Election Security Research Articles

Blockchain for securing electronic voting systems: a survey of architectures, trends, solutions, and challenges

AbstractElectronic voting (e-voting) systems are gaining increasing attention as a means to modernize electoral processes, enhance transparency, and boost voters’ participation. In recent years, significant developments have occurred in the study of e-voting and blockchain technology systems, hence reshaping many electoral systems globally. For example, real-world implementations of blockchain-based e-voting have been explored in various countries, such as Estonia and Switzerland, which demonstrates the potential of blockchain to enhance the security and transparency of elections. Thus, in this paper, we present a survey of the latest trends in the development of e-voting systems, focusing on the integration of blockchain technology as a promising solution to address various concerns in e-voting, including security, transparency, auditability, and voting integrity. This survey is important because existing survey articles do not cover the latest advancements in blockchain technology for e-voting, particularly as it relates to architecture, global trends, and current concerns in the developmental process. Thus, we address this gap by providing an encompassing overview of architectures, developments, concerns, and solutions in e-voting systems based on the use of blockchain technology. Specifically, a concise summary of the information necessary for implementing blockchain-based e-voting solutions is provided. Furthermore, we discuss recent advances in blockchain systems, which aim to enhance scalability and performance in large-scale voting scenarios. We also highlight the fact that the implementation of blockchain-based e-voting systems faces challenges, including cybersecurity risks, resource intensity, and the need for robust infrastructure, which must be addressed to ensure the scalability and reliability of these systems. This survey also points to the ongoing development in the field, highlighting future research directions such as improving the efficiency of blockchain algorithms and integrating advanced cryptographic techniques to further enhance security and trust in e-voting systems. Hence, by analyzing the current state of e-voting systems and blockchain technology, insights have been provided into the opportunities and challenges in the field with opportunities for future research and development efforts aimed at creating more secure, transparent, and inclusive electoral processes.

An information-theoretic analysis of security behavior intentions amongst United States poll workers.

In light of recent events related to national elections in the United States, safeguarding the security and integrity of forthcoming elections stands as a critical national priority. Elections equipment in the United States constitutes critical national infrastructure, and its operation relies on poll workers, who are trusted insiders. However, those insiders may pose risks if they make mistakes with detrimental consequences or act with malice. This research analyzes a large dataset of 2213 responses obtained from a survey of poll workers and potential poll workers in 13 states. The survey includes the Security Behavior Intentions Scale, which has been previously established and validated in the security literature. We use the responses to assess poll workers' intentions of complying with established security-related practices. We develop a novel model using information theory to examine potential weaknesses in security behaviors and identify poll worker security practices to improve to ensure the integrity of our elections. We also recommend action items and countermeasures for states and localities based upon this empirical analysis.

Improving the Security of United States Elections with Robust Optimization

The preservation of democracy hinges on the reality and perception that votes in elections are counted properly. In the paper “Improving the Security of United States Elections with Robust Optimization,” Crimmins, Halderman, and Sturt provide a low-cost approach to reducing the security risks of voting machines that are used to scan ballots and count votes. Their approach consists of applying robust optimization to a century-old testing procedure called logic and accuracy testing (LAT), which is performed by election officials on each voting machine before each election. The authors show that their robust optimization approach is guaranteed to detect any misconfiguration of voting machines that would cause votes to be swapped across candidates. Applying their approach to Michigan’s November 2022 election, the authors show that their approach to LAT would have only required a 1.2% increase in cost to election officials compared with current practice. Their approach, which is forthcoming in the Societal Impact section, has been successfully piloted in real-world elections by the Michigan Bureau of Elections since Summer 2023 as a cost-efficient way to enhance election security and public trust in election outcomes.

BLOCKCHAIN-POWERED VOTING: ENHANCING SECURITY, TRANSPARENCY, AND ACCESSIBILITY IN DIGITAL DEMOCRACY

Election officials encounter a range of challenges during electoral processes, notably issues like inaccurate vote confirmation and instances of unauthorized voting. To tackle these challenges, we introduce a cutting-edge online voting system that enhances the efficiency and security of elections. This autonomous system employs a camera to capture the images of voters, which are subsequently stored in a secure database. Utilizing Blockchain technology and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), the captured images are analyzed to facilitate accurate voter identification. The CNN is trained on a diverse dataset of labeled images to ensure high prediction accuracy. Furthermore, our system integrates a dual-factor authentication approach, combining facial recognition with Email One-Time Password (OTP) verification to confirm the identities of voters. This innovative methodology aims to bolster the integrity and trustworthiness of online voting mechanisms, paving the way for a more transparent and inclusive digital democratic process.

Post-truth Era of Political Marketing: Manipulation Techniques and Their Impact on Public Opinion and Electoral Integrity in the USA

The study focused on the phenomenon of political marketing, political communication, and their application in world politics during the post-truth era with an emphasis on the territory of the United States of America. The aim of the study was to identify several aspects of these disciplines during the dynamic technological progress which makes it possible to develop misleading manipulative techniques and spread disinformation. The emerging issues of the current state of the online sphere such as abuse of personal data for one's own political gain, dissemination of false news that radicalizes the public and threats to the security of free and fair elections and a democracy relate to other concerns such as a polarized society and electoral integrity. Politics has always been, and will continue to be, an infinite number of shades of grey. Absolute honesty and elimination of negative advertising or propaganda is neither realistic nor desirable, though we consider it important to strive for more ethical election campaigns. The conclusion of this article can be applied to other studies that will continue the research on the given topic and will respond to the current challenges of democracy.

Improving Election Integrity: Blockchain and Byzantine Generals Problem Theory in Vote Systems

In the digital age, maintaining election integrity is critical, especially in Africa, where the security of electronic elections is often questioned. This study presents a blockchain-based vote counting and validation (BBVV) system developed using a mixed methods approach that combines stakeholder questionnaires to capture system specification and randomized historical election data analysis, following the Design Science Research strategy. Using the theory of the Byzantine General Problem, the BBVV protocol is proposed, which provides an accurate local count of votes at polling stations before national aggregation. The system was tested with randomized historical election data on the Algorand blockchain TestNet and confirmed that a local consensus on the vote count could be reached before it is added to the national tally on the blockchain. Our results show that in the cases where consensus was reached, this was the instance in only about 5% of the voting scenarios, with only 10% of the total vote being considered valid due to the strict consensus requirements. In addition, significant discrepancies were found between officials, with no consensus reached in 95% of cases which was due to the rogue values generated by a randomized dataset. The performance of the BBVV system was evaluated using transaction metrics, saturation, throughput, traffic, and latency to assess its efficiency, scalability, and reliability. The results suggest that blockchain technology can significantly improve the integrity of elections by ensuring a transparent, secure, and accurate vote-counting process. Future work will focus on improving the adaptability and scalability of the BBVV system for different electoral situations.

Votes Can Be Confidently Bought in Some Ranked Ballot Elections, and What to Do about It

AbstractWe show that, in some ranked ballot elections, it may be possible to violate the secret vote. There are so many ways to rank even a handful of candidates that many possible rankings might not be cast by any voter. So, a vote buyer could pay someone to rank the candidates a certain way and then use the announced election results to verify that the voter followed through. We examine the feasibility of this attack both theoretically and empirically, focusing on instant runoff voting (IRV). Although many IRV elections have few enough candidates that this scheme is not feasible, we use data from San Francisco and a proposed election rule change in Oakland to show that some important IRV elections can have large numbers of unused rankings. There is no evidence that this vote-buying scheme has ever been used. However, its existence has implications for the administration and security of IRV elections. This scheme is more feasible when more candidates can be ranked in the election and when the election results report all the ways that candidates were ranked.

Hacker Attacks on Electronic Election and Vote Counting Systems: Estimation of Damages and Methods of Protection

The purpose of this study is to find the most effective and cost-efficient ways to improve the security and stability of electronic election and vote counting systems, as well as to identify the main targets of intruders and vulnerabilities of the system to prevent possible attacks. This paper describes the main types and of hacker attacks and their mechanism, assesses the consequences of damage to the structures of electronic elections in the United States, France, Germany, Northern Macedonia, and Indonesia. The vulnerabilities of electronic election systems were investigated and the technology for their detection during development and testing was provided. Recommendations were given on the implementation of preventive work to reduce the risks of hacker attacks. The study explained the motives of the crimes committed in the cyberspace of electronic election systems.

Improving Security on Election Results Data Transmission via Cloud Using Hybrid Homomorphic Encryption

Elections in recent years have become topical issues and characterized by violence and conflicts leading to loss of lives and properties. The integrity and confidentiality of the declared collated results have been questioned by individuals and organisations with keen interest in the outcomes of every election. Different countries have adopted different Election Results Management Systems (RMS) to help present a credible, fair and transparent election results. These systems adopted are not without criticisms and suspicions. This research paper has presented various factors that need to be considered when selecting a Results Management System (RMS) for elections. A cloud-based using a Hybrid homomorphic encryption approach is proposed in managing the election results data security and transmission. The proposed scheme has demonstrated effectiveness in handling data integrity, data confidentiality, data privacy and access control. The proposed scheme presented has enhanced the security of election results data against Chosen Ciphetext Attacks (CCA) and Denial of Service (DoS) as well as other cyber related attacks. The time required for the entire election data encryption, transmission, decryption, upload time and download time has been greatly enhanced with the proposed system. The proposed system workflow algorithm, key generation algorithm, encryption algorithm and decryption have been presented in this research paper. The outcome of the research work indicates that only 0.00078 seconds is required to generate keys for about 100 users. About 0.705 seconds and 0.863 seconds is required for the encryption and decryption of a 500MB election results data. It was observed that the overall election results data transmission time is about 51.779 seconds which is less than one minute (60 seconds) for about 500MB data size of the election results data. This paper makes a case for the adoption and implementation of the proposed system since it performs better in terms of securing the election results data and transmission time in the cloud environment.

Securing Elections, Securing Confidence? Perceptions of Election Security Policies, Election Related Fraud Beliefs, and Voter Confidence in the United States

Securing Elections, Securing Confidence? Perceptions of Election Security Policies, Election Related Fraud Beliefs, and Voter Confidence in the United States

Design and Implementation of a Secured, Real-Time Internet-based Voting System

The Internet of Voting system presented in this paper represents a modern solution to the challenges faced by the traditional electoral processes. In an era characterized by technological advancements, this system harnesses digital innovation to enhance the efficiency, security, and accessibility of elections. Evolving from a rich history of voting systems, this digital platform integrates several influential works and leverages cutting-edge technology to create a user-friendly interface with robust security measures. The system addresses critical issues that have plagued traditional paper and electronic ballots, such as voter confusion and fraud, by implementing stringent encryption techniques, password renewal mechanisms, and real-time prevention of duplicated votes. It enables the elimination of multiple registrations, streamlining the voter registration process. Online voting systems have gained prominence as a means of conducting elections efficiently, reducing logistical challenges, and increasing voter accessibility. The system offers three distinct categories for voting: Regional Elections, Local Elections, and Presidential Elections, each with its own set of independent candidates.

Ballots and Padlocks: Building Digital Trust and Security in Democracy through Information Governance Strategies and Blockchain Technologies

This research explores the integration of Information Governance (IG) strategies and Blockchain Technologies (BT) in enhancing digital trust and security within democratic processes. Amid concerns about the integrity and vulnerability of electoral systems in the digital era, this study examines how these technologies can collectively safeguard democracy. Utilizing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), bootstrapping analysis for mediation effects, and the Fornell-Larcker Criterion for discriminant validity, the analysis was conducted on data from 934 participants involved in the electoral process. Key findings demonstrate that IG strategies significantly impact digital trust, indicating the importance of robust data management, legal compliance, and privacy measures for public confidence in electoral systems. Blockchain Technologies positively affect the security of democratic processes due to their decentralized and immutable characteristics. Furthermore, digital trust is identified as a critical mediator between IG strategies, BT, and the security of democratic processes, highlighting the importance of trust in the effectiveness of these technologies. Based on the insights gained, three actionable recommendations are proposed: Electoral authorities should adopt comprehensive IG frameworks to enhance data integrity and transparency; Pilot blockchain projects should be expanded to refine and understand the broader implementation implications for election security; Efforts should be increased to foster digital literacy and trust among the electorate, emphasizing the role of these technologies in securing electoral integrity.

Deterrence and Foreign Election Intervention: Securing Democracy through Punishment, Denial, and Delegitimization

AbstractDemocratic elections are under threat from foreign interference. Democracies around the world are experimenting with a range of responses, from threatening potential interveners with a variety of retaliatory punishments to bolstering election security, scrutiny, and counter-interference operations, and leveraging multilateral institutions to reinforce norms of behavior and rules of engagement. At their root, many of these approaches are anchored to the logic of deterrence, compellence, and denial. Surprisingly, however, scholars and practitioners have paid scant attention to how contemporary approaches to countering foreign election intervention (FEI) fit within the larger framework of deterrence theory and practice. Our article reframes existing contemporary responses to FEI within the unifying context of fifth-wave deterrence scholarship, an emerging subtext of research on coercion with a penchant for all-domain observations, interdisciplinarity, and sub-threshold challenges that bridge the divide between national security and public safety. By exploring FEI within the context of contemporary deterrence, we sharpen our collective understanding of the phenomena and how best to respond. Our analysis encourages a more nuanced understanding of adversaries’ cost–benefit calculations in deciding whether, when and how to intervene in elections, and, crucially, helps identify the tools, technologies, infrastructures, and processes needed to manipulate an adversary's calculus and preferences. In doing so, we gain a better sense of the conditions under which states can deter FEI all the while securing national elections.

Penerapan Sistem E-Voting Dalam Pemilihan Kepala Desa Lito Kecamatan Paguyaman Pantai Kabupaten Boalemo Tahun 2019

<p>This research aims to discuss the application of the e-voting system in the election of the head of Lito village, Paguyaman Pantai District, Boalemo Regency in 2019. In this research the researcher used a qualitative method with a descriptive approach, where what was obtained was in accordance with the conditions that occurred in the field. or the data obtained is in accordance with what the community feels in selecting village heads using the e-voting system, data obtained through observation and direct interviews with informants for the sake of data accuracy in research. The object of this research is to measure the success of the e-voting system in the election of village heads, thus in the election of village heads through the e-voting system it has been running well, this can be seen from the high level of community participation in giving their voting rights. The factors that influence the implementation of the e-voting system are due to the lack of information from the implementing committee, so there are still many people who are not confident about the security of elections using the e-voting system. The conclusion in this research is that the implementation of the e-voting system in village head elections has gone well, while the influencing factor is a lack of information, so in the future socialization to the community must be intense so that the community believes in the level of security of the e-voting system.</p>

Ecowas Election Monitoring and Challenges of Election Security Management in Nigeria - A Post Analysis

Elections in Nigeria are becoming a recurring democratic norm and need to be sustained by every stakeholder in the democratic enterprise. However, the political system is not without insurmountable challenges, as national and regional efforts through the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS seeks to deepen and consolidate Nigeria’s fragile democracy through participatory observer missions at elections. There are pockets of electoral security challenges and calls for synergy between the Nigerian government and respective institutions to deploy more funding and logistics for smooth elections and respect for electoral guidelines by political parties. A post-analysis study of this research shows that Nigeria’s elections are flawed with tampering, violence, vote buying, rigging, manipulation and abuse of voter register and registration process. The study further focused on the challenges of election monitoring by the sub-regional organization and election security management in light of Nigeria’s elections. The study concludes by highlighting key issues that must be addressed to avert electoral security challenges.

Actors and Networks Embedded in Political Vigilante Groups in Ghana

Abstract The rise of political vigilante groups threatens democratic consolidation, peace and security of elections and national cohesion in Ghana. These vigilante groups, networked and sometimes formed by political party leaders, are mainly used for party election-related activities that go beyond ensuring success for their political party in elections to include protection for party officials and performing law enforcement functions. However, these groups and their activities are not just carried out in isolation, but done through social networks with various actors. This paper examines the actors and social networks embedded in political vigilantism in Ghana. The paper employed interviews and Social Network Analysis (SNA). The study established that vigilante groups and their activities were embedded in youth groups, political parties as well as ethnic networks. Additionally, financial networks were key in both the formation and the operations of vigilante groups. Politicians, businessmen and chiefs exert influence and power on vigilante groups. The sociographs also confirmed that the most influential in vigilante group activities were political leaders.

Redefining “No Evidence of a Breach” in Election Security

For legal purposes, we rightly understand the lack of evidence to mean a lack of existence. For example, many candidates in the 2022 elections baselessly claimed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. But, absent evidence of systemic fraud, the law correctly determines that President Biden was duly elected. If the law entertained any outlandish assertion regardless of evidentiary support, accusers could peddle whatever claims they please, forcing the accused to disprove them. Similar to the legal understanding of “no evidence,” many appear to believe that no evidence of a security breach in our voting equipment indicates no breach. For example, in the run-up to the 2022 elections, Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “spent months voicing skepticism that . . . a security breach ever occurred” in Coffee County’s voting machines, arguing that “[t]here’s no evidence of any of that” and therefore that “[i]t didn’t happen.” A lack of evidence is rightly equivalent to a lack of existence, for legal purposes. But, for security purposes, no evidence of a breach does not necessarily mean no breach because security breaches can occur without the target’s knowledge. Indeed, the more competent the infiltrators are, the more likely they are to commit breaches undetected. The Allies taught the world this lesson in World War II, when they infiltrated the encrypted communications of the Axis powers without being exposed. To this day, it remains an axiomatic rule of cyber security practice that one should never interpret the lack of evidence of a security breach to mean no breach. Shortly after Raffensperger claimed that a breach did not happen because there was no evidence, it was revealed that voting machines in Coffee County had been breached. This Article calls for a bifurcated understanding of “no evidence of a breach” in the context of elections. For election fraud claims, we should continue to take no evidence to mean no fraud. But for evaluating the security of our election infrastructure, officials and legal scholars must understand that a breach can still occur despite the lack of evidence of a breach. I argue that the widespread conflation of no evidence of a breach and no breach is a frequently overlooked obstacle to election security reform. If one interprets no evidence of a breach as no breach, both the public and the politicians who represent them can rationalize not spending money on updating voting equipment as long as there is no definitive evidence that it was breached. Persuading the public of the fact that security breaches can occur despite the lack of evidence, while also showing why no evidence must still be interpreted as no existence for legal purposes, is a critical challenge that scholars must meet in order to effect meaningful election security reform.

Electoral Crisis Communications: Combatting Disinformation & the Contest for Electoral Legitimacy

In the age of weaponized disinformation, the question for democracies is not merely who will win an election, but whether the outcome will be accepted as legitimate. To assess the challenge faced by U.S. electoral officials in convincing the public of the security of election procedure we conducted a survey experiment on a national sample of 4987 U.S. adults in the lead-up to the 2020 election. Subjects were exposed to claims about voter fraud as well as crisis communication counter-messaging attributed to election officials. We find that regardless of the messaging strategy, subjects were unmoved by the counter-messaging with partisanship being a clear predictor of increased skepticism towards election security. Our findings illustrate the difficulties election officials face in convincing the publics about election legitimacy and highlight the systemic dangers posed by electoral disinformation.

Biometric based Mobile Voting Application

With a population of more than one billion, India is the largest democracy in the world. Its electorate is more than 668 million people and includes 543 congressional districts. Each Indian citizen above 18 years of age is entitled to vote in elections to choose their leaders. The traditional method of voting involved paper ballot voting and at present Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) are employed. The goal of the mobile voting system research is to create a software that makes voting simple in all elections. This system aims to increase election security by using a fingerprint recognition algorithm for voter identity authentication. This allows all eligible voters to participate in the election from any place. There are some circumstances like COVID epidemic where a physical election is not feasible, and this model overcomes it. It helps to provide reliable, timely, and accurate election results. Voter ID, Aadhar ID and biometric system (fingerprint) are used by the website for user login.

Perceived problems associated with implementing proposal 3 election reforms in Michigan: A critical analysis of the opinions of LEOs

ABSTRACT The present study was designed to examine LEOs perceived problems associated with implementing Michigan's Proposal 3 electoral reforms. More specifically, the effect of LEOs party affiliation on the perceived problems associated with early voter registration by mail, same-day voter registration/automatic voting, and no-excuse absentee voting in Michigan by analyzing the responses of 1342 LEOs. The results reveal that the party affiliation of LEOs has no influence on the perceived problems associated with implementing Proposal 3 electoral reforms in Michigan. Additionally, it was revealed that long waiting times, inaccurate voter lists, poll worker error, government support to improve election security, and the size of the population were significant predictors. These results provides support for the rational and institutional perspective on explaining electoral reforms. A detailed discussion of the results, direction for future studies, and limitations was done. Overall, the current study has enormous theoretical and practical significance.