Analysis of an Electronic Voting System

This teaching case discusses the analysis of an electronic voting system. The development of the case was motivated by research into information security and management, but as it includes procedural aspects, organizational structure and personnel, it is a suitable basis for all aspects of systems analysis, planning and design tasks. The material is based on real life analysis of currently used electronic voting systems, which have been generalized so as to highlight the wider issues and to not identify with any particular implementation of electronic voting. Suggested project deliverables are described in the teaching case, and these are complemented by the associated teaching notes which detail sample solutions and discussion points for class

Teaching case: Analysis of an electronic voting system

This teaching case discusses the analysis of an electronic voting system. The development of the case was motivated by research into information security and management, but as it includes procedural aspects, organizational structure and personnel, it is a suitable basis for all aspects of systems analysis, planning and design tasks. The material is based on real life analysis of currently used electronic voting systems, which have been generalized so as to highlight the wider issues and to not identify with any particular implementation of electronic voting. Suggested project deliverables are described in the teaching case, and these are complemented by the associated teaching notes which detail sample solutions and discussion points for class

Open Source and Electronic Voting: A New Strategy Toward Technical Procurement for Voting Systems

Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems (DRE) are some of the most popular forms of electronic voting and yet they are riddled with problems. Current voting systems are poorly designed and migration to newer software can be costly. Inadequate software solutions in voting systems have led to security flaws, bad tabulation, and partisan software design. As government proceeds into an increasingly sophisticated era of voting technology, it needs to consider a better platform. This thesis explores the government procurement strategy associated with modern Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems. The thesis argues that governments should adopt an open source solution (OSS) for future IT acquisition of voting systems. Adopting an open source solution not only provides practical advantages such as better software design, cheaper implementation, and avoidance of vendor lock-in, but also proposes that OSS provides a strong foundation for future IT policy. Open source’s strength in transparency provides a key factor in voting system design. The thesis recommends that governments adopt a four part strategy for future OSS adoption with voting system. 1) Approve an independent, pro-OSS certification organization that works closely with the U.S Election Assistance Commission, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and other system organizations to create the optimal voting systems guidelines. 2) Update FAR requirements to greater accommodate open source procurement policy. 3) Assist local and state jurisdictions to acquire OSS for DRE machines. 4) Promote open source business strategy by hiring vendors for system integration and analysis This thesis contends that these four policies will improve the electronic voting experience and allow for better future innovation and adoption IT strategies

Making a Case for e-Voting in Nigeria

The challenge of developing an acceptable voting system that can reduce the manipulation and falsification of election results has been a major issue in Nigeria over the decades. The consequences of the perception of voting fraud have led to social upheavals with negative implication for the polity. Post election experiences, such as eruption of violence, prolonged litigation and sometimes culminating in the collapse of the democratic experiment, have informed the muting of ideas to create a leak prove voting system to surmount the challenges of electoral manipulation. The open ballot system was adopted in the Third Republic to reduce incidences of election rigging associated with the secret ballot system which was in use before then. This was modified and used to conduct the aborted 1993 presidential election in Nigeria. Though most analysts saw the modified system as an improvement over the voting systems previously used in the country, the secret ballot system re-emerged in the Fourth Republic and for fifteen years has been in use with its attendant fraud-prone shortcomings. Calls for improvement informed the recommendation by the Uwaise Commission and the National Conference for adoption of electronic voting system. This paper employs secondary sources and descriptive analysis in the gathering and analysis of data respectively. Findings reveal the unsuitability for the Nigerian political environment, of the various voting systems adopted in the country, particularly, the secret and the open ballot system. It therefore advocates a faithful application of the system of electronic voting which has been found capable of eliminating the flaws of traditional voting system and enhancing the credibility of election results in the country

Digital Voting Process via Block Chain Technology

Electronic voting is growing in popularity in today's culture. It has the ability to reduce administrative expenses and boost participation in the electoral process. Voters can cast their ballots from any location with an Internet connection, doing away with the necessity for paper ballots and polling places. Regardless of their merits, online voting solutions are seen with skepticism due to the fact that they present novel security risks. Vote rigging on a massive scale is possible due to a single vulnerability. When used for elections, electronic voting systems must be reliable and secure. However, problems with computerized voting systems may slow their widespread adoption. Electronic voting systems are being developed using blockchain technology due to the end-to-end verification benefits it provides. Electronic voting systems that lack the distributed, non-repudiation, and security features of this technology are missing out. A summary of blockchain-based electronic voting methods is provided here. The primary purpose of this analysis was to look at where things stand with blockchain-based voting research and online voting systems, as well as any problems with foreseeing their future that may exist. This serves as both a conceptual overview of the planned blockchain-based electronic voting application and an introduction to the blockchain's core structure and properties as they pertain to electronic voting. Several of the problems that currently afflict election systems may be solvable with the help of blockchain technologies, it has been found. Yet, concerns about privacy and transaction speed frequently come up when discussing the use of blockchain technology in practical contexts. Secure remote voting is essential for a scalable blockchain-based electronic voting system, and fast transactions are necessary for widespread adoption

The Machinery of Democracy: Voting System Security, Accessibility, Usability, and Cost

This report is the final product of the first comprehensive, empirical analysis of electronic voting systems in the United States. It comes after nearly two years of study with many of the nations leading academics, election officials, economists, and security, usability and accessibility experts.Up until this point, there has been surprisingly little empirical study of voting systems in the areas of security, accessibility, usability, and cost. The result is that jurisdictions make purchasing decisions and adopt laws and procedures that have little to do with their overall goals.The Brennan Center analysis finds that there is not yet any perfect voting system or set of procedures. One system might be more affordable, but less accessible to members of the disabled community; certain election procedures might make the systems easier to use, but they compromise security. Election officials and community members should be aware of the trade-offs when choosing one voting system or set of procedures over another, and they should know how to improve the system they choose.Included in this full report is an executive summary of the Brennan Centers analysis of voting system security, voting system usability, as well as voting system accessibility and cost.The Brennan Center analysis of cost is in part based upon a review of voting system contracts provided by jurisdictions around the country and a cost calculator [no longer available]. The cost calculator and contracts should assist jurisdictions in determining the initial on ongoing costs of various voting systems

Analysis Of Electronic Voting Schemes In The Real World

Voting is at the heart of a country’s democracy. Assurance in the integrity of the electoral process is pivotal for voters to have any trust in the system. Often, electronic voting schemes proposed in the literature, or even implemented in real world elections do not always consider all issues that may exist in the environment in which they might be deployed. In this paper, we identify some real - world issues and threats to electronic voting schemes. We then use the threats we have identified to present an analysis of schemes recently used in Australia and Estonia and present recommendations to mitigate threats to such schemes when deployed in an untrustworthy environment

An Epistemic Approach to Coercion-Resistance for Electronic Voting Protocols

Coercion resistance is an important and one of the most intricate security requirements of electronic voting protocols. Several definitions of coercion resistance have been proposed in the literature, including definitions based on symbolic models. However, existing definitions in such models are rather restricted in their scope and quite complex. In this paper, we therefore propose a new definition of coercion resistance in a symbolic setting, based on an epistemic approach. Our definition is relatively simple and intuitive. It allows for a fine-grained formulation of coercion resistance and can be stated independently of a specific, symbolic protocol and adversary model. As a proof of concept, we apply our definition to three voting protocols. In particular, we carry out the first rigorous analysis of the recently proposed Civitas system. We precisely identify those conditions under which this system guarantees coercion resistance or fails to be coercion resistant. We also analyze protocols proposed by Lee et al. and Okamoto.Comment: An extended version of a paper from IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P) 200