WO2021145527A1

WO2021145527A1 - Electronic voting rod and electronic voting system including the same

Info

Publication number: WO2021145527A1
Application number: PCT/KR2020/010827
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yong Hi Kim
Original assignee: Ermi
Priority date: 2020-01-16
Filing date: 2020-08-14
Publication date: 2021-07-22

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic voting rod for shortening a ballot counting time and an electronic voting system including the same. The electronic voting rod includes a voting rod housing body which has a voting mark formed on a lower edge thereof and accommodates a circuit board and a battery therein, an information obtainer fixing member of which an upper portion is accommodated in a portion of a bottom surface of the voting rod housing body and which is connected to the voting rod housing body through an elastic member, wherein an information obtainer for obtaining identification information of a candidate who is marked on a ballot is provided in an inner side of a center of the lower portion, a mark sensing unit configured to generate a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied to the voting rod housing body, and a controller configured to drive the information obtainer when the mark sensing signal is generated, to obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and store the identification information of the candidate in a storage unit.

Description

ELECTRONIC VOTING ROD AND ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM INCLUDING THE SAME

This invention relates to an electronic voting system, and more particularly, to an electronic voting rod for shortening a ballot counting time and an electronic voting system including the same.

Currently, as a voting method in most national elections, a method of making a mark on a paper ballot using a marking tool that contains ordinary ink is being used. In a basic voting procedure, in order to vote, a voter goes to a polling place, verifies an identification of the voter, 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. Thereafter, 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. After the ballot counting process is completed, ballot counting results are transmitted to a central election management agency by a human or using information and communication technology (ICT) equipment. Such a method is used as a current traditional method of voting and ballot counting.

The traditional voting and ballot counting method has problems in that it cannot be verified whether ballots and ballot counting results are forged and altered, a lot of time and manpower are required because the ballots are counted by humans, human errors and intended distortion may be involved, and it takes a long time to publish the ballot counting results.

In order to address the above problems, electronic voting systems using an electronic voting machine have been developed. However, in order to use the electronic voting machine, there are problems in that it is necessary to change the electoral law of each country, there is a feeling of repulsion to the use of the electronic voting machine due to a difference from the traditional voting method, and a cost for introduction of the electronic voting machine is significant. In addition, in order to introduce the electronic voting machine, the infrastructure to reliably use the electronic voting machine and ICT technical capability for the operation and management of the electronic voting machine should be ensured. However, due to the difficulty in securing related techniques in a short period of time, it is difficult to introduce and use the electronic voting machine.

In order to address the above problems, there is a need for the development of new devices which are needed to make an environment in which a voter may choose a political party or candidate on a paper ballot like the traditional voting method and may easily participate in voting based on the electronic voting system by allowing the voter to make a mark using a marking tool similarly to the traditional voting method, and, at the same time, ballot counting results may be calculated immediately after the voting ends and transmitted to the central election management agency so as to publish the results in real time.

In particular, devices are required in which reliability of a voting procedure is ensured by preventing forgery and alteration of ballots and ballot counting results, it is possible to introduce the electronic voting system without changing the electoral system, there is no feeling of repulsion to a new voting procedure or no difficulty in securing ICT technical capability for the operation and management, and it is possible to perform electronic voting at a low cost of about 1/10th of the existing electronic voting system.

[Document of Related Art]

[Patent Document]

(Patent Document 1) Korean Patent No. 10-0987549

The present invention is directed to providing an electronic voting rod for significantly shortening a ballot counting time and an electronic voting system including the same.

Furthermore, the present invention is directed to providing an electronic voting rod serving as a supporting tool that maycollect and publish voting results immediately after voting ends and also prevent distortion of ballot counting results.

The present invention is also directed to providing an electronic voting rod, in which marking results which are marked by voters may be accumulated and the ballots may be rapidly counted by transferringthe accumulated results easily, transmitting the accumulated results only to a designated external device, or being connected to an external device.

Furthermore, the present invention is also directed to providing an electronic voting system, in which the electronic voting rod described above is used and ballots that mayprevent copying are used together therewith, thereby ensuring reliability of voting results.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic voting rod including a lower body having a voting mark formed on a lower edge thereof, an upper body which accommodates a circuit board and a battery therein, an elastic member which is connected to the lower and upper bodies and contracted according to a pressure applied thereto when marking, a lower body case which accommodates a lower portion of the upper body and the lower body of and the elastic member therein, wherein a lower portion thereof is open so that the voting mark formed on the lower body which is moved according to a pressure applied to the upper body protrudes outward of the housing, an information obtainer which is provided in a lower edge of the lower body so as to face a ballot and obtains identification information of a candidate who is marked on the ballot among one or more candidates, a mark sensing unit which generates a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied thereto when marking, and a controller configured to drive the information obtainer when the mark sensing signal is generated, to obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and store the identification information of the candidate in a storage unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic voting rod including a voting rod housing body which has a voting mark formed on a lower edge thereof and accommodates a circuit board and a battery therein, an information obtainer fixing member of which an upper portion is accommodated in a portion of a bottom surface of the voting rod housing body and a lower portion is exposed outside the voting rod housing body and which is connected to the voting rod housing body through an elastic member, wherein an information obtainer for obtaining identification information of a candidate who is marked on a ballot is provided in an inner side of a center of the lower portion, a mark sensing unit configured to generate a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied to the voting rod housing body, and a controller configured to drive the information obtainer when the mark sensing signal is generated, to obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and store the identification information of the candidate in a storage unit.

Each of the electronic voting rods having the above-described configurations may further include an operation state display unit configured to display a voting operation state with any one of light, sound, voice, vibration, and a sign to the outside. In this case, the controller may drive and control the operation state display unit when the mark sensing signal is generated.

Each of the electronic voting rods described above may further include an interface unit for a data interface with an external storage unit, and a communication unit which transmits pieces of the stored identification information of the candidates to an external device in a wired or wireless manner.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic voting system including a ballot which is distributed to a voter in a polling place after verifying the voter and on which pieces of identification information of one or more candidates are recorded, and electronic voting rods which are provided in each voting booth, obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot according to a downward pressure applied by the voter when marking, and store the identification information of the candidate in a storage unit.

In the electronic voting system, each of the electronic voting rods may include a voting rod housing body which has a voting mark formed on a lower edge thereof and accommodates a circuit board and a battery therein, an information obtainer fixing member of which an upper portion is accommodated in a portion of a bottom surface of the voting rod housing body and a lower portion is exposed outside the voting rod housing body and which is connected to the voting rod housing body through an elastic member, wherein an information obtainer for obtaining the identification information of the candidate who is marked on a ballot is provided in an inner side of a center of the lower portion, a mark sensing unit configured to generate a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied to the voting rod housing body, and a controller configured to drive the information obtainer when the mark sensing signal is generated, to obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and store the identification information of the candidate in a storage unit.

Furthermore, on each ballot, a candidate information recording area in which candidate information is recorded may correspond to a marking area for making a mark on the corresponding candidate, wherein, on the candidate information recording area and the marking area corresponding thereto, the identification information of the corresponding candidate may be recorded with ink that is not visually identifiable.

According to solutions of the above-described technical problem, in the present invention, when a voter makes a mark on a ballot, which is produced using special ink or ordinary ink, using an electronic voting rod, the electronic voting rod obtains and stores identification information of a candidate who is marked by the voter, and at the end of the voting, the electronic voting rod itself or only a storage unit is transferred to a ballot counting place or an election management agency or is connected to a device at a designated place to read information in the rod or unitso that the results can be transmitted to the election management agency, and thus time and cost required for ballot counting can be minimized.

In addition, in the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention, in some cases, by using special ink in the ballot production process, copying of the ballot can be prevented, thereby ensuring reliability of the voting results.

Furthermore, in the electronic voting rod and the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention, an electronic voting system environment can be introduced in which electronic voting is performed in the traditional voting environment, that is, in the same way as the method of marking on a paper ballot using a marking tool, there is no need to change the electoral system necessary to introduce the electronic voting system and there is no feeling of repulsion of the voter with respect to the changed electoral system or there is no information and communication technology (ICT) technical capability for the operation and management of the electronic voting environment, and in particular, the electronic voting is performed at a low cost of about 1/10th of the existing electronic voting environment.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary flow diagram of a procedure for describing a process of voting and ballot counting using an electronic voting rod and an electronic voting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary diagrams of ballots according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of an exterior of an electronic voting rod according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the electronic voting rod illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary block diagram of an electronic voting rod according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of an electronic voting rod according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary diagram of an exterior of the electronic voting rod according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the electronic voting rod illustrated in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view for describing an operation of the electronic voting rod illustrated in FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary diagrams of an exterior of a pen-type electronic marking rod according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the electronic marking rod illustrated in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an exemplary cross-sectional view of another form of the electronic marking rod illustrated in FIG. 10.

[Detailed Description of Embodiment]

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 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 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 by which a candidate registered in the election may be identified and may be composed of personal information of the candidate, election information, polling place information, ballot identification number, and location information on the ballot. A method of expressing the candidate identification information is desirable to 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 a dot pattern, but also a simple number, a symbol, a character, or a combination thereof or serial number that can identify a candidate. In addition, the term "electronic voting rod" may be interpreted as the same meaning as a marking tool.

First, FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram of a procedure for describing a process of voting and ballot counting using an electronic voting rod and an electronic voting system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary diagrams of ballots according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes ballots which are distributed to voters in a polling place after verifying the voters and on which pieces of identification information of one or more candidates are recorded, and electronic voting rods, which are provided in each voting booth, obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot by a downward pressure which is applied by the voter when marking and store the identification information of the candidate in a storage unit.

In some embodiments, on each ballot, a candidate information recording area in which candidate information is recorded corresponds to a marking area for making a mark on the corresponding candidate, as illustrated in FIG. 2. On the candidate information recording area and the marking area corresponding thereto, the identification information of the corresponding candidate is recorded with ink that is visually identifiable or with ink that is not visually identifiable. As will be described below, the identification information of the candidate, which is recorded with ink that is not visually identifiable, may be obtained by an information obtainer such as an ultraviolet (UV) camera.

For reference, the candidate information may be information such as a photograph of the candidate, a profile of the candidate, a political party of the candidate, a name of the candidate, or a combination thereof. The reason why the identification information of the candidate is recorded on the candidate information recording area with ink that is not visually identifiable is to obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked by the voter using the information obtainer which will be described below even when the voter makes a mark on the candidate information recording area instead of the marking area. This is for satisfying the features of the electoral system in which an area capable of being marked includes the candidate information recording area according to the national election system.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the identification information of the candidate is illustrated as being recorded with ink that is not visually identifiable, but this is only one example. A ballot may be used in which pieces of identification information of candidates are recorded on the marking area with ink that is visually identifiable, as illustrated on a left side of FIG. 2.

A procedure in which electronic voting and ballot counting are performed using the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 1. First, in a polling place, when a voter is verified by voter verification (①), the ballot described above is given to the corresponding voter (②). The voter moves to a voting booth with the given ballot and makes a mark on the ballot (③) using an electronic voting rod 100 provided in the voting booth.

When the voter makes a mark using the electronic voting rod 100, identification information of a candidate who is marked on the ballot is obtained and is stored in a storage unit provided inside the electronic voting rod 100 or in a combined storage unit. When the voting ends, the electronic voting rod 100 itself or only the combined storage unit may be transferred to a ballot counting place or an election management agency or transferred to a designated external device in a wired or wireless manner (⑥) so that ballot counting and totaling may be performed in real time. Of course, the electronic voting rod 100 may be connected to an external device at a designated place and the pieces of the stored identification information of the candidates may be read, and thus the ballot counting and totaling may be performed.

Meanwhile, when the voter makes a mark on the ballot using the electronic voting rod 100, a voting mark (which is referred to as a seal face), which is formed on a bottom surface of the electronic voting rod 100, is stamped on the ballot. When the electronic marking rod is a pen-type electronic marking rod, a marking symbol is recorded on the ballot.The voter inserts the ballot, which is stamped with the voting mark on the marking area of the candidate who is chosen by the voter, into a ballot box (④), and the voting ends (⑤).

As described above, in the electronic voting system according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the electronic voting is performed in the traditional voting environment, that is, in the same way as the method of making a mark on a ballot using a marking tool, an electronic voting system environment may be introduced in which there is no need to change the electoral system necessary to introduce the electronic voting system and there is no feeling of repulsion of the voter with respect to the changed electoral system or there is no need for information and communication technology (ICT) technical capability for the operation and management of the electronic voting environment, and in particular, the electronic voting is performed at a low cost of about 1/10th of the existing electronic voting environment.

Hereinafter, mechanical configuration features and circuit configuration features of the electronic voting rod 100 provided in the above-described electronic voting system will be described in more detail.

First, FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of an exterior of the electronic voting rod 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the electronic voting rod 100 illustrated in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is an exemplary block diagram of the electronic voting rod 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the electronic voting rod 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention largely includes a voting rod housing body 200 and an information obtainer fixing member 300 coupled to a lower portion of the voting rod housing body 200. The electronic voting rod 100 may further include an upper cap 400 coupled to an upper portion of the voting rod housing body 200 according to an implementation method of the voting rod housing body 200.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, an accommodating groove 203 for accommodating a circuit board and a battery may be formed in the voting rod housing body 200, and a voting mark 205 may be formed on a lower edge (corresponding to the seal face) of the voting rod housing body 200 or may be formed to protrude from the lower edge of the voting rod housing body 200. The voting mark 205 may be implemented as a seal face slab that absorbs ink. In order to continuously supply ink to the voting mark 205, an ink reservoir 207 may be formed in a lower body of the voting rod housing body 200 and filled with the ink, as illustrated in FIG. 3. For reference, an opening 209 for accommodating the information obtainer fixing member 300 which will be described below is formed in a portion of a bottom surface of the lower portion of the voting rod housing body 200 described above.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 4, an upper portion of the information obtainer fixing member 300 coupled to the lower portion of the voting rod housing body 200 is accommodated in a portion of the bottom surface of the voting rod housing body 200. A lower portion of the information obtainer fixing member 300 is exposed outside the voting rod housing body 200 and connected to the voting rod housing body 200 through an elastic member 500. An information obtainer 110 for obtaining the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot is provided in an inner side of a center of the lower portion of the information obtainer fixing member 300.

Specifically, it is desirable to understand that the information obtainer 110, which is fixedly installed in the information obtainer fixing member 300, is a mechanical configuration constituting the information obtainer 110 and that a circuit configuration constituting the information obtainer 110 is located on the circuit board accommodated in the voting rod housing body 200. For example, when the information obtainer 110 is implemented as a UV camera, an optical system configuration such as a lens may be fixedly supported by the information obtainer fixing member 300. Of course, an optical system configuration such as a lens and an image sensor may be designed so as to be modularized and located in the inner side of the center of the lower portion of the information obtainer fixing member 300 as illustrated in FIG. 3 so that a signal on which signal processing is performed by the image sensor may be transmitted to the circuit board. The information obtainer 110 may be implemented as any one of a UV camera, a barcode reader, a quick response (QR) code reader, and a camera according to a type of the identification information of the candidate recorded on the ballot. A lighting lamp may be further provided as necessary and the lighting lamp may be controlled by a controller which will be described below to be turned on or off when sensing the mark.

Meanwhile, the electronic voting rod 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a mark sensing unit 105 which generates a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied to the voting rod housing body 200 by the voter.

The mark sensing unit 105 may include contact points 105, which are formed on the bottom surface of the voting rod housing body 200 and the upper portion of the information obtainer fixing member 300 which approach to each other according to the pressure applied thereto when marking, as illustrated in FIG. 4, wherein the contact points 105 are electrically switched, or may be implemented as a hall effect sensor (also indicated as a reference numeral 105) for sensing proximity. Preferably, in order to prevent a misoperation caused by the inclination of the electronic voting rod 100, installation positions or the number of mark sensing units 105 of the mark sensing units 105 may be formed in a plurality of directions (e.g., a south direction (a 6 o′clock direction), a north direction (a 12 o′clock direction), an east direction, and a west direction, or all of east, west, south, and north directions). It will be apparent that the switched contact points 105 exemplified above should be formed to have a height at which two contact points 105 vertically located may be brought into contact with each other when the voting mark 205 is brought into contact with the ballot.

The circuit configuration of the electronic voting rod 100 having such mechanical features will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 4. First, basically, the electronic voting rod 100 includes the information obtainer 110, which obtains the identification information of the candidate recorded on the ballot, and a controller 115, which drives the information obtainer 110 when the mark sensing signal is generated by the mark sensing unit 105 and obtains the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot to store the identification information of the candidate in the storage unit. The storage unit may be an embedded memory included in the controller 115 or may be a detachable portable storage medium such as a secure digital (SD) card. In some cases, the storage unit may be a Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash memory that can be coupled to an interface unit 135. To this end, the electronic voting rod 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include the interface unit 135 for interfacing data with an external storage unit (e.g., the USB flash memory).

According to an implementation method, the controller 115 may interface only the identification information (corresponding to the voting result) of the candidate stored in the storage unit, the stored identification information of the candidate together with the identification information of the voter, or the stored identification information of the candidate together with the identification information of the voter and identification information of the polling place, with a USB flash memory, which is an external storage unit. Furthermore, the controller 115 may accumulate and store the obtained identification information of the candidate as a marking result for each candidate, instead of simply storing the obtained identification information of the candidate in the storage unit. To this end, the controller 115 should be able to read the obtained identification information of the candidate from the ballot.

Meanwhile, the electronic voting rod 100 described above may further include a communication unit 120 for transmitting the pieces of identification information of the candidates stored in the storage unit to a server of a preset external agency (the election management agency) in a wired or wireless manner. The electronic voting rod 100 may further include an operation state display unit 125 for displaying a voting operation state with any one of light, sound, voice, vibration, and a sign to the outside so that the voter may recognize that a marking action of the voter is normally performed. The operation state display unit 125 may be formed of any one of a display window, an indicator light, a buzzer, a vibration motor, and an audio output unit controlled by the controller 115, or a combination thereof.

In addition, the electronic voting rod 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be a unit for the controller 115 to recognize the marking action without the mark sensing unit 105 and may include an operation button operated by the voter so as to allow the information obtainer 110 to be driven.

The operation of the electronic voting rod 100 including the mechanical configuration and the circuit configuration as described above will be described with reference to FIG. 3. In the following, the case will be described in which the ballot is used on which the identification information of the candidate is recorded with ink that is visually identifiable.

First, the voter who receives the ballot chooses the candidate who will be marked by the voter from among the candidates recorded on the ballot. Subsequently, the voter places the electronic voting rod 100 so that a bottom surface of the electronic voting rod 100 is brought into contact with a position at which the identification information of the candidate recorded on the marking area located next to an area on which the candidate information chosen by the voter is recorded may be obtained. In this case, due to a height difference, the voting mark 205 formed on the lower portion of the voting rod housing body 200 becomes a state of being spaced a predetermined height from the ballot and a portion of the bottom surface of the information obtainer fixing member 300 becomes a state of being in contact with the ballot.

In such a state, when the voter presses the voting rod housing body 200 downward, the voting rod housing body 200 is moved downward so that the voting mark 205 formed on the lower edge of the voting rod housing body 200 is brought into contact with the ballot and the marking is made. In this case, as the height of the bottom surface of the voting rod housing body 200 is also reduced, a distance from the upper portion of the information obtainer fixing member 300 accommodated in a portion of the bottom surface of the voting rod housing body 200 is reduced. As a result, the switched contact points of the mark sensing unit 105 formed on the upper portion of the information obtainer fixing member 300 and the switched contact points formed on the bottom surface of the voting rod housing body 200, which face each other, are brought into contact with each other, and thus a level change occurs in the mark sensing signal which has no level change. When the controller 115 recognizes the level change and drives the information obtainer 110, for example, a UV camera, the identification information of the candidate recorded on the ballot is obtained by the UV camera and stored in the internal storage unit. In addition, the controller 115 displays the voting operation state to the outside in response to the mutual contact between the switched contact points.

When the voter releases the pressure applied downward, the voting rod housing body 200 is moved upward by the elastic member 500 so that the voting mark 205, which is in contact with the ballot, is spaced apart from the ballot.

When each voter makes a mark on the ballot using the electronic voting rod 100 which operates in this manner, the pieces of the identification information of the candidates are stored in the storage unit (an internal memory, a detachable SD memory, or a USB flash memory) of the electronic voting rod 100. Accordingly, at the end of the voting, the electronic voting rod 100 itself or only the storage unit may be transferred to the election management agency (or the ballot counting place) to be used for rapid ballot counting. When wireless communication is possible, the pieces of the identification information of the candidates stored in the storage unit may be transmitted in a wireless manner.

Therefore, by using the electronic voting rod 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, time, manpower, and cost required for ballot counting and totaling may be minimized.

Meanwhile, in the embodiment, although a configuration is described in which the voting mark 205 is formed on the lower edge of the voting rod housing body 200 constituting the electronic voting rod 100 and the voting mark 205 is stamped on the ballot by vertical movement of the voting rod housing body 200, the information obtainer fixing member may be moved so that the voting mark may be stamped.

In order to describe the above, FIG. 6 is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of an electronic voting rod according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the electronic voting rod according to another embodiment of the present invention includes an information obtainer fixing member 700 having a voting mark 720 formed on a lower edge thereof and an information obtainer 710 which is provided in the lower edge so as to obtain identification information of a candidate who is marked on a ballot. As described above, the information obtainer 710 illustrated in FIG. 6 may be interpreted as a lens unit corresponding to a mechanical configuration of the information obtainer. In the present embodiment, in order to continuously supply ink to the voting mark 720, an ink reservoir 707 may be formed on a lower body of the information obtainer fixing member 700 illustrated in FIG. 6 and filled with the ink. In this case, the electronic voting rod may be designed so as to form a filling hole and a hole stopper for filling the ink reservoir 707 with inkor to simply replace only the ink reservoir 707.

In addition to the information obtainer fixing member 700 having the above-described structure and configuration, the electronic voting rod according to another embodiment of the present invention includes an upper body 600 which accommodates a circuit board and a battery therein and having a lower end portion 601 extending outward from the body to form a step, wherein a portion of a bottom surface of the lower end portion 601 is open, an elastic member 500 which connects the bottom surface of the lower end portion 601 to an upper portion of the information obtainer fixing member 700 facing the bottom surface of the lower end portion 601 and is contracted according to a pressure applied thereto, a lower body case 800 which surrounds the lower end portion 601 of the upper body 600 and the information obtainer fixing member 700 and in which a lower portion thereof is open and an opening groove 820 is formed in an upper portion thereof so that the voting mark 720 is in contact with the ballot, and a mark sensing unit 105 which generates a mark sensing signal according to the pressure applied thereto when marking. The mark sensing unit 105 may include contact points 105, which are formed on the bottom surface of the lower end portion 601 of the upper body 600 and the upper portion of the information obtainer fixing member 700 which approach to each other according to the pressure applied by the voter when marking, wherein the contact points 105 are electrically switched or may be a hall effect sensor (also indicated as 105) for sensing proximity. Installation directions and the number of contact points 105 which are electrically switched are the same as those in the embodiment described above.

For reference, as illustrated above, a lower portion of the information obtainer fixing member 700 may have a height at which the lower portion of the information obtainer fixing member 700 may be accommodated in the lower body case 800 in a state prior to being pressed. In addition, in order to move the information obtainer fixing member 700 which is vertically moved in the lower body case 800 in a stable state without shaking, one of a guide rail and a rail insertion portion fitted to the guide rail may be formed on each of an inner side of the lower body case 800 and an outer surface of the information obtainer fixing member 700 facing the inner side of the lower body case 800.

Since an electronic configuration of the electronic voting rod illustrated in FIG. 6 is the same as the configuration illustrated in FIG. 4, a description thereof will be omitted.

When the voter places the electronic voting rod on a specific marking area of the ballot for marking and presses the upper body 600 downward, the lower end portion 601 of the upper body 600 and the information obtainer fixing member 700 are moved downward so that the electronic voting rod illustrated in FIG. 6 is also brought into contact with the ballot. Due to the continuous downward pressure, a distance between the lower end portion 601 of the upper body 600 and the upper portion of the information obtainer fixing member 700 is reduced. Accordingly, when a predetermined pressure is applied to the information obtainer fixing member 700, the voting mark 720 is stamped on the marking area and, at the same time, the switched contact points 105 are brought into contact with each other by the downward pressure so that a level change occurs in the mark sensing signal which has no level change. The controller 115 which senses the level change of the mark sensing signal drives the information obtainer 710 and displays the voting operation state to the outside.

As a result, when the voter releases the downward pressure, the information obtainer fixing member 700 is raised to an original position by a restoring force of the elastic member 500 and the identification information of the candidate who is marked is stored in the storage unit of the electronic voting rod.

Since the pieces of the identification information of the candidates are also stored in the storage unit of the electronic voting rod, at the end of the voting, the electronic voting rod itself or only the storage unit is transferred to the election management agency (or the ballot counting place) or the electronic voting rod is connected to a designated device to read the pieces of the identification information of the candidates, and thus ballot counting may be rapidly performed. Therefore, by using the electronic voting rod having the structure illustrated in FIG. 6, time, manpower, and cost required for ballot counting and totaling may also be minimized.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary diagram of an exterior of the electronic voting rod according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the electronic voting rod illustrated in FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view for describing an operation of the electronic voting rod illustrated in FIG. 7.

The electronic voting rod illustrated in FIG. 7 is also an electronic voting rod configured to stamp a voting mark by moving an information obtainer fixing member 1100 and includes an upper body 900 which accommodates a circuit board and a battery therein, wherein a portion of a bottom surface of a lower end portion of the upper body 900 is open, the information obtainer fixing member 1100 having a voting mark 1120 formed on a lower edge thereof and an information obtainer 1110, which is provided on the lower edge so as to obtain identification information of a candidate who is marked on the ballot, and a lower body case 1000 which is coupled to the lower end portion of the upper body 900 to surround a lower end portion and the information obtainer fixing member 1100, wherein a lower portion thereof is open so that the voting mark 1120 is in contact with the ballot and an opening groove is formed in an upper portion thereof. The electronic voting rod may further include an upper cap coupled to an upper portion of the upper body 900 according to an implementation method.

The electronic voting rod further includes a mark sensing unit 105 which generates a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied thereto when marking, and an elastic member 500 which re-locates the information obtainer fixing member 1100 back to an original position thereof when releasing the pressure.

The elastic member 500 is accommodated in an upper coupling box 1130, in which a second screw thread 1135 is formed on an outer circumferential surface thereof, and is compressed by a downward pressure applied to the upper body 900. To this end, a first screw thread 1136 coupled to the second screw thread 1135 is formed in an inner side of the lower end portion of the upper body 900.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the mark sensing unit 105, which senses the pressure applied thereto when marking, is formed on a bottom surface of the upper coupling box 1130 and on a portion of the lower body case 1000 facing the bottom surface of the upper coupling box 1130 and senses downward movement of the upper coupling box 1130, that is, downward movement of the upper body 900.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the electronic voting rod having such a configuration is placed so that the bottom surface of the electronic voting rod is brought into contact with a position at which the voter may obtain the identification information of the candidate recorded in the marking area. In this case, due to a height difference, the voting mark 1120 formed in the lower portion of the information obtainer fixing member 1100 becomes a state of being spaced a predetermined height from the ballot.

In such a state, when the voter presses the upper body 900 of the voting rod downward, the upper coupling box 1130 which is coupled to the lower end portion of the upper body 900 with a thread is moved downward, as illustrated in FIG. 9, and a barrel 1105 having a structure in communication with the circuit board in the upper body 900 is also moved downward, and thus the voting mark 1120 formed on the lower edge of the information obtainer fixing member 1100 is brought into contact with the ballot and the marking is made. In this case, the switched contact points constituting the mark sensing unit 105 are also brought into contact with each other and thus a level change occurs in the mark sensing signal which has no level change.

Accordingly, the controller 115 drives a UV camera to obtain the identification information of the candidate recorded on the ballot, store the identification information of the candidate in the internal storage unit, and display the voting operation state to the outside in response to the mutual contact between the switched contact points.

As a result, when the voter releases the pressure applied downward, the upper body 900 is moved upward by a restoring force of the elastic member 500 so that the voting mark 1120, which is in contact with the ballot, is also spaced apart from the ballot.

Therefore, in the electronic voting rod having the mechanical configuration as illustrated in FIG. 8, the electronic voting rod itself or only the storage unit may be transferred to the election management agency (or the ballot counting place) at the end of the voting to be rapidly used for ballot counting, and thus time, manpower, and cost required for ballot counting and totaling may be minimized.

In the above embodiments, implementation examples of the stamp-type electronic marking rod have been described. However, since there may be an electoral system or a country, in which voters mark marking symbols (e.g., O, X, √, etc.) directly on ballots, a pen-type electronic marking rod may be implemented as another example of the electronic marking rod. In the case in which an electronic marking rod is implemented as a pen-type electronic marking rod, since a voter should perform a marking action on a ballot, it is assumed that a ballot is used in which a candidate information recording area on which candidate information is recorded is matched with a marking area.

Hereinafter, the pen-type electronic marking rod will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12. FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary diagrams of an exterior of a pen-type electronic marking rod according to still another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 11 is an exemplary partial cross-sectional view of the electronic marking rod illustrated in FIG. 10, and FIG. 12 is an exemplary cross-sectional view of another form of the electronic marking rod illustrated in FIG. 10.

Referring to FIG. 10, a pen-type electronic marking rod 1200 according to still another embodiment of the present invention includes a pen-type marking rod body 1210 in which a circuit board 112 (see FIG. 11) and a battery are embedded in one side portion thereof and one side of a pen core 1220, from which a nib 1225 is exposed, is embedded in the other side portion thereof, a mark sensing unit (not illustrated) which is located inside the pen-type marking rod body 1210 and generates a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied to the pen core 1220, an information obtainer 1240 which is integrated with the pen-type marking rod body 1210 and obtains identification information of a candidate who is marked on a ballot that faces the nib 1225 of the pen core 1220 and trajectory information of the nib 1225, and a controller 115 which is formed on the circuit board 112, drives the information obtainer 1240 when the mark sensing signal is generated, obtains the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and the trajectory information of the nib 1225, and stores the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and the trajectory information of the nib 1225 in a storage unit, as illustrated in FIG. 10A.

The pen-type marking rod body 1210 includes an upper body 1212, which accommodates the circuit board 112 and the battery therein, and a lower body 1214 which is coupled to a lower end portion of the upper body 1212 in a screw-coupled or insertion-coupled manner and has a pen core through-hole 1227 (see FIG. 11) formed in the other side thereof, as illustrated in FIGS. 10 to 12. In some cases, an upper cap 1230 may be coupled to the other end of the upper body 1212 to which the lower body 1214 is coupled, and the upper cap 1230 may have a structure that can be detachably coupled.

It is desirable to understand that the information obtainer 1240 integrated with the pen-type marking rod body 1210 is the information obtainer described above with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5. In the case in which the information obtainer 1240 is a camera, a lens unit is exposed to the outside and is installed in a direction in which the nib 1225 faces, and other circuit configurations constituting the camera are located on the circuit board 112 accommodated in the marking rod body 1210. That is, specifically, reference numeral 1240 illustrated in FIG. 10 denotes a lens unit 1240 constituting an information obtainer. Such a lens unit 1240 may be formed on or formed to protrude from the lower body 1214 or the upper body 1212 constituting the pen-type marking rod body 1210 according to the implementation method, as illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B, or may be integrated to face the nib 1225 by being supported by a separate support unit 1241, as illustrated in FIGS 10C. As described above, the formation position or the attachment and/or mounting position of the lens unit 1240 integrated with the pen-type marking rod body 1210 may be variously modified.

For reference, the pen-type electronic marking rod having the above-described configuration may further include an operation state display unit 125 for displaying a voting operation state with any one of light, sound, a voice, vibration, and a sign to the outside of the marking rod body 1210, as described in the above embodiments.

In this case, the controller 115 located on the circuit board 112 drives and controls the operation state display unit 125 when the mark sensing signal is generated, for example, during an interval in which the mark sensing signal is generated or during an interval, in which the mark sensing signal is generated, plus alpha(α) (here, alpha(α) is additional time).

Furthermore, the pen-type electronic marking rod 1200 may further include an interface unit 135 for a data interface with an external storage unit. In this case, the controller 115 interfaces a plurality of pieces of identification information of candidates and trajectory information of the nib stored in the storage unit with the external storage unit, interfaces the pieces of the identification information of the candidates and the trajectory information of the nib together with identification information of a voter with the external storage unit, or interfaces the pieces of the identification information of the candidates and the trajectory information of the nib together with the identification information of the voter and identification information of a polling place with the external storage unit.

Hereinafter, a configuration of the mark sensing unit constituting the pen-type electronic marking rod 1200 and an operation of the pen-type electronic marking rod 1200 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.

First, the mark sensing unit includes a pen core holder 1221, which is coupled to an end of the pen core 1220 accommodated in the pen-type marking rod body, and more specifically, in the lower body 1214, and a pressure sensor 1223 which is inserted into the pen core holder 1221 or has one surface attached to an upper portion of the pen core holder 1221 to generate a mark sensing signal according to a pressure of the pen core 1220 applied to the pen core holder 1221, as illustrated in FIG. 11. The pressure sensor 1223 is attached to a bottom surface of a stopper 1219, which restricts pen core movement, formed in the lower end portion of the upper body 1212.

It is desirable to understand that the pen core holder 1221 is formed of an elastic member to transfer the pressure applied by the pen core 1220 to the pressure sensor 1223 and restore the nib 1225 to an original position thereof when the pressure is released.

Meanwhile, a through-hole through which a signal line electrically connecting the circuit board 112, the pressure sensor 1223, and the lens unit 1240 passes is formed in a center of the stopper 1219 which restricts pen core movement.

The operation of the mark sensing unit including the configuration as described above will be described. When a voter makes a marking symbol (e.g., O, X, √, etc.) by placing the nib 1225 on a specific marking area of a ballot while applying a pressure, the pressure applied to the nib 1225 is transferred to the elastic pen core holder 1221 and the pressure sensor 1223.

Accordingly, in the pressure sensor 1223, a mark sensing signal is generated and transferred to the controller 115 located on the circuit board 112, and the controller 115 drives the information obtainer 1240 during an interval in which the mark sensing signal is generated, obtains the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and the trajectory information of the nib 1225, and stores the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and the trajectory information of the nib 1225 in the storage unit. Since a method of using the identification information of each candidate and the trajectory information of the nib stored in the storage unit is described in the above embodiment, a description thereof will be omitted.

In the pen-type electronic marking rod described above, since the identification information of the candidate who is marked by the voter and the trajectory information of the nib matching the identification information of the candidate are also stored in the storage unit, the electronic marking rod itself or only the storage unit is transferred to the election management agency (or the ballot counting place) at the end of the voting or the pen-type electronic marking rod is connected to a designated device to read the identification information of the candidate and the trajectory information of the nib, and thus ballot counting may be rapidly performed, thereby minimizing time, manpower, and cost required for ballot counting and totaling.

In FIG. 12, a configuration of another form of the mark sensing unit is illustrated. The mark sensing unit illustrated in FIG. 12 includes a pen core holder 1221, which is coupled to an end of the pen core 1220 accommodated in a pen-type marking rod body 1212, and more specifically, in a lower body 1214, an elastic member 1231 which connects a bottom surface of a stopper 1219 which restricts pen core movement formed in the pen-type marking rod body, and more specifically, in a lower end portion of an upper body 1212, to an upper portion of the pen core holder 1221 facing the bottom surface of the stopper 1219 and is contracted according to a pressure applied thereto, and one or more switching contact points 1233 which are formed to protrude from the bottom surface of the stopper 1219 for restricting pen core movement and from the upper portion of the pen core holder 1221 to generate a mark sensing signal when brought into contact therewith.

In the mark sensing unit having the above configuration, when a pressure is applied to the nib 1225 by a marking action, the pen core holder 1221 coupled to one side of the pen core 1220 is moved upward by the pressure, and thus the switching contact points 1233 formed to protrude from the bottom surface of the stopper 1219 for restricting pen core movement and from the upper portion of the pen core holder 1221 are brought into contact with each other, thereby generating a different level of mark sensing signal from the mark sensing signal in the previous state. Accordingly, the controller 115 drives an information obtainer 1240 during an interval in which the mark sensing signal is generated, obtains identification information of a candidate who is marked on a ballot and trajectory information of the nib 1225, and stores the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and the trajectory information of the nib 1225 in a storage unit. As described above, the electronic marking rod itself or only the storage unit is transferred to the election management agency (or the ballot counting place) at the end of the voting or the electronic marking rod is connected to a designated device to read the pieces of stored information, and thus ballot counting may be rapidly performed, thereby minimizing time, manpower, and cost required for ballot counting and totaling.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the 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. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

An electronic voting rod comprising:

a voting rod housing body which has a voting mark formed on a lower edge thereof and accommodates a circuit board and a battery therein;

an information obtainer fixing member of which an upper portion is accommodated in a portion of a bottom surface of the voting rod housing body and a lower portion is exposed outside the voting rod housing body and which is connected to the voting rod housing body through an elastic member, wherein an information obtainer for obtaining identification information of a candidate who is marked on a ballot is provided in an inner side of a center of the lower portion;

a mark sensing unit configured to generate a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied to the voting rod housing body; and

a controller configured to drive the information obtainer when the mark sensing signal is generated, to obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and store the identification information of the candidate in a storage unit.
An electronic voting rod comprising:

an information obtainer fixing member which has a voting mark formed on a lower edge thereof and in which an information obtainer is provided in the lower edge so as to obtain identification information of a candidate who is marked on a ballot;

an upper body which accommodates a circuit board and a battery therein and has a lower end portion extending outward from the upper body to form a step, wherein a portion of a bottom surface of a lower end portion of the upper body is open;

an elastic member which connects the bottom surface of the lower end portion to an upper portion, which faces the bottom surface, of the information obtainer fixing member and is contracted according to a pressure applied thereto;

a lower body case which surrounds the lower end portion of the upper body and the information obtainer fixing member and in which a lower portion thereof is open and an opening groove is formed in an upper portion thereof so that the voting mark is in contact with the ballot;

a mark sensing unit configured to generate a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied thereto when marking; and

a controller configured to drive the information obtainer when the mark sensing signal is generated, to obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and store the identification information of the candidate in a storage unit.
The electronic voting rod of claim 1 or 2, further comprising an operation state display unit configured to display a voting operation state with any one of light, sound, voice, vibration, and a sign to the outside,

wherein the controller drives and controls the operation state display unit when the mark sensing signal is generated.
The electronic voting rod of claim 3, further comprising an interface unit for a data interface with an external storage unit.
The electronic voting rod of claim 4, wherein the controller interfaces pieces of the identification information of the candidates stored in the storage unit with the external storage unit, interfaces the pieces of the identification information of the candidates together with identification information of a voter with the external storage unit, or interfaces the pieces of the identification information of the candidates together with the identification information of the voter and identification information of a polling place with the external storage unit.
The electronic voting rod of claim 3, wherein the controller accumulates and stores the obtained identification information of the candidate as a marking result for each candidate.
The electronic voting rod of claim 3, further comprising a communication unit configured to transmit the pieces of the identification information of the candidates stored in the storage unit to a preset server of an external agency in a wired or wireless manner.
The electronic voting rod of claim 1, wherein the mark sensing unit includes a hall effect sensor for sensing proximity or contact points which are formed on the bottom surface of the voting rod housing body and the upper portion of the information obtainer fixing member which approach to each other according to a pressure applied thereto when marking, wherein the contact points are electrically switched.
The electronic voting rod of claim 2, wherein the mark sensing unit includes a hall effect sensor for sensing proximity or contact points which are formed on the bottom surface of the lower end portion of the upper body and the upper portion of the information obtainer fixing member which approach to each other according to a pressure applied thereto when marking, wherein the contact points are electrically switched.
The electronic voting rod of claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage unit is a detachable portable storage medium.
The electronic voting rod of claim 1 or 2, wherein the information obtainer is one of an ultraviolet camera, a barcode reader, a quick response (QR) code reader, and a camera.
A pen-type electronic marking rod comprising:

a pen-type marking rod body in which a circuit board and a battery are embedded in one side portion thereof and one side of a pen core, from which a nib is exposed, is embedded in the other side portion thereof;

a mark sensing unit which is located inside the pen-type marking rod body and generates a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied to the pen core;

an information obtainer which is integrated with the pen-type marking rod body and obtains identification information of a candidate who is marked on a ballot that faces the nib of the pen core and trajectory information of the nib; and

a controller which is formed on the circuit board, drives the information obtainer when the mark sensing signal is generated, obtains the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and the trajectory information of the nib, and stores the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and the trajectory information of the nib in a storage unit.
The pen-type electronic marking rod of claim 12, further comprising an operation state display unit configured to display a voting operation state with any one of light, sound, a voice, vibration, and a sign to the outside of the pen-type marking rod body,

wherein the controller drives and controls the operation state display unit when the mark sensing signal is generated.
The pen-type electronic marking rod of claim 13, further comprising an interface unit for a data interface with an external storage unit.
The pen-type electronic marking rod of claim 14, wherein the controller interfaces a plurality of pieces of identification information of candidates and trajectory information of the nib stored in the storage unit with the external storage unit, interfaces the pieces of the identification information of the candidates and the trajectory information of the nib together with identification information of a voter with the external storage unit, or interfaces the pieces of the identification information of the candidates and the trajectory information of the nib together with the identification information of the voter and identification information of a polling place with the external storage unit.
The pen-type electronic marking rod of any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the mark sensing unit includes:

a pen core holder, which is coupled to an end of the pen core accommodated in the pen-type marking rod body; and

a pressure sensor which is inserted into or attached onto the pen core holder to generate a mark sensing signal according to a pressure of the pen core applied to the pen core holder.
The pen-type electronic marking rod of any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the mark sensing unit includes:

a pen core holder coupled to an end of the pen core, which is accommodated in the pen-type marking rod body;

an elastic member which connects a bottom surface of a stopper which restricts pen core movement formed in the pen-type marking rod body to an upper portion of the pen core holder facing the bottom surface of the stopper and is contracted according to a pressure applied thereto; and

one or more switching contact points which are formed to protrude from the bottom surface of the stopper which restricts pen core movement and from the upper portion of the pen core holder 1221 to generate a mark sensing signal when brought into contact therewith.
The pen-type electronic marking rod of any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein:

the pen-type marking rod body includes an upper body, which accommodates a circuit board and a battery therein, and a lower body which is coupled to a lower end portion of the upper body and has a pen core through-hole formed in the other side; and

the mark sensing unit includes a pen core holder, which is coupled to an end of the pen core accommodated in the pen-type marking rod body, and a pressure sensor which is inserted into or attached onto the pen core holder to generate a mark sensing signal according to a pressure of the pen core applied to the pen core holder.
An electronic voting system comprising:

a ballot which is distributed to a voter in a polling place after verifying the voter and on which pieces of identification information of one or more candidates are recorded; and

electronic voting rods, which are provided in each voting booth, obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot according to a downward pressure applied by the voter when marking and store the identification information of the candidate in a storage unit.
The electronic voting system of claim 19, wherein each of the electronic voting rods includes:

an information obtainer fixing member which has a voting mark formed on a lower edge thereof and in which an information obtainer is provided in the lower edge so as to obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot;

an upper body which accommodates a circuit board and a battery therein and has a lower end portion extending outward from the body to form a step, wherein a portion of a bottom surface of a lower end portion of the upper body is open;

an elastic member which connects the bottom surface of the lower end portion to an upper portion of the information obtainer fixing member and is contracted according to a pressure applied thereto;

a lower body case which surrounds the lower end portion of the upper body and the information obtainer fixing member and in which a lower portion thereof is open and an opening groove is formed in an upper portion thereof so that the voting mark is in contact with the ballot;

a mark sensing unit configured to generate a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied thereto when marking; and

a controller configured to drive the information obtainer when the mark sensing signal is generated, to obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and store the identification information of the candidate in a storage unit.
The electronic voting system of claim 19, wherein each of the electronic voting rods includes:

a voting rod housing body which has a voting mark formed on a lower edge thereof and accommodates a circuit board and a battery therein;

an information obtainer fixing member of which an upper portion is accommodated in a portion of a bottom surface of the voting rod housing body and a lower portion is exposed outside the voting rod housing body and which is connected to the voting rod housing body through an elastic member, wherein an information obtainer for obtaining the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot is provided in an inner side of a center of the lower portion;

a mark sensing unit configured to generate a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied to the voting rod housing body; and

a controller configured to drive the information obtainer when the mark sensing signal is generated, to obtain the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and store the identification information of the candidate in a storage unit.
The electronic voting system of claim 19, wherein, on each ballot, a candidate information recording area in which candidate information is recorded corresponds to a marking area for making a mark on the corresponding candidate, wherein, on the candidate information recording area and the marking area corresponding thereto, the identification information of the corresponding candidate is recorded with ink that is not visually identifiable.
The electronic voting system of claim 19, wherein each of the electronic marking rods includes:

a pen-type marking rod body in which a circuit board and a battery are embedded in one side portion thereof and one side of a pen core, from which a nib is exposed, is embedded in the other side portion thereof;

a mark sensing unit which is located inside the pen-type marking rod body and generates a mark sensing signal according to a pressure applied to the pen core;

an information obtainer which is integrated with the pen-type marking rod body and further obtains trajectory information of the nib other than identification information of a candidate who is marked on a ballot that faces the nib of the pen core; and

a controller which is formed on the circuit board, drives the information obtainer when the mark sensing signal is generated, obtains the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and the trajectory information of the nib, and stores the identification information of the candidate who is marked on the ballot and the trajectory information of the nib in a storage unit.