Patent ID: 7757950

Claim:
An election system for enabling coercion free remote voting, comprising: a smart card configured to record a secret code; and a host computer having a card reader configured to receive the smart card and read the secret code from the smart card, the host computer configured by a program to transmit a selected vote over a data transmission network to an election authority responsive to the secret code; wherein the host computer is further configured by the program to: generate a plurality of dummies in response to the secret code; show the plurality of dummies and the secret code to a voter in a sequentially numbered dummy list, each of the plurality of dummies and the secret code associated with a number each of the sequentially numbered dummy list; provide a plurality of voting choices to the voter in a sequentially numbered voting choice list, each of the plurality of voting choices associated with a number each of the sequentially numbered voting choice list; and in response to the voter voting for one of a plurality of voting choices and selecting one of the shown plurality of dummies and the secret code: if the voter selects the secret code, enter the voter's vote into an election system; and if the voter selects one of the shown plurality of dummies: select another of the plurality of voting choices as a function of a difference between the voting list number associated with the voter's vote and the voting list number associated with the another voting choice, the difference equal to a difference between the dummy list number associated with the secret code and the dummy list number associated with the selected shown dummy, and enter the selected another voting choice as the voter's vote into the election system; or nullify the voter's vote within the election system.