Aportaciones del Proyecto Votescript a los Esquemas Tradicionales de Voto Electrónico.

This paper hallmarks the most relevant contributions carried out by the authors in the VOTESCRIPT project (TIC2000-1630-C02). The main goal of this project was the analysis, definition and implementation of a system which copes with every phases and elements existing in a process of electronic voting using computer networks. A summary of the main criticisms of electronic voting is presented to disclose that the most relevant voting schemes only take into account a technological perspective, just trying to imitate the conventional voting schemes. Nevertheless in these proposals important aspects such individual and global verification are not properly undertaken. The paper includes the proposed solutions of the project to solve these mentioned problems

Planteamientos sobre Sistemas de Voto y Democracia Electrónica.

This paper present a preliminary analysis of electronic voting schemes and the requirements of Electronic Democracy as a part of the work carried out by the authors in the VOTESCRIPT project (TIC2000-1630-C02). A summary of the most relevant experiences on this field are discussed and a basic classification of them is pointed out, according to different degrees on process computerization. As it is shown, most of them only take into account a technological perspective, just trying to imitate the conventional voting schemes. A citizen-base bottom-up perspective is proposed to analyze the implementation of electronic voting systems in order to avoid citizen rejection. The paper also hallmarks the new technical possibilities created to be applied to the development of citizen?s right realm. Further than conventional voting schemes, the paper proposes the use of advanced security services to extend conceptualization of Electronic Democracy in which citizens have a key role on decision making processes

Propuesta de arquitectura para una plataforma telemática de Democracia Digital

En los últimos años los sistemas de Democracia Digital se vislumbran como aquellos que pueden proporcionar un cauce de participación ciudadana para la toma de decisiones mediante el empleo de plataformas telemáticas. Estas plataformas permitirían a los ciudadanos participar en debates y expresar su opinión sobre los temas que les atañen, con el objetivo de que puedan influir en la decisión final adoptada. En este artículo se presenta una propuesta de plataforma de Democracia Digital configurable y extensible para permitir su empleo en distintos escenarios de participación ciudadana a través de Internet. Se presenta una visión arquitectural de los elementos que componen la plataforma, identificando qué servicios deberían ser proporcionados intrínsecamente por cualquier plataforma de Democracia Digital y cuales podrían ser proporcionados por proveedores externos. Por último se plantea un posible entorno de implementación y uso de la plataforma propuesta

Use of Java Cards in a telematic voting system.

This paper presents a general view of the telematic voting system developed by its authors, with a special emphasis on the important role that smart cards play in this scenario. The use of smart cards as basic pieces for providing secure cryptographic operations in this type of voting scheme is justified. The differences and advantages of Java Cards in comparison with the ?classical? smart cards (those that completely conform to the ISO/IEC 7816 standard) are also discussed. As an example, the paper describes one of the applets implemented in the voting Java Card as part of the general telematic voting application

Diseño de un sistema avanzado de democracia digital garante de la libertad de expresión

En este artículo se presenta el diseño de un sistema avanzado de democracia digital, con énfasis en la protección a la libertad de expresión de los ciudadanos, ofrecida mediante el empleo de tarjetas inteligentes y mecanismos avanzados de seguridad. Se regulan los procedimientos de obtención de alias para conseguir la participación anónima de quien lo desee, garantizando que con su uso se oculta la identidad real del usuario (incluso al propio sistema), asegurando, en todos los casos, que únicamente las personas autorizadas pueden participar en el foro correspondiente y proporcionando garantía de integridad de la información, tanto en tránsito como almacenada. Asimismo, los ciudadanos disponen de pruebas criptográficas robustas que les permiten evidenciar cualquier funcionamiento anómalo del sistema que pudiera desembocar en la destrucción o modificación de opiniones y en la consiguiente alteración de las conclusiones o resultados de la participación

Votación electrónica basada en criptografía avanzada (Proyecto VOTESCRIPT).

Esta ponencia presenta un visión global de un esquema de voto electrónico desarrollado dentro del proyecto VOTESCRIPT, auspiciado por el ministerio español de Ciencia y Tecnología (TIC2000-1630-C02). En primer lugar se realiza una tipificación de los sistemas que pueden considerarse de votación electrónica, para analizar, a continuación, los sistemas más relevantes que se apoyan en criptografía avanzada y redes telemáticas. Se comenta el proceso de investigación multidisciplinar seguido para la determinación de los requisitos que debe cumplir el sistema de votación y se describe, de forma somera, las principales características del sistema desarrollado y su comportamiento global

VOTESCRIPT: Telematic voting system designed to enable final count verification

In this paper we present a global description of a telematic voting system based on advanced cryptography and on the use of smart cards (VOTESCRIPT system) whose most outstanding characteristic is the ability to verify that the tally carried out by the system is correct, meaning that the results published by the system correspond with votes cast. The VOTESCRIPT system provides an individual verification mechanism allowing each Voter to confirm whether his vote has been correctly counted. The innovation with respect to other solutions lies in the fact that the verification process is private so that Voters have no way of proving what they voted in the presence of a non-authorized third party. Vote buying and selling or any other kind of extortion are prevented. The existence of the Intervention Systems allows the whole electoral process to be controlled by groups of citizens or authorized candidatures. In addition to this the system can simply make an audit not only of the final results, but also of the whole process. Global verification provides the Scrutineers with robust cryptographic evidence which enables unequivocal proof if the system has operated in a fraudulent way

Design of an Advanced Platform for Citizen Participation Committed to Ensuring Freedom of Speech

This paper presents a proposal for an advanced system of debate in an environment of digital democracy which overcomes the limitations of existing systems. We have been especially careful in applying security procedures in telematic systems, for they are to offer citizens the guarantees that society demands. New functional tools have been included to ensure user authentication and to permit anonymous participation where the system is unable to disclose or even to know the identity of system users. The platform prevents participation by non-entitled persons who do not belong to the authorized group from giving their opinion. Furthermore, this proposal allows for verifying the proper function of the system, free of tampering or fraud intended to alter the conclusions or outcomes of participation. All these tools guarantee important aspects of both a social and technical nature, most importantly: freedom of expression, equality and auditability

Fossil Fuel Price Shocks and CO2 Emissions: The Case of Spain

This paper focuses on the impact of oil, natural gas and coal price shocks on the Spanish business cycle from 1969 to 2013. It uses Bayesian procedures to estimate a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model for a small open economy. The paper shows that natural gas and coal shocks are relevant sources of macroeconomic disruption in addition to oil price shocks. The three fossil fuel prices have an impact on the economic activity and explain the evolution of the energy mix. However, we find that oil price shocks have a significantly larger impact on economic volatility. Finally, we assess the impact of hydrocarbon price shocks on carbon emissions given that different price shocks result in a different fossil fuel mix and, thus, in different CO2 emissions

Effect of disinfectants used in clinical facilities on the induction of the SOS response and mutation frequency in Escherichia coli

Motivation: The development of antibiotic resistance is one of the mechanism used to study adaptive evolution. Antibiotics not only select for preexisting resistant strains in a population, but they can also promote the appearance of resistant strains (1, 2). Antibiotics at high concentrations can be lethal to bacteria, but it has been shown that sub-inhibitory concentrations of some antibiotics can stimulate horizontal transfer of DNA and mutation in different chromosomal loci (1, 3). These antibiotics can increase the mutation rate through several mechanisms, such as oxidative stress and the SOS response, which is triggered by DNA damage (2, 3). In this context, we wanted to determine if commonly-used disinfectants also promote mutation. Methods: The disinfectants used were ethanol, sodium hypochlorite, chlorhexidine, silver nitrate, benzalkonium chloride, triclosan and povidone-iodine complex. The E.coli strain used was IBDS1, which includes a tetracycline gene regulated by the cI (Ind-) repressor gene, that allows us to measure the mutation rate.To study the effect of these disinfectants, the strain IBDS1 was tested with a window of concentrations very close to the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) by evaluating the appearance of mutants resistant to rifampicin or tetracycline (3). To determine if this effect could be linked to the induction of the SOS system, we used a plasmid which expresses the "Green Fluorescence Protein" (GFP) under the control of the promoter of the recA gene to detect when the SOS system is activated by measuring fluorescence.Results: Three of the disinfectants tested increased mutation frequency. Concentrations of 0.013 μg/ml and 0.026 μg/ml of NaClO (1/4x CMI y 1/2x MIC) increased the mutation frequency approximatly 4 fold and 0.5 μg/ml of clorhexidine (1/4x MIC) and 0.125 μg/ml of triclosan (1/4x MIC) 3 fold, approximately. In relation to the SOS system, none of the concentrations tested induced the SOS response. Conclusions: These results show that certain concentrations of sodium hypochlorite, chlorhexidine and triclosan increase the mutation frequency and therefore may facilitate the appearance of resistant strains, although it appears that this mutagenic effect is not related to the induction of the SOS system. Therefore, it would be interesting to study whether this mutagenic effects is due to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by disinfectants.