate stored in the storage unit together with identification information of the voter to a management server managed by a central election agency in a wireless or wired manner.
The electronic voting system of claim 1, wherein the electronic voting machine authenticates the read voting right exercise information and is selectively activated according to a result of the authentication.
The electronic voting system of claim 1, wherein the voting right exercise information recorded on the voting activate paper is information including polling place identification information or information including the polling place identification information and voting machine identification information.
The electronic voting system of claim 1, wherein the electronic marking bar includes:

an information obtainer configured to obtain the identification information of the candidate recorded on the ballot;

a manipulating unit configured to receive voter marking manipulation;

a control unit configured to drive the information obtainer when the voter marking manipulation is input; and

a communication unit configured to transmit the identification information of the candidate obtained by the information obtainer to the electronic voting machine in a wireless or wired manner.
The electronic voting system of claim 7, wherein the electronic marking bar further includes an operation state display unit configured to display a voting operation state with any one of light, sound, voice, vibration, and sign to the outside, and

the control unit drives and controls the operation state display unit when the voter marking manipulation is input.
An electronic voting control method of an electronic voting machine, the method comprising:

reading voting right exercise information recorded on a voting activate paper;

authenticating the read voting right exercise information;

receiving identification information of a candidate who is marked by a voter from an electronic marking bar when the authenticating succeeds;

accessing a storage unit and displaying candidate information corresponding to the received identification information of the candidate together with a marking confirmation message on a display unit; and

printing, in response to a voter confirmation command, the identification information of the candidate or a voting result sheet on which the candidate information is recorded or transmitting the identification information or the voting result sheet to a printer connected to the electronic voting machine in a wireless or wired manner.
The method of claim 9, further comprising:

accumulating and storing a voting result for each candidate in the storage unit; and

transmitting the voting result for each candidate accumulated and stored in the storage unit together with identification information of the voter to a management server managed by a central election agency in a wireless or wired manner.
The method of claim 9, wherein, in the authenticating of the voting right exercise information, a repeated voting action is prevented by comparing polling place identification information or the polling place identification information and voting machine identification information which are included in the read voting right exercise information with the polling place identification information or the polling place identification information and the voting machine identification information which are stored in the storage unit.
The method of claim 9 or 11, wherein the authenticating of the voting right exercise information further includes storing the read voting right exercise information in the storage unit, and

a repeated voting action is prevented by comparing newly read voting right exercise information with the pieces of the voting right exercise information stored in the storage unit.