seminar e-voting complete

8/2/2019 Seminar E-Voting Complete

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2011

Group members

WAGUDI

12/5/2011

E-VOTING SEMINAR DOCUMENT


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1.Electronic Voting (e-voting)1.1 Definition

Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is a term encompassing several different types of

voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic means of counting

votes. Electronic voting technology can include punched optical scan and specialized voting

kiosks (including self-contained direct, or DRE). It can also involve transmission of ballots and

votes via telephones, private computer, or the Internet. In general, two main types of e-Voting

can be identified:

e-voting which is physically supervised by representatives of governmental or independentelectoral authorities (e.g. electronic voting machines located at polling stations);

remote e-Voting where voting is performed within the voter's sole influence, and is notphysically supervised by representatives of governmental authorities (e.g. voting from one's

personal computer, mobile phone, television via the internet (i-voting).

1.2 Overview

Electronic voting systems for electorates have been in use since the 1960s when punched

card systems debuted. Their first widespread use was in the USA where 7 countries switched to

this method for the 1964 presidential election. The newer optical scan voting systems allow a

computer to count a voter's mark on a ballot. DRE voting machines which collect and tabulate

votes in a single machine are used by all voters in all elections in Brazil and India, and also on a

large scale in Venezuela and the United States.

They have been used on a large scale in the Netherlands but have been decommissioned after

public concerns. Internet voting systems have gained popularity and have been used for

government elections and referendums in the United Kingdom, Estonia and Switzerland as wellas municipal elections in Canada and party primary elections in the United States and France.

There are also hybrid systems that include an electronic ballot marking device (usually a

touch screen system similar to a DRE) or other assistive technology to print a voter verified

paper audit trail, and then use a separate machine for electronic tabulation.


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Electronic voting technology can speed the counting of ballots and can provide

improved accessibility for disabled voters. However, there has been contention, especially in

the United States, that electronic voting, especially DRE voting, could facilitate electoral

fraud.

2.Voting Machines2.1 Punched Card

A punched card, punch card, IBM card, or Hollerith card is a piece of stiff paper that

contains digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined

positions. Now an obsolete recording, punched cards were widely used throughout the 19th

century for controlling textile looms and in the late 19th and early 20th century foroperating fairground organs and related instruments. They were used through the 20th century

in unit record machines for input, processing, and data storage. Early digital computers used

punched cards, often prepared using keypunch machines, as the primary medium for input of

both computer programs and data. The punch card system has been extensively used in the USA and

has recently been put under close scrutiny at the Presidential election in Florida. Also Some voting

machines use punched cards.

Figure 1 Punched card of the type most widely used in the 20th century.


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2.2 Optical Scan voting system

An optical scan voting system is an electronic voting system and uses an optical scanner to read

marked paper ballots and tally the results. An advantage of these systems is that the voters don't

have to learn to use a voting machine. Physically able voters can simply use pen and paper to

mark their intent. Some disabled voters could use a machine to print a voted ballot, which can

then be fed into the optical scanner along with all the other ballots, thus preserving the secrecy of

their ballot.

Optical scan voting systems can allow for manual recounting of ballots. Statistically relevant

recounting can serve as a tool to detect or deter malfunction or fraud. Once an error in the

counting process is suspected a full recount can determine the proper results.

An advantage compared to DRE voting machines is that even if the optical scanner fails, voters

can still fill out their paper ballot, and leave it to be scanned when the machine is fixed or replaced

with a spare.

2.3. Touch screens

This option would involve electors casting their vote using touch screen computers located at

polling places. A computer application would be developed that would enable the voter to cast

their vote by selecting candidates in the order of preference. For example, the first candidate

name touched would be their first preference, the second candidate name touched would be

their second preference, and so forth.

2.4. Paper-based electronic voting system

Sometimes called a "document ballot voting system", paper-based voting systems originated

as a system where votes are cast and counted by hand, using paper ballots. With the adventof electronic tabulation came systems where paper cards or sheets could be marked by hand, but

counted electronically. These systems included punched card voting, mark sense and later digital

pen voting systems.


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Most recently, these systems can include an Electronic Ballot Marker (EBM) that allows

voters to make their selections using an electronic input device, usually a touch screen system

similar to a DRE. Systems including a ballot marking device can incorporate different forms

of assistive technology.

2.5. Direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting system

Figure 2, DRE Electronic voting machine

A direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machine records votes by means of a ballot display

provided with mechanical or electro-optical components that can be activated by the voter

(typically buttons or a touch screen); that processes data with computer software; and that

records voting data and ballot images in memory components. After the election it produces a

tabulation of the voting data stored in a removable memory component and as printed copy. The

system may also provide a means for transmitting individual ballots or vote totals to a central

location for consolidating and reporting results from precincts at the central location. These

systems use a precinct count method that tabulates ballots at the polling place. They typically

tabulate ballots as they are cast and print the results after the close of polling.

2.6. Public network DRE voting system

A public network DRE voting system is an election system that uses electronic ballots and

transmits vote data from the polling place to another location over a public network. Vote data

may be transmitted as individual ballots as they are cast, periodically as batches of ballots

throughout the Election Day, or as one batch at the close of voting. This includes Internet voting

as well as telephone voting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Urna_eletr%C3%B4nica.jpeg


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Public network DRE voting system can utilize either precinct count or central count method. The

central count method tabulates ballots from multiple precincts at a central location. Internet

voting can use remote locations (voting from any Internet capable computer) or can use

traditional polling locations with voting booths consisting of Internet connected voting systems.

3.Analysis of electronic voting

Figure 3, a machine designed specifically to be used by voters with disabilities.

Electronic voting systems may offer advantages compared to other voting techniques. An

electronic voting system can be involved in any one of a number of steps in the setup,

distributing, voting, collecting, and counting of ballots, and thus may or may not introduce

advantages into any of these steps. Potential disadvantages exist as well including the potential

for flaws or weakness in any electronic component.

It has been demonstrated that as voting systems become more complex and include software,

different methods of election fraud become possible. Others also challenge the use of electronic

voting from a theoretical point of view, arguing that humans are not equipped for verifying

operations occurring within an electronic machine and that because people cannot verify these

operations, the operations cannot be trusted. Furthermore, some computing experts have argued

for the broader notion that people cannot trust any programming they did not author.

Under a secret ballot system, there is no known input, nor any expected output with which to

compare electoral results. Hence, electronic electoral results and thus the accuracy, honesty and

security of the entire electronic system cannot be verified by humans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Topvoter2.jpg


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Critics of electronic voting, including security analyst Bruce Schneier, note that "computer

security experts are unanimous on what to do (some voting experts disagree, but it is the

computer security experts who need to be listened to; the problems here are with the computer,

not with the fact that the computer is being used in a voting application)...DRE machines must

have a voter-verifiable paper audit trails... Software used on DRE machines must be open to

public scrutiny to ensure the accuracy of the voting system. Verifiable ballots are necessary

because computers can and do malfunction, and because voting machines can be compromised.

3.1 Electronic ballots

Electronic voting systems may use electronic ballots to store votes in computer memory.

Systems which use them exclusively are called DRE voting systems. When electronic ballots are

used there is no risk of exhausting the supply of ballots. Additionally, these electronic ballots

remove the need for printing of paper ballots, a significant cost. The advantage with respect to

ballots in different languages appears to be unique to electronic voting.

3.2 Accessibility

Figure 4, DRE voting machine with jelly buttons for people with manual dexterity disabilities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jellybuttons.jpg


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Electronic voting machines can be made fully accessible for persons with disabilities.

Punched card and optical scan machines are not fully accessible for the blind or visually

impaired, and lever machines can be difficult for voters with limited mobility and

strength. Electronic machines can use headphones, sip and puff, foot pedals, joy sticks and other

adaptive technology to provide the necessary accessibility.

3.3Cryptographic VerificationElectronic voting systems can offer solutions that allow voters to verify their vote is

recorded and tabulated with mathematical calculations. These systems can alleviate concerns of

incorrectly recorded votes.

One feature to mitigate such concerns could be to allow a voter to prove how they voted,

with some form of electronic receipt, signed by the voting authority using digital signatures. This

feature can conclusively prove the accuracy of the tally, but any verification system that cannot

guarantee the anonymity of voter's choice, can enable voter intimidation or vote selling.

Some cryptographic solutions aim to allow the voter to verify their vote personally, but not to a

third party. One such way would be to provide the voter with a digitally signed receipt of their

vote as well as receipts of other randomly selected votes. This would allow only the voter to

identify their vote, but not be able to prove their vote to anyone else. Furthermore, each vote

could be tagged with a randomly generated voting session id, which would allow the voter tocheck that the vote was recorded correctly in a public audit trail of the ballot. Other Security

voting systems technologies such as antiviral software, firewall, biometrics and smart cards are

used to secure the electronic voting system.

3.4 Voter intent

Electronic voting machines are able to provide immediate feedback to the voter detecting such

possible problems as under voting and over voting which may result in a spoiled ballot. This

immediate feedback can be helpful in successfully determining voter intent.

3.5 Transparency

It has been alleged by groups such as the UK-based Open Rights Groupthat a lack of testing,

inadequate audit procedures, and insufficient attention given to system or process design with

electronic voting leaves "elections open to error and fraud".


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In 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany found that when using voting machines

the "verification of the result must be possible by the citizen reliably and without any specialist

knowledge of the subject." The DRE Nedap-computers used till then did not fulfill that

requirement. The decision did not ban electronic voting as such, but requires all essential steps in

elections to be subject to public examinability.

The Mechanics Of E-voting

All current e-voting machines or DRE systems work in similar fashion. Voters make their ballot

choice using an input device such as a touch screen or keypad and a machine records their votes.

Election officials or polling place workers then transfer the voting record to a central database or

storage system that tabulates the votes. A few DRE models are equipped with a modem or other

data communication device that can transmit the results to the central system.

Some voting machines have an attached printer, which many e-voting experts, most notably

computer scientist Rebecca Mercuri, contend is one of the most vital components of an e-voting

system. "Fully electronic systems do not provide any way that the voter can truly verify that the

ballot cast corresponds to that being recorded, transmitted, or tabulated," according to Mercuri.

With a printer, the machine can document a voters selections on slip of paper resembling a cash

register receipt, which the voter can then view and check for accuracy. The piece of paper, also

known as a voter-verified paper trail (VVPT) or voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT), then

goes into a secure ballot box, used to tally votes in the event that the results from a DRE machine

are determined to be flawed.

4.Challenges of e-votingAn electronic voting system, like other automated information systems, can be judged on

several bases, including how well its design provides for security, accuracy, ease of use, and

efficiency, as well as its cost.

For example, direct recording electronic systems(DRE) offer advantages in ease of use

because they can have features that accommodate voters with various disabilities, and they


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Electronic voting systems are primarily involved in the last two stages, during which

votes are cast and counted. However, the type of system that a jurisdiction uses may affect earlier

stages.

For example, in a jurisdiction that uses optical scan systems, paper ballots like those used

on Election Day may be mailed in the absentee voting stage. On the other hand, a jurisdiction

that uses DRE technology would have to make a different provision for absentee voting.

seminar e-voting complete

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