Patent ID: 7222787

Claim:
A ballot marking apparatus for marking at least one style of a pre-printed paper ballot, presenting election races on both a front side and on a reverse side of the ballot, comprising: a housing; a voter input device on said housing for enabling voter selections; a slot in said housing for receiving the pre-printed ballot from a voter; optical detection means for automatically determining position and style of said ballot and thereby at least one marking position on each side of said ballot; a marking head; means defining a paper path within said housing for receiving said ballot as said ballot passes through said slot and conveying said ballot past said marking head, the front side of the ballot being presented to the marking head, said marking head marking the positions on said front side of said ballot in accordance with said selections made by the voter; said paper path inverting said ballot after said ballot has passed by said marking head; said inverted ballot passing by said ballot marking head, the reverse side of the ballot being presented to said marking head, said marking head marking the positions on said reverse side of said ballot in accordance with the selections made by the voter; and means for discharging said ballot through said ballot slot upon said front and reverse sides of said ballot having been presented to said marking head.