Patent ID: 8261985

Claim:
A method for counting or for recounting or for counting and recounting selections marked on an optically readable sheet having one or more regions of choices and a plurality of mark spaces in each region in which one or more selections may be marked for each of one or more choices, each mark space being a space defined for marking a selection therein, the method comprising: receiving an image of a sheet having one or more choice regions and a plurality of mark spaces thereon wherein the image of the sheet includes all of the mark spaces for the choice regions thereon and is in an image format; displaying the image of the sheet on a display in human-perceivable form, whereby a human may view the image of the sheet including the one or more choice regions and the mark spaces thereon, including mark spaces that are marked; receiving information decoded from the sheet of the mark spaces thereon that are marked; determining from the image of the sheet that is displayed the mark spaces of the image of the sheet that are marked; and in addition to said receiving an image of a sheet: imaging the sheet for obtaining an independent image of the sheet, whereby the independent image is independent of the received image of the sheet; decoding the independent image of the sheet for determining marked mark spaces thereon; and comparing the received information of marked mark spaces decoded from the image of the sheet, the marked mark spaces determined from the displayed image of the sheet and the marked mark spaces determined from the independent image of the sheet, or any two thereof, to determine any differences there between.