The USPTO seems to feel it is innovative to put voter data in a database, then display a summary of it to a user. Some Minnesota Republicans have a patent on voter files.

For you patent lawyers out there: is it commonplace to use language like "The array of operand manipulative cells electronically communicate with the database and are operable to produce a subset of synthesized voter data compiled on a second level that is derived from the vote data points compiled on the first level", which as far as I can tell means "the computer shows the user a summary of the data"? Or is this a tricky way to try to make something simple seem complicated so the patent examiners think it's non-obvious? (Or both?)