Patent Document ID: 5400248
Application ID: 08122869
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A voting apparatus using a computer system for processing and reporting votes of voters, said voting apparatus comprising: means for inputting a proposal and a set of terms into said computer system, wherein said inputting means are electrically coupled to said computer system, wherein said proposal requires voting by a group of voters; a plurality of voting units electrically coupled to said computer system for inputting said votes, each of said voting units comprising a switching means for transmitting voter input signals to said computer system, wherein said voter input signals are selected from a group comprising a first form and a second form, said first form being a conditional input and said second form being an unconditional input; means for processing each of said voter input signals to determine corresponding computed value signals, said computed value signals selected from a group consisting of: a first computed signal having a unique value; a second computed signal having multiple values; and a third computed signal representing no solution; means for applying said set of terms to the first, second and third computed signals to determine a set of results, said set of results selected from a group comprising at least: a total of said first computed signals of a first type and of said second computed signals of said first type, wherein said first type is an affirmative value; a total of said first computed signals of a second type and of said second computed signals of said second type, wherein said second type is a negative value; a total of said first computed signals of a third type and second computed signals of said third type, wherein said third type is an abstention value; a first solution comprising all values in a first set having the largest total of the first computed signals of said first type and of the second computed signals of said first type; a second solution comprising all values in a second set having the largest total of the first computed signals of said second type and of the second computed signals of said second type; a first series of solutions comprising a plurality of first ordered sets, said first ordered sets being arranged according to the sum of the number of first and second computed signals of said first type; a second series of solutions comprising a plurality of second ordered sets, said second ordered sets being arranged according to the sum of the number of first and second computed signals of said second type; a third series of solutions comprising a plurality of third ordered sets, said third ordered sets being arranged according to the sum of first and second computed signals of all of said types; and a display means for presenting said results.