Patent Publication Number: US-6991161-B2

Title: Electronic voting apparatus, system and method

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of the filing date of Provisional patent Application Ser. No. 60/582,092, entitled “A Method for Publicly Publishing Votes While Maintaining Voter Anonymity”, filed on Jun. 23, 2004, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to voting apparatus, systems and methods of voting. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     In recent years, electronic voting machines have brought numerous improvements to the voting process. Because of this technology, votes are tabulated more accurately and in a more timely manner than could ever be accomplished with the older paper-based systems. Along with the improvements, however, have come new concerns centered, largely, around the issue of system security and stability. These concerns have resulted in doubts about the electronic devices and, among many voters, doubts about the integrity of our electoral process. 
     It would seem desirable, then, to find a way to assure voters that their votes are actually being recorded and counted accurately. 
     Proposed solutions generally take two forms: 1) adding a “voter-verified paper trail” (VVPT) to the electronic voting booth, and 2) tagging each vote in a way that enables a voter to confirm at a later time that the vote was recorded correctly. 
     Solutions like Gibbs (U.S. 2002/0128901 A1) provide a PIN (Personal Identification Number) which is generated at the voting location, along with a “voter validation receipt number”. Using this PIN and receipt number, the voter can access a national database of votes to determine if his/her vote was recorded correctly. 
     Chung (U.S. 2004/0046021 A1) proposes the use of a voter ID, unique to each person. When used in conjunction with a “smart card” and printer, a unique “session ID” can then be generated after the vote is cast. This session ID is stored along with the actual vote and can be accessed by the voter after the votes are tallied. 
     Chaum (U.S. 2003/0158775 A1) proposes a system whereby a ballot is scanned or read and then a portion of that ballot is “released” to the voter, while the rest is destroyed. The portion that is retained by the voter can be linked to the full ballot in order that the voter can prove his/her vote to authorities. Various mechanical methods are proposed for capturing voter “indicia”—that is, elements that are unique to a voter. The output for the voter is a “serial number” which can then be used to access one&#39;s vote on the internet. 
     These solutions attempt to address the issue of an inability to audit electronic voting systems. Yet they introduce new problems, while falling short of solving the auditability problem. 
     The problems introduced by using a voter-verified paper trail (VVPT) have been described in detail by organizations like the nonpartisan organization “The League of Women Voters of the United States”. On May 5, 2004, Kay J. Maxwell—the president of The League of Women Voters (LWV)—responded to an invitation by The Election Assistance Commission to address the controversies surrounding electronic voting systems. Their conclusion was that although “Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting systems can be an important part of election reform efforts . . . the League has not been persuaded of the wisdom of VVPT systems.” (http://www.lwv.org/where/promoting/votingrights — EACTestimony0504.ht ml). 
     In her testimony, Ms. Maxwell points out a number of problems with using paper in the polling booth. In automated systems, “printers are the least reliable of computer system components. They jam, they need paper, they are slow and they are an added cost . . . Voters&#39; privacy is also at risk each time a printer jams and a poll worker has to work to remove a paper jam.” 
     The second aspect of the aforementioned proposals is the “tagging” of each vote with a unique identifier that is captured and stored along with the actual vote. Whether the “tag” is called an ID, a “session identifier” or a serial number, the intent is the same: to enable a voter to access his/her vote at a later time to confirm that the vote was recorded correctly. 
     Unfortunately, the approach in generating this unique identifier also creates a need for an external piece of hardware so that the voter can remember the actual identifier itself. This hardware might be a printer, a “smart card” or some other add-on technology which, as with VVPT, results in unacceptable expense. 
     Finally, the problem with both approaches is that they significantly impact the actual voting process—changing the very way we go about voting. These changes introduce a complexity into the voting process that may well result in a greater burden on the polling place workers. This complexity may also result in a level of intimidation for voters that results in fewer, rather than more, people casting their votes using these devices. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a diagram of a typical polling location  10  at which voters  11  cast electronic ballots with electronic voting machines  16  located in a voting booth  17  which may be utilized with the practice of the present invention. Individual voters  11 , after traveling to the polling location  10 , wait in a cue and then perform a sign in process, such as approaching a table  12  where one or more poll workers/officials  14  perform the step of authorization such that the voters satisfy local requirements to vote. The voter  11  may satisfy these local requirements by signing his/her name in a registration book next to a copy of his/her previously-recorded signature or by some other mechanisms. For example, in other localities, the voter  11  may show a driver&#39;s license or other photo ID. The voter is permitted to vote once the voter  11  satisfies the polling workers/officials  14  that he/she is a properly registered voter. At that point in time, the voter  11  enters into a cue at which the voter is ultimately granted admission to a voting booth  17  containing an electronic voting machine  16  which contains a voting machine controller  18  which may be any form of programmed processor, server, computer, etc. and associated memory storage  20 . As is understood, since the voter  11  enters into the confines of the voting booth  17 , the voter is completely anonymous—no additional requirement being required for the voter to again identify he/she to a voting official/poll worker  14 . Anonymity goes to the very heart of the voting process and any attempt to tie a voter to a specific vote (as with a “smart card” or “other specialized voting identification) runs the risk of eroding the feeling anonymity by the voter. Therefore, as the voter  11  enters the voting booth  17 , the voter is unencumbered by anything—except the task of voting using the electronic voting machine  16 . 
     With electronic voting machines  16 , the process of casting electronic ballots has become quite simple and efficient. It is important that any attempt to make the voting process more auditable, secure or accurate, not negatively impact ease of using the voting booth  17 . Otherwise, such attempts will be considered counterproductive by voting officials and the voters themselves. The votes themselves are stored in the storage  20 , which as illustrated, most often is directly attached to the voting machine controller  18  and is typically inside of the voting booth  17  in a secure housing. Once the voter has voted, he/she exits the polling location  10  as indicated. 
     At the end of the voting day, the votes stored in the storage  20  of each electronic voting machine  16  must be read and consolidated as represented by the consolidate function  22  which may be performed under control of a programmed processor. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , a local area network may receive the inputs from all of the individual storages  20  associated with all of the electronic voting machine  16 . However, because of consideration of costs, complexity and security, each electronic voting machine  16  is typically a stand alone machine with the consolidate function  22  not being performed electronically. A readout function  24  is coupled to the consolidation function  22 , whether done locally with each electronic voting machine  16  or via the consolidation function  22  which provides the polling workers/officials  14  the ability to record the tally of cast votes once the polls are closed. Finally, after the readout  24  has been obtained, the results of the votes cast at the polling location  10  are provided in a report as indicated in the report results function  26 . The report results function  26  is essentially the completion of the voting process. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a simplified flow chart of the above-described process. The initial step involved with voting is that the voter  11  enters the voting booth  17  containing the electronic voting machine  16  as indicated by step  30 . The voting process proceeds from the voter  11  entering the voting booth  17  to the voter  11  being presented with a ballot and making choices while within the voting booth as indicated by step  31 . Next, the voter  11  makes his/her selections as indicated by block  32 . Thereafter, the voter  11  reviews the selections which he/she has initially made in registering the vote including any changes so as to generate a voter ballot. After the review process, the voter actively indicates to the electronic voting machine  16  that the voting process is done by pushing a button or pulling a lever, etc. as indicated by step  34 . A display associated with the electronic voting machine  16 , within the voting booth  17  typically will display a message to the voter  11  thanking the voter for voting, as indicated by step  36 . Thereafter, the voter  11  exits the voting booth  17  as indicated by step  38 . 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a method and system for providing voter confirmation that electronically cast votes have been properly registered and tallied and a processor and program stored on a storage medium which generates a group of vote words which are assigned individually to the voters at each polling location and recorded with the voters&#39; selections so that subsequent publication of the vote word and vote makes possible later verification anonymously by the voter that his/her vote was properly cast. 
     The present invention provides a voter with the ability to confirm that electronically cast votes have been properly registered and tallied which does not require special hardware or a new way of voting. The invention permits each vote to be published in a public forum and each voter to look at his/her vote word as published in association with the voter&#39;s vote to confirm that the vote was recorded correctly. Confirmation by the voter that a vote was recorded correctly is accomplished while maintaining total voter anonymity. Moreover, because the invention may be implemented by software running as an application on existing computer systems located at polling locations or elsewhere, including virtual sites, a low-cost and simple approach is obtained which provides an ability to adopt the invention with existing electronic voting machines/systems without the addition of external hardware. 
     The overall voting process is substantially identical to the prior art as described above with respect to  FIG. 1  and only requires that in association with voting the voter is assigned at least one unique vote word in at least one language understood by voters at one polling location which, upon electronic casting of the ballot, is associated and recorded with the voters&#39; votes electronically cast at each polling location. The at least one vote word is unique to the voter, but may be assigned to multiple voters at different polling locations and permits the voter, after completing voting, to access a publishing system at which the votes cast at individual polling locations are published in association with the at least one unique vote word assigned to each voter. The vote words are preferably published in alphabetical order in association with each polling location so that the voter may simply access the publishing system, such as by going on-line to look for the alphabetical word which was associated with the voter&#39;s votes at the polling location of the voter. For example, if the voter was assigned the vote word “cat”, all that is required is that the voter access the publishing system and input the polling location of the voting district, state, etc and locate the voter&#39;s vote word “cat”. Associated with the published vote word “cat” will be the voter&#39;s vote as cast, thereby permitting the voter to determine that the electronically cast vote has been properly registered and tallied. 
     It is important to note that with the process of the present invention, the voter has retained an anonymous status throughout the entire process. There is nothing that can associate a person with the at least one vote word assigned to the voter. Since the at least one vote word which is issued to each voter upon voting is issued in an adequately random way and are preferably alphabetized upon publishing, there is no way that people who read the resulting list of votes will be able to identify who cast which votes. This process represents only a small change in the existing voting process since the voter is only required to remember (or write down) at least one simple word, such as, but not limited to the voter&#39;s native language. Moreover, this is required to be done only if the voter wishes to audit the vote at a later date. If the voter chooses not to audit his/her vote, the voting process doesn&#39;t change at all from the prior art of  FIG. 2 . 
     Without limitation, a vote word, such as “cat”, “table” or “adventure” is something that a voter easily memorizes or writes down. So the present invention requires no additional hardware, like a printer or a smart card to display or record the vote word for the voter. Instead, the existing electronic voting system software can display the word on the output display device, such as a LCD or LED display. 
     A method for providing voter confirmation that electronically cast ballots have been properly registered in accordance with the invention includes (a) generating a group of unique vote words which each comprise at least one word within at least one language understood by voters at at least one polling location; (b) assigning individual voters at the at least one polling location at least one of the unique vote words chosen from the group of vote words which is unique to each of the voters, each of the assigned at least one unique vote word upon casting of voter&#39;s ballot being associated and recorded with the voter&#39;s votes electronically cast by the voter at the at least one polling location; and (c) publishing the unique vote words associated with the votes which were cast at the at least one polling location whereby a voter who cast a ballot at the at least one polling location may check the published at least one unique vote word associated with the voter&#39;s votes at the at least one polling location as published to permit the voter to verify that the voter&#39;s votes were properly recorded. A plurality of polling locations may be provided; and wherein steps (a)–(c) are performed at each polling location. The group of unique vote words may be used at each polling location. Each polling location may comprise a number n of electronic voting machines; and each polling location may be assigned the group of unique vote words m wherein each unique vote word may be assigned to only a single electronic voting machine with a number of unique vote words k assigned to each electronic voting machine equaling m/n. The at least one language may be a native language of the voter. The at least one unique vote word may comprise two different unique vote words combined from the group of unique vote words which are understood by the voters at each polling location with a number of combined two different unique vote words from the group of unique vote words equaling m 2 ; and each polling location may be assigned the m 2  combined two different vote words; each polling location may comprise a number n of electronic voting machines; and each of the combined two different unique vote words may be assigned to only a single electronic voting machine at each polling location with a number of unique vote words assigned to each electronic voting machine equaling 
           m   2     n     .       
 
The invention is also a processor for use with the methods of the present invention.
 
     The invention is also a program stored on a storage medium which, when executed on a processor, performs the generation of the group of unique vote words in accordance with the method of the present invention as described above. 
     The invention is also a system for providing voter confirmation that electronically cast votes have been properly registered and tallied including at least one electronic voting machine located at at least one polling location; at least one processor for generating a group of unique vote words which each comprise at least one word within at least one least one language understood by voters at at least one polling location which group of unique words are assigned to the at least one voting machine at the at least one polling location such that each voter at the at least one polling location is assigned at least one unique voting word; at least one storage associated with each polling location, each unique vote word upon casting of voter&#39;s ballot being associated and recorded with the voter&#39;s votes electronically cast by the voter at the at least one polling location by the at least one storage; and a publishing system, which is accessible by the voters at the at least one polling location after casting of ballots by the voters at the at least one polling location that publishes the unique vote words stored by the at least one storage which are associated with the votes which were cast at the at least one polling location whereby a voter who cast a ballot at the at least one polling location may check the published at least one unique vote word associated with the voter&#39;s votes at the at least one polling location as published to permit the voter to verify that the voter&#39;s votes were properly recorded. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a diagram of a prior art polling location which may be utilized after modification with the practice of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a flowchart of the existing voting process, such as implemented in the polling location of  FIG. 1  and which requires only slight modification for adaptation to practice of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a flowchart of the process of the present invention which is a modification of the flowchart of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of a polling location which has been modified from  FIG. 1  to be in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram of a system in accordance with the present invention which utilizes a vote word generator processor/server for generating and providing unique vote words to multiple polling locations which each contain one or more voting booths containing electronic voting machines which may be in accordance with the block diagram of  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     Like reference numerals identify like parts throughout the drawings. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a flowchart, which is a modification of the flowchart of  FIG. 2 , setting forth an embodiment of a method of providing voter confirmation of the voter&#39;s ballot as cast electronically in accordance with the invention has been properly registered and tallied. Only two additional actions are required to be added to the prior art process of  FIG. 2  which are that the presentation of the ballot  31  of the prior art is modified to include the addition thereto of the at least one unique vote word being presented as indicated in block  31 ′ and further, at step  40 , the voter  11  checks the published voting word at the polling location or elsewhere thereafter to identify that the voter&#39;s at least one unique vote word is associated with the voter&#39;s anonymous published votes as cast at the polling location  10 ′ of the voter. Preferably the at least one unique vote word is published in an alphabetical listing so as to facilitate the voter  11  checking quickly for the at least one unique vote word which the voter has either memorized or written down at the time of casting the ballot as indicated at step  31 ′ so as to quickly locate the voter&#39;s votes. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates the diagram of a polling location  10 ′ which has been modified from the prior art polling location  10  of  FIG. 1  to include the method and system for providing voter confirmation that electronically cast ballots have been properly registered and further, a server for providing a group of unique vote words which each comprise at least one word in at least one language understood by voters at at least one polling location. The group of unique vote words are assigned to the at least one voting machine  16  at the at least one polling location  10 ′ such that each voter  11  at the polling location is assigned at least one unique voting word at the time of voting. The operation of the at least one processor which generates the group of at least one unique vote word may be contained in the controller  18 ′ of each electronic voting machine  16 , or alternatively as a central vote word generator processor/server  50  at the polling location  10 ′ or as a part of system  100  of  FIG. 5 . The at least one electronic voting machine  16  has been modified such that its controller  18 ′ includes a vote word generator processor. The process of generating at least one unique vote word to be assigned to each voter  11  at the polling location  10 ′ is described below. As an alternative to each voting booth controller  18 ′ being modified to include a vote word generator processor, a vote word generator processor/server  50  may be provided for all of the electronic voting machines  16  which assigns the group of unique voting words to each electronic voting machine such that each voter  11  at each voting booth  17  is assigned a unique at least one voting word. Additionally, the polling location  10 ′ may have a workstation, terminal or other device  52  which the voter, after exiting the voting booth  17  visits to communicate with an Internet accessible publishing system  54  to permit the voter to check the vote which is associated with the voter&#39;s assigned at least one unique vote word in order to confirm that the electronically cast vote has been properly registered to the voter. As an alternative, the publishing system  54  could be associated locally with the polling location  10 ′, or accessible through other communication means, such as, but not limited to, a wireless or wireline (landline) telephony connection. The invention is not limited to the publishing system  54  which publishes the unique vote words stored by the at least one storage  20  associated with the ballots cast at a polling location  10 ′ and may be at any remote location which is accessible by telecommunications. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a vote word generator system  100  which may be used for generating the at least one unique vote word which is assigned to a voter  11  to uniquely identify the votes cast by the voter at each polling location  10 ′. The system  100  comprises a vote word generator server  102  which performs the function of generating at least one unique vote word that is assigned to each voter  11  at at least one electronic voting machine  16  located at each of the polling locations  10 ′. The vote word generator server  102  may operate on a system wide level to supply vote words which are unique to each voter, at each electronic voting machine  16  at each of the polling locations  10 ′. As will be described in more detail below, the unique vote words which are generated for a polling location  10 ′ may be repeatedly used for all of the polling locations since the publication of the unique vote word, as associated with a vote cast by a voter at an electronic voting machine  16 , at any polling location  10 ′, is accessible by locating the at least one vote word as published in association with the polling location. 
     The following is an example of one, but not the only way, that votes may be published so that a voter can easily access his/her vote, anonymously, to confirm that it was recorded and tallied correctly. 
     Election for President of the United States 
     
       
         
           
               
            
               
                   
               
               
                 State of New Jersey (Towns listed alphabetically) 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Voteword 
                 Recorded vote 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Anytown 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Fire Station 
                   
               
               
                   
                 apple 
                 John Smith 
               
               
                   
                 cat 
                 John Smith 
               
               
                   
                 dog 
                 John Smith 
               
               
                   
                 drizzle 
                 Sally Jones 
               
               
                   
                 zebra 
                 Sally Jones 
               
               
                   
                 Elementary School 
               
               
                   
                 ant 
                 Sally Jones 
               
               
                   
                 apple 
                 Sally Jones 
               
               
                   
                 drop 
                 John Smith 
               
               
                   
                 zebra 
                 John Smith 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Sampletown 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 City Hall 
                   
               
               
                   
                 add 
                 Sally Jones 
               
               
                   
                 gopher 
                 John Smith 
               
               
                   
                 haze 
                 John Smith 
               
               
                   
                 little 
                 Sally Jones 
               
               
                   
                 zebra 
                 Sally Jones 
               
               
                   
                 Sampletown Middle School 
               
               
                   
                 butter 
                 John Smith 
               
               
                   
                 crumb 
                 Sally Jones 
               
               
                   
                 drop 
                 John Smith 
               
               
                   
                 zebra 
                 John Smith 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     It should be noted that certain vote words appear in more than one voting location (“zebra”, for example). Even though this happens, the vote word is unique for each voter  11 , in a polling voting location  10 ′, so each voter can find his/her specific vote by accessing the published system  54 . 
     The following is an example of the software specifications that may be used for a program that issues the at least one unique vote word. 
     Upon request, the program pseudo-randomly chooses a word from a table of “n” number of words, marks that word as “used” and then delivers that word to the invoking process. The program then waits for another such request. This is, in essence, the entire program cycle. Of course, there are exceptions and contingencies that a software program must address. These are discussed below in the “Detailed Description of Main Processing” section. Basic assumptions about this program are as follows. 
     The program executes (runs) in the CPU of a computer, controller or server that may be located in an individual electronic voting machine  16  as discussed above. Where there are multiple voting booths  17  in a polling location  10 ′ (e.g., a school gym, a fire station, a municipal government building) it cannot be assumed that there will be inter-booth communications. For this reason, the software is preferably designed to handle the creation of unique vote words in both standalone and networked booth configurations with at least one unique vote word being assigned to each voter at a polling location  10 ′. 
     It is assumed that, typically, the invoking process would be in the purview of the vendor which designed the electronic voting machine  16  and its related hardware/software systems. So the present program would, generally, not be responsible for delivering the unique vote word directly to the voter  11 . After all, the program has no knowledge of what kind of output method a particular electronic voting machine will employ: LED display, printer, audible, Braille—or any other. Therefore, this program is designed as a routine that can be easily invoked by another software program. 
     The table of words that the program delivers is stored either in random access memory  20  (RAM) or another direct-access type of media (e.g., a microdrive). Note also that, typically, there are as many tables of words as there are languages that are supported in at a specific polling location  10 ′. 
     Detailed Description of Main Processing 
     This program is invoked with three optional arguments/parameters: (1) the language, (2) the maximum number of voting machines  16  (booths  17 ) at a polling location  10 ′ and (3) the booth ID of the electronic voting machine  16 . All three parameters are integers. 
     These parameters are referred to as “lang — ID”, “max — booth” and “booth — ID”. The lang — ID parameter could be different on each invocation of this program, depending on the language preference of a particular voter. The second two parameters, however, would never change during the course of an election session after those parameters are initially set. That is, once it has been established that there are, say, seven electronic voting machine booths then this cannot be changed to another value in the middle of an election. 
     The first argument, in essence, tells the program the native language of the voter. Programmatically, the argument is an integer that points the program to the word table that is to be used. If no parameter is supplied, then the program uses the default table. In the United States, this would typically be a table of English words. In other countries the default table would consist of words in that nation&#39;s language. 
     The presence of the second and third arguments, which are always used together, tells the program that it is operating in a multiple-booth electronic voting machine environment, complicated by the fact that there is no inter-booth communication. When the voting authorities implement this type of configuration, the program must be able ensure uniqueness of delivered words throughout a room or hall where each booth  17 /electronic voting machine  16  is not in communication with either the other booths/electronic voting machines or with a central, shared table or database of words. 
     If these two arguments are not present, then max — booth and booth — ID are assumed to be “1”. This would occur where there is, in fact, only one booth in a polling location. But, it would also occur in the situation where multiple booths  17 /electronic voting machines  16  are inter-connected by a wired or wireless network. In this case, the invoking program does not need to specify how many booths/electronic voting machines there are because—in a networked environment—a shared database, by its very nature, is designed to issue unique ID&#39;s to all the network&#39;s workstations (in this case, voting booths). 
     When the program does, in fact, receive the max — booth and booth — num arguments, it is designed to ensure uniqueness of vote words within that voting location. To accomplish this, it divides the table of “n” words into “max — booth” number of parts. The program then considers the segment of the table identified by the integer “booth — num” to be the “home” segment. For example, consider the case of a 14-booth polling location which draws on a database of 8,000 vote words. If a booth is programmed as booth number (booth — num)  6 , then the program considers the 6th segment of the 8,000-entry Voteword table to be its “home” segment. 
     The program then issues unique vote words only from its home segment—in this case, the 571 words that lie in the 6th (of 14) equal-size section of the 8,000-word table. If it runs out of unique vote words, the program then begins issuing word-pairs. To do this without issuing a vote word pair that another non-networked voting booth gives out, it issues unique vote word pairs that have, as the first word in the pair, a word which resides in that booth&#39;s home segment. Further, it never issues a vote word pair where the first word in the pair does not come from its home segment. In this way, no two non-communicating booths will ever issue the same unique vote word pair. 
     As with single-word unique vote words, the program keeps track of already-issued vote words so that it does not issue them again. 
     Using the word-pair approach, the maximum number of unique vote words that can be issued from one table that contains “n” number of words is n 2 . 
     It is not desirable to have word-pairs where both elements are the same (e.g., “apple—apple” or “giraffe—giraffe”). Factoring those out means that the maximum number of valid word-pairs that can be issued from one table is
 
n 2 −n
 
     Adding back in the single-word unique vote words that a booth issues means that the total number of unique vote words that can be issued is—
 
n 2 −n+n
 
or, simply, once again—
 
n 2  
 
     Thus, in our example, an 8,000-word table is capable of generating 64,000,000 vote words. And, in an individual voting booth  17 ′ which does not communicate with a central vote word generator processor/server  50 , the maximum number of possible unique vote words is n 2 /max — booth. 
     The word-pair methodology could be expanded so that this program issues “word-trios”, “word-quartets” and so forth. Thus, for three and four word pairings, the total number of unique vote words respectively would be n 3 /max — booth and n 4 /max — booth, though local officials may have preferences as to how many of the words—and within what positions—would be allowed to repeat within such multiple-word vote words. For example, would “giraffe-apple-giraffe” be permissible versus “giraffe-giraffe-apple”? Such rules would reduce the number of vote word trios and vote word quartets. Issuing such unique vote words, though, would place a strain on a voter&#39;s ability to memorize his/her vote word and would thus be counter-productive. 
     Note that the software which comprises the present invention is designed to operate as a “sub-process” of existing electronic voting machine  16  software applications. As such, it performs a very specific task: issuing unique vote words. It does not perform any of the tasks commonly associated with voting machine applications: operating the display, preventing over-votes, recording and storing the votes, etc. In this configuration, the existing voting machine software is referred to as the “invoking software”. 
     The source code included herein is written in the Java programming language because of that language&#39;s “portability”—it can run in many operating system environments. But it could, as well, be written in other languages, depending on the invoking software&#39;s requirements. 
     The database of words. 
     Another part of the present invention is the use of a word to identify a vote. Two main considerations must be taken into account when issuing a vote word: type of words used and the number of words needed. 
     In considering the type of words used, note that there is only one vote word list. This approach simplifies the implementation and maintenance of the voting environment. Every polling location  10 ′ in the country has the same vote word list: a fire station in Illinois, an elementary school in Utah, etc. 
     In addition, the present invention uses native-language words. Therefore, there will be a database of words in as many languages as the invoking software supports. 
     In choosing the type of vote words to use, the following has been taken into account: 
     Brevity. The shorter the word, the easier to remember or scribble down. 
     Familiarity. Even though a word may be short, it might not be familiar to most people and, therefore, it might not be easily memorized. Thus, words like “darb” or “pensum” are not deemed suitable. 
     Homonyms. Including words that are homonyms of one another increases the chances that a voter may mistake one vote word for another. So the vote word database should contain either “fair” or “fare”, but not both. 
     Easily misread words. Using words that can be misread for another—or remembered as another—is not desirable. The database, then, should not contain words like “afoot” or “askew”. 
     Offensive words. Words that are considered obscene or offensive should not be in the database. Nor should an offensive phrase result from the creation of a word pair. To prevent the creation of such phrases, certain words are eliminated from the database—for example, “it”, yours”, you and “me”. 
     Emotionally-charged words. Words like “amputate”, “cancer” and “abortion” can offend voters because of the emotional connotations associated with those words. They should not be used. 
     Combination words. Because the software may have to combine vote words, as described below, “double” words should not be used: “comedown”, “sandbag”, etc. It would be confusing if the software issued a vote word of “sand-sandbag”. 
     Other confusing words. Words that could get confused with common election-day words should be excluded from the list: “candidate”, “president”, “thank”, and so forth. 
     The other major consideration in designing the vote word database is the issue of the number of unique vote words needed. At first blush it may seem that the database of words would have to be enormous. However, note that, although the vote word for every voter must be unique, it need be unique only within a voting location. 
     Consider the situation where Voter A is voting at the fire station in Anytown, USA and receives a vote word of “table”. Voter B, across town is voting at the elementary school and also receives “table” as a unique vote word. When these two voters look up their respective votes the next day, they will find these votes arranged alphabetically by vote word within each voting location. Voter A, then, will know enough to find “table” in the fire station list, while Voter B will look in the elementary school list. This design greatly reduces the number of words needed. 
     While voters can easily remember where they voted (the fire station or the elementary school, for example)—they cannot be expected to remember which voting machine they used. For this reason, no two voting machines  16  in a polling location  10 ′ can issue the same unique vote word. 
     Complicating this requirement is the fact that the electronic voting machines  16  in many, if not most, polling locations  10 ′ are “standalone”. That is, they are not connected by a local area network (“LAN”)—either wired or wireless. Note that this architecture is often by design: voting authorities desire neither the complexity nor the expense associated with LAN-connected electronic voting machines  16 . This standalone configuration of the electronic voting machines  16  means that no voting booth  17  can know what unique vote words another booth has already issued. Thus, the software running on a processor, such as a PC, workstation or server, which issues these unique vote words must be designed to ensure uniqueness of voting words between electronic voting machines  16 . 
     The present invention provides for word uniqueness between non-communicating electronic voting machines  16  by subdividing the word list in each electronic voting machine  16  into as many sections as the maximum number of machines in a voting location. 
     For example, suppose that there are forty (40) electronic voting machines  16  in a particular polling location  10 ′. In preparation for election day, the local authorized election personnel set the software&#39;s starting option to (at least) “40”. In addition, each electronic voting machine  16  receives a unique, sequential number, starting with “1”. With this simple set-up, each electronic voting machine&#39;s software can “stay out of the others&#39; way” when issuing vote words. This configuration may be performed as part of the typical initial set-up process for an election. 
     Where inter-machine communication—like a wired or wireless LAN—does exist it means that the central (“server”) machine  50  or  102  is free to issue words from a single database—so there is no need to subdivide the list of vote words. Note that this is entirely transparent to the software portion of the present invention. The fact that the software is issuing words to one, thirty, sixty or one hundred machines is all the same in a networked environment, because a single instance of the software is controlling the marking of words as “used”. 
     The following is an example of a group of unique vote words which, without limitation, may be used with the practice of the present invention. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
               
                 A SAMPLE VOTE WORD LIST 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 abandon 
                 abbey 
                 abdomen 
                 abnormal 
                 abode 
               
               
                 abolish 
                 about 
                 above 
                 abrupt 
                 absence 
               
               
                 absolute 
                 absorb 
                 abstain 
                 abstract 
                 absurd 
               
               
                 abuse 
                 abuzz 
                 abyss 
                 academy 
                 accent 
               
               
                 accept 
                 access 
                 accident 
                 acclaim 
                 account 
               
               
                 accurate 
                 accuse 
                 accustom 
                 ace 
                 ache 
               
               
                 achieve 
                 acid 
                 acme 
                 acorn 
                 acoustic 
               
               
                 acre 
                 acrobat 
                 across 
                 action 
                 active 
               
               
                 actor 
                 act 
                 actual 
                 addition 
                 address 
               
               
                 add 
                 adequate 
                 adhere 
                 adjacent 
                 admire 
               
               
                 admit 
                 adobe 
                 adopt 
                 adorable 
                 adore 
               
               
                 adult 
                 advance 
                 advent 
                 adverb 
                 advice 
               
               
                 aerobic 
                 aerosol 
                 affair 
                 affluent 
                 afford 
               
               
                 affront 
                 after 
                 again 
                 against 
                 age 
               
               
                 agency 
                 agenda 
                 agent 
                 aghast 
                 agile 
               
               
                 agitate 
                 ago 
                 agony 
                 agree 
                 ahoy 
               
               
                 aid 
                 ailment 
                 aim 
                 air 
                 aisle 
               
               
                 alarm 
                 alas 
                 albino 
                 album 
                 alcohol 
               
               
                 alcove 
                 ale 
                 alert 
                 algae 
                 alias 
               
               
                 alibi 
                 alien 
                 alimony 
                 alkaline 
                 allege 
               
               
                 allergy 
                 alliance 
                 alloy 
                 all 
                 almighty 
               
               
                 almond 
                 almost 
                 alone 
                 alphabet 
                 already 
               
               
                 also 
                 altar 
                 although 
                 altitude 
                 alto 
               
               
                 aluminum 
                 always 
                 am 
                 amateur 
                 amazing 
               
               
                 amber 
                 ambition 
                 amble 
                 ambush 
                 amend 
               
               
                 amiable 
                 amigo 
                 ammo 
                 among 
                 ample 
               
               
                 amplify 
                 amp 
                 amuse 
                 analyze 
                 anarchy 
               
               
                 anatomy 
                 ancestor 
                 anchor 
                 anchovy 
                 ancient 
               
               
                 and 
                 android 
                 anecdote 
                 anemia 
                 angel 
               
               
                 angry 
                 anguish 
                 animal 
                 animate 
                 ankle 
               
               
                 annex 
                 announce 
                 annoy 
                 annual 
                 annul 
               
               
                 anoint 
                 another 
                 answer 
                 antacid 
                 antenna 
               
               
                 ant 
                 anthem 
                 antic 
                 antidote 
                 antique 
               
               
                 antler 
                 anvil 
                 anxiety 
                 anyway 
                 apathy 
               
               
                 ape 
                 apology 
                 appeal 
                 appear 
                 appendix 
               
               
                 append 
                 appetite 
                 applaud 
                 apple 
                 apply 
               
               
                 appoint 
                 appraise 
                 approach 
                 approve 
                 apricot 
               
               
                 April 
                 apron 
                 apt 
                 aqua 
                 arbor 
               
               
                 arcade 
                 archer 
                 arch 
                 arctic 
                 area 
               
               
                 are 
                 arena 
                 argon 
                 argue 
                 aria 
               
               
                 arid 
                 ark 
                 armada 
                 arm 
                 armor 
               
               
                 army 
                 aroma 
                 around 
                 arraign 
                 arrange 
               
               
                 arrest 
                 arrive 
                 arrogant 
                 arrow 
                 arsenal 
               
               
                 arsenic 
                 arson 
                 artery 
                 article 
                 artist 
               
               
                 art 
                 ASAP 
                 asbestos 
                 ascend 
                 ashamed 
               
               
                 ash 
                 Asia 
                 ask 
                 aspirin 
                 assemble 
               
               
                 asset 
                 assign 
                 assist 
                 assume 
                 assure 
               
               
                 asterisk 
                 asteroid 
                 asthma 
                 astonish 
                 astound 
               
               
                 astute 
                 athlete 
                 Atlantic 
                 atlas 
                 atom 
               
               
                 atrium 
                 attach 
                 attain 
                 attempt 
                 attend 
               
               
                 attic 
                 attire 
                 attitude 
                 attorney 
                 attract 
               
               
                 auction 
                 audience 
                 audio 
                 audit 
                 augment 
               
               
                 aunt 
                 aurora 
                 austere 
                 author 
                 automate 
               
               
                 autumn 
                 avenge 
                 avenue 
                 average 
                 aviator 
               
               
                 avid 
                 avocado 
                 awaken 
                 award 
                 aware 
               
               
                 awe 
                 awesome 
                 awful 
                 awkward 
                 awning 
               
               
                 axiom 
                 axis 
                 axle 
                 aye 
                 azure 
               
               
                 babble 
                 baboon 
                 baby 
                 bacon 
                 badge 
               
               
                 bad 
                 baffle 
                 bagel 
                 baggage 
                 baggy 
               
               
                 bag 
                 bah 
                 bail 
                 bait 
                 bake 
               
               
                 balance 
                 balcony 
                 bald 
                 ballad 
                 ballet 
               
               
                 ball 
                 balloon 
                 ballot 
                 balm 
                 baloney 
               
               
                 balsa 
                 Bambi 
                 bamboo 
                 banal 
                 banana 
               
               
                 bandage 
                 band 
                 bandit 
                 bane 
                 bang 
               
               
                 banish 
                 banjo 
                 bank 
                 banner 
                 banquet 
               
               
                 ban 
                 bantam 
                 baptism 
                 barb 
                 barbecue 
               
               
                 barber 
                 bard 
                 bare 
                 bargain 
                 barge 
               
               
                 baritone 
                 bark 
                 barley 
                 barnacle 
                 barn 
               
               
                 baron 
                 barrel 
                 barren 
                 barrier 
                 barter 
               
               
                 bar 
                 base 
                 basement 
                 bashful 
                 bash 
               
               
                 basic 
                 basil 
                 basin 
                 basis 
                 basket 
               
               
                 bask 
                 bassoon 
                 bass 
                 batch 
                 bath 
               
               
                 baton 
                 bat 
                 battle 
                 bay 
                 bazaar 
               
               
                 bazooka 
                 beach 
                 bead 
                 beagle 
                 beaker 
               
               
                 beak 
                 beam 
                 bean 
                 beard 
                 bear 
               
               
                 beast 
                 beat 
                 became 
                 because 
                 become 
               
               
                 bedlam 
                 bed 
                 beef 
                 bee 
                 been 
               
               
                 beep 
                 beer 
                 beetle 
                 beet 
                 before 
               
               
                 began 
                 beget 
                 beggar 
                 begin 
                 beg 
               
               
                 beguile 
                 behave 
                 behind 
                 behold 
                 beige 
               
               
                 being 
                 belch 
                 Belgium 
                 believe 
                 bell 
               
               
                 belly 
                 belong 
                 beloved 
                 below 
                 belt 
               
               
                 beluga 
                 bench 
                 bend 
                 beneath 
                 benign 
               
               
                 bent 
                 beret 
                 Bermuda 
                 berry 
                 berserk 
               
               
                 beseech 
                 beset 
                 beside 
                 besiege 
                 best 
               
               
                 bestow 
                 bet 
                 betray 
                 between 
                 betwixt 
               
               
                 bevy 
                 beware 
                 bewilder 
                 bewitch 
                 beyond 
               
               
                 bias 
                 bib 
                 biceps 
                 bicker 
                 bicycle 
               
               
                 biddy 
                 bid 
                 bifocal 
                 bigamy 
                 bigger 
               
               
                 bigot 
                 big 
                 biker 
                 bile 
                 bilk 
               
               
                 billion 
                 bill 
                 binary 
                 bind 
                 binge 
               
               
                 bingo 
                 bin 
                 biology 
                 bionic 
                 birch 
               
               
                 birdie 
                 bird 
                 birth 
                 biscuit 
                 bishop 
               
               
                 bison 
                 bistro 
                 bite 
                 bit 
                 bitter 
               
               
                 blab 
                 black 
                 bladder 
                 blade 
                 blame 
               
               
                 bland 
                 blanket 
                 blank 
                 blare 
                 blast 
               
               
                 blatant 
                 blaze 
                 bleach 
                 bleary 
                 bleed 
               
               
                 blemish 
                 blend 
                 bless 
                 blight 
                 blimp 
               
               
                 blind 
                 blink 
                 blip 
                 bliss 
                 blister 
               
               
                 blitz 
                 bloat 
                 blob 
                 block 
                 blond 
               
               
                 blood 
                 bloom 
                 blooper 
                 blossom 
                 blot 
               
               
                 blouse 
                 blow 
                 blubber 
                 blue 
                 bluff 
               
               
                 blunder 
                 blunt 
                 blur 
                 blush 
                 board 
               
               
                 boar 
                 boast 
                 boat 
                 bob 
                 bode 
               
               
                 body 
                 bogey 
                 bog 
                 bogus 
                 boil 
               
               
                 bold 
                 bolo 
                 bolt 
                 bomb 
                 bonanza 
               
               
                 bond 
                 bone 
                 bonfire 
                 bongo 
                 bonkers 
               
               
                 bonnet 
                 bonus 
                 boo 
                 book 
                 boom 
               
               
                 boost 
                 boot 
                 booth 
                 booze 
                 bop 
               
               
                 bore 
                 born 
                 Borneo 
                 borrow 
                 boss 
               
               
                 Boston 
                 botany 
                 botch 
                 bother 
                 both 
               
               
                 bottle 
                 bottom 
                 bought 
                 boulder 
                 bounce 
               
               
                 boundary 
                 bound 
                 bounty 
                 bouquet 
                 bout 
               
               
                 bowl 
                 bow 
                 box 
                 boy 
                 brace 
               
               
                 bracket 
                 brag 
                 braid 
                 brain 
                 brake 
               
               
                 bramble 
                 branch 
                 brand 
                 brash 
                 brass 
               
               
                 brat 
                 brave 
                 brawl 
                 brawn 
                 Brazil 
               
               
                 breach 
                 bread 
                 break 
                 breast 
                 breath 
               
               
                 breech 
                 breed 
                 breeze 
                 brew 
                 bribe 
               
               
                 brick 
                 bride 
                 bridge 
                 bridle 
                 brief 
               
               
                 brigade 
                 bright 
                 brig 
                 brim 
                 brine 
               
               
                 bring 
                 brink 
                 brisk 
                 bristle 
                 Britain 
               
               
                 britches 
                 brittle 
                 broach 
                 broad 
                 brochure 
               
               
                 broil 
                 broken 
                 bronco 
                 bronze 
                 brood 
               
               
                 brook 
                 broom 
                 brother 
                 broth 
                 brought 
               
               
                 brow 
                 brown 
                 browse 
                 bruise 
                 brunch 
               
               
                 brunette 
                 brunt 
                 brush 
                 brutal 
                 bubble 
               
               
                 buckaroo 
                 bucket 
                 buckle 
                 budge 
                 budget 
               
               
                 bud 
                 buffalo 
                 buff 
                 buffet 
                 buffoon 
               
               
                 bug 
                 bugle 
                 build 
                 bulb 
                 bulge 
               
               
                 bulk 
                 bullet 
                 bull 
                 bully 
                 bump 
               
               
                 bum 
                 bunch 
                 bundle 
                 bunk 
                 bunny 
               
               
                 bun 
                 bunt 
                 burden 
                 bureau 
                 burger 
               
               
                 burglar 
                 burgundy 
                 burlap 
                 burly 
                 Burma 
               
               
                 burn 
                 burp 
                 burr 
                 burst 
                 bury 
               
               
                 bus 
                 bush 
                 business 
                 buster 
                 bust 
               
               
                 busy 
                 but 
                 butcher 
                 butler 
                 butter 
               
               
                 button 
                 butt 
                 buy 
                 buzz 
                 buzzer 
               
               
                 bye 
                 byte 
                 cabana 
                 cabbage 
                 cabinet 
               
               
                 cabin 
                 cable 
                 caboose 
                 cab 
                 cackle 
               
               
                 cactus 
                 caddy 
                 cadet 
                 caffeine 
                 cage 
               
               
                 cajole 
                 cake 
                 calcium 
                 calendar 
                 calf 
               
               
                 caliber 
                 calico 
                 call 
                 calm 
                 calorie 
               
               
                 calypso 
                 camel 
                 camera 
                 cam 
                 camp 
               
               
                 campus 
                 Canada 
                 canal 
                 canary 
                 cancel 
               
               
                 candid 
                 candle 
                 candy 
                 cane 
                 canine 
               
               
                 canister 
                 canker 
                 can 
                 canoe 
                 canon 
               
               
                 canopy 
                 canteen 
                 canvas 
                 canyon 
                 capable 
               
               
                 caper 
                 cape 
                 capital 
                 cap 
                 capstan 
               
               
                 capsule 
                 captain 
                 captive 
                 capture 
                 caramel 
               
               
                 caravan 
                 carbon 
                 card 
                 cardiac 
                 cardinal 
               
               
                 care 
                 caress 
                 cargo 
                 carob 
                 carol 
               
               
                 carriage 
                 carrot 
                 carry 
                 cart 
                 carton 
               
               
                 car 
                 carve 
                 cascade 
                 case 
                 cashew 
               
               
                 cash 
                 cashmere 
                 casino 
                 cask 
                 cassette 
               
               
                 castanet 
                 castaway 
                 cast 
                 castle 
                 casual 
               
               
                 catalog 
                 catch 
                 category 
                 cater 
                 cat 
               
               
                 cattle 
                 caulk 
                 cause 
                 cave 
                 cavity 
               
               
                 cavort 
                 caw 
                 cease 
                 cedar 
                 ceiling 
               
               
                 celery 
                 cellar 
                 cell 
                 cello 
                 cement 
               
               
                 censored 
                 census 
                 center 
                 central 
                 ceramic 
               
               
                 cereal 
                 certain 
                 certify 
                 chafe 
                 chain 
               
               
                 chair 
                 chalet 
                 chalk 
                 chamber 
                 champ 
               
               
                 chance 
                 change 
                 channel 
                 chant 
                 chaos 
               
               
                 chapel 
                 chap 
                 chapter 
                 charade 
                 charcoal 
               
               
                 chard 
                 charge 
                 chariot 
                 charity 
                 charm 
               
               
                 chart 
                 chase 
                 chasm 
                 cheap 
                 cheat 
               
               
                 check 
                 cheddar 
                 cheek 
                 cheers 
                 cheese 
               
               
                 cheetah 
                 chef 
                 chemical 
                 cherry 
                 cherub 
               
               
                 chess 
                 chest 
                 chew 
                 chicken 
                 chic 
               
               
                 chide 
                 chief 
                 child 
                 chili 
                 chill 
               
               
                 chime 
                 chimney 
                 chimp 
                 china 
                 chin 
               
               
                 chip 
                 chirp 
                 chivalry 
                 chive 
                 choice 
               
               
                 choir 
                 choke 
                 chomp 
                 choose 
                 chop 
               
               
                 chord 
                 chore 
                 chorus 
                 chose 
                 chowder 
               
               
                 chow 
                 chrome 
                 chronic 
                 chuck 
                 chuckle 
               
               
                 chug 
                 chum 
                 chunk 
                 churn 
                 cider 
               
               
                 cigar 
                 cinch 
                 cinder 
                 cinema 
                 cinnamon 
               
               
                 circa 
                 circle 
                 circuit 
                 circus 
                 citadel 
               
               
                 citizen 
                 citric 
                 citrus 
                 city 
                 civic 
               
               
                 civilian 
                 clack 
                 clad 
                 claim 
                 clam 
               
               
                 clamp 
                 clank 
                 clap 
                 clarify 
                 clarinet 
               
               
                 clash 
                 clasp 
                 class 
                 classic 
                 classify 
               
               
                 clatter 
                 clause 
                 claw 
                 clay 
                 clean 
               
               
                 clear 
                 cleave 
                 clef 
                 clench 
                 clergy 
               
               
                 clerk 
                 clever 
                 click 
                 client 
                 cliff 
               
               
                 climate 
                 climax 
                 climb 
                 clinch 
                 cling 
               
               
                 clinic 
                 clink 
                 clip 
                 cloak 
                 clock 
               
               
                 clod 
                 clog 
                 clomp 
                 close 
                 closet 
               
               
                 cloth 
                 clot 
                 cloud 
                 clove 
                 clown 
               
               
                 cloy 
                 club 
                 cluck 
                 clue 
                 clump 
               
               
                 clumsy 
                 clunk 
                 cluster 
                 clutch 
                 clutter 
               
               
                 coach 
                 coal 
                 coarse 
                 coast 
                 coat 
               
               
                 coax 
                 cobalt 
                 cobra 
                 cob 
                 cockatoo 
               
               
                 cocoa 
                 coconut 
                 cocoon 
                 coda 
                 coddle 
               
               
                 code 
                 cod 
                 coffee 
                 cog 
                 cohort 
               
               
                 coif 
                 coil 
                 coin 
                 coke 
                 cola 
               
               
                 cold 
                 collapse 
                 collar 
                 collate 
                 collect 
               
               
                 college 
                 collide 
                 collie 
                 colon 
                 color 
               
               
                 colt 
                 column 
                 coma 
                 comb 
                 comedian 
               
               
                 comedy 
                 comet 
                 comfort 
                 comic 
                 command 
               
               
                 commence 
                 comment 
                 commit 
                 common 
                 commute 
               
               
                 compact 
                 company 
                 compare 
                 compass 
                 compel 
               
               
                 compete 
                 compile 
                 complain 
                 complete 
                 complex 
               
               
                 comply 
                 compose 
                 compound 
                 compress 
                 compute 
               
               
                 comrade 
                 concave 
                 conceal 
                 concept 
                 concern 
               
               
                 concert 
                 conch 
                 concise 
                 conclude 
                 concoct 
               
               
                 concrete 
                 concur 
                 condemn 
                 condone 
                 condor 
               
               
                 conduct 
                 confer 
                 confide 
                 confine 
                 confirm 
               
               
                 conform 
                 confuse 
                 conga 
                 congeal 
                 congest 
               
               
                 conifer 
                 conk 
                 connect 
                 connive 
                 conquer 
               
               
                 consent 
                 consign 
                 consist 
                 console 
                 consul 
               
               
                 consult 
                 consume 
                 contact 
                 contain 
                 content 
               
               
                 contort 
                 contour 
                 control 
                 convene 
                 convert 
               
               
                 convex 
                 convey 
                 convict 
                 convoke 
                 convoy 
               
               
                 cook 
                 cookie 
                 cool 
                 coop 
                 coot 
               
               
                 cope 
                 copy 
                 coral 
                 cord 
                 core 
               
               
                 cork 
                 Cork 
                 corn 
                 corona 
                 correct 
               
               
                 corrode 
                 corrupt 
                 cortex 
                 cosmic 
                 cost 
               
               
                 cot 
                 cotton 
                 couch 
                 cougar 
                 cough 
               
               
                 could 
                 counsel 
                 count 
                 country 
                 coup 
               
               
                 couple 
                 coupon 
                 courage 
                 course 
                 court 
               
               
                 cousin 
                 cove 
                 cover 
                 cow 
                 coy 
               
               
                 coyote 
                 cozy 
                 crab 
                 crack 
                 cradle 
               
               
                 craft 
                 crag 
                 cram 
                 crane 
                 crank 
               
               
                 crash 
                 crass 
                 crate 
                 crave 
                 crawl 
               
               
                 crazy 
                 creak 
                 cream 
                 crease 
                 credit 
               
               
                 creed 
                 creek 
                 creep 
                 crest 
                 crew 
               
               
                 crib 
                 crick 
                 crime 
                 crimp 
                 cringe 
               
               
                 crisis 
                 crisp 
                 critic 
                 critter 
                 croak 
               
               
                 crocus 
                 crony 
                 crook 
                 croon 
                 crop 
               
               
                 cross 
                 crouch 
                 crowd 
                 crow 
                 crown 
               
               
                 crude 
                 cruel 
                 cruise 
                 crumb 
                 crunch 
               
               
                 crush 
                 crust 
                 cry 
                 crystal 
                 cub 
               
               
                 cuckoo 
                 cucumber 
                 cuddle 
                 cue 
                 cuff 
               
               
                 cuisine 
                 cull 
                 culprit 
                 cult 
                 culture 
               
               
                 cupid 
                 cup 
                 curb 
                 cure 
                 curfew 
               
               
                 curious 
                 curl 
                 current 
                 curry 
                 curtain 
               
               
                 curve 
                 cushion 
                 cusp 
                 cuss 
                 custody 
               
               
                 custom 
                 cute 
                 cut 
                 cyan 
                 cycle 
               
               
                 cymbal 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     While the invention has been described in terms of its preferred embodiments, it should be understood that numerous modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It is intended that all such modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims