Remote Voting Research Articles

A Review of Online Voting System Security Based on Cryptography

Due to their tight schedule nobody is going to the polls in these days. There are numerous causes, some need to go to polls, many of us may have to wait for long periods because of their strict schedules. So we created a voting system on the Internet. But there are some disadvantages to this system. Attackers legally receive customer passwords and use secret passwords to major sites. Consider a corporate voting system based on the web, electing a president or secretary or key managers of the organization once a year. This article presents a secure verifiable online voting system, which allows voters to vote secretly in the public system in order to benefit early voting. This article is available in French only. The proposed system is intended to universally support the election process by using the unique identification and biometric features of the elector. We propose a new blind signature system based on identity to ensure the anonymity of voters. We adopt the short signature scheme Bon eh–Lynn–Shacham, which ensures the privacy of the votes of the smallest voting size. A digital witness is provided to a voter by the system to check if the voting is recorded as it intends and to check whether all the registered votes are recorded. Under the well-known elliptic curve of the Diffie - Hellman hypotheses, the privacy of the proposed system is achieved. In the current system, every elector must collect and cast his or her vote at one point on election day. We use an alternative system called cryptography in this method. We use visual information for security in this plan. Here we split the unique image into two, four, placed in separate databases. We get the original picture at any point these two offers are interwoven. It is used as a secret password when we get the original image. This system is very useful and suitable for remote voting online. This system is an electronic system so it is possible to assess it on the web via any valid personal space on the planet.

ТЕХНОЛОГИЯ БЛОКЧЕЙН: НАЧАЛО, НАСТОЯЩЕЕ, БУДУЩЕЕ

Since the beginning of the second decade of the 21 st century, a new blockchain technology (which has not yet been widely used in Russia) has appeared in the world. The paper considers the history of its origin, the stages of implementation, the current state and prospects of development; it gives ex- amples of implementing the technology in the world and in various spheres of the Russian economy including the example of launching a digital platform for knowledge exchange and copyright management for the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia and that of the successful implementation of blockchain technology in Moscow and in a number of regions of the country with electron- ic remote voting during the elections of deputies to the State Duma of the 8 th convocation in September 2021, etc. The article also analyzes the positive dy- namics of the growth in publication activity and citation of Russian researchers in this field of knowledge in 2015–2020. Based on scientometric indicators and using the RSCI system the authors identified promising areas of research for Russian scientists in this subject area among them are legal aspects of the use of smart contracts and blockchain technologies under Russian law; blockchain as a communication basis for the formation of the digital economy: advantages and challenges; approaches to international regulation of cryptocurrencies in certain foreign jurisdictions; cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in the digital economy: the genesis of development; blockchain as a technology for changing existing business models. In conclusion, the paper highlights the main issues that at present slow down the active introduction of blockchain technology in Russia among them an issue of the lack of an appropriate full- fledged legal framework in this area; the lack of a single arbitrator who would be trusted by all users of the technology, etc.

Multifactor authentication technique for a secure electronic voting system

Security of information is an important factor in an electoral process in a country. Recent pervasiveness of digitalisation in every aspect of human endeavour has evolved a drastic change in the voting process of democratic decision making. The shift from the existing conventional voting systems to electronic voting system will enable faster, convenient and more reliable means of franchising citizen's voting rights even in remote voting centres. But the problem of voters' authentication and protection from malicious attacks remains dominant. In this paper, we have used a multi-factor authentication technique using fingerprint biometrics and enhanced cryptographically secured smart card to provide a more secure e-voting system's authentication. The technique involves the combination of an enhanced Feistel block cipher and first moment feature extraction technique. The results obtained from experimental simulation shows the viability of the developed technique to avert common problems encountered in voters' authentication during the electioneering process in a digitally divided democratic environment.

Vote-from-Home? Evaluation Framework for Election Security on Remote Voting in Response to COVID-19

This article poses a question on whether the remote voting by online or vote-by-mail is trustworthy under the COVID-19 pandemic situation. One of the worldwide efforts to contain the virus was to work-from-home and restriction orders. Besides, because of the human contact is critical in the dissemination of the virus, possibilities of alternative methods of voting such as online voting, blockchain voting, vote-by-mail are proposed. In light of such a situation, the article proposes a framework to evaluate the election security of remote voting methods. Further, the article provides a case of best practice for election administration from the case of the Republic of Korea. Based off of the assessment results from the proposed evaluation framework, the article provides modest suggestions and policy implications to the election administrators.

REMOTE ACTIVITIES OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE AND THE NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN TIME OF COVID-19

The current world crisis raised serious debate about the role and place of the information and communication technologies (hereafter “ICT”) in the parliamentary activities. The new advanced technologies play a pivotal role in maintaining the efficiency and public service value of digitalisation by creating optimal conditions for the exercise of parliamentary functions. Before the current global health crisis, vast majority of the national parliaments had neither the possibility for remote plenary and/or committee meetings, nor a possibility for remote (distance) voting. Even the parliaments of the countries that have been struck by terrorist attacks in recent decades have not introduced a system of remote (distance) meetings or voting in case of any real direct risks for the parliamentary functioning. Democracy is never accomplished or perfect in its nature; it is an ongoing process that is continuously faced with new challenges and needs to adapt itself to new contexts. The parliamentary system is one of the most impactful institutions in the modern world and is steeped in deep country's history. Consequently, all new steps must be taken with extreme caution. The article offers an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses aspects of the parliamentary functioning in a “virtual space”, as well as a description of new mechanisms and methods.

Corporate Governance Development with E-voting Services

The paper discribes the method of remote voting at shareholders meetings via the Internet. The methodology of the study is based on the theory of agent costs. It means that costs associated with the exercise of control are important to investors within making investment decisions. The author considers conditions to the digitalization of voting processes: the Russian legislative framework; Internet access in the country; development of digital voting services; the provision of remote voting services by registrars and the Information Disclosure Center of JSC National Settlement Depository. The paper presents results of the analysis of the practice of using electronic voting services in Russian public companies. It has been proved that the creation of the Internet voting infrastructure has contributed to the activity growth of shareholders’ participation in Annual General Meetings. This, in turn, has a positive effect on the quality of corporate governance in these companies. The theoretical and practical significance of the study is to generalize the practice of using electronic voting technology in Russian corporations.

Personal Statement of Seth Barrett Tillman, Lecturer, on Senate Resolution 548, 116th Congress

I have been asked by congressional staff to opine on the constitutionality of Senate Resolution 548 (116th Cong). The resolution is a proposal to amend the Senate’s rules by allowing remote voting in certain circumstances. For reasons that I explain below, it is my opinion that: [a] the substantive proposal is consistent with the constitution’s aspirational norms; and, [b] legislation and other congressional instruments enacted or passed by the Senate while relying on such amended rules would be upheld by the courts.

About the specifics of organizing and conducting elections during the COVID-19 pandemic (some questions)

The COVID-19 pandemic poses extraordinary challenges to democratic values around the world, including elections. The subject of the study is some issues of the organization and conduct of elections at various levels affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, based on changes in the normal course of the electoral process, its individual stages. The relevance of the issue under study is obvious, since the COVID-19 pandemic has called into question whether the elections will take place on time or the date will be postponed. Methods are applied: comparative, analytical, systematic approach. The task is to study the specifics of the organization and conduct of elections during a pandemic in relation to certain stages of the electoral process that have been significantly affected by the pandemic. Particular attention is paid to the postponement of elections, which is directly related to the initial stage of the electoral process – the appointment of elections. Attention is drawn to the introduction of special regimes during the pandemic. Another important legal issue is the issue of voting – the main stage of the electoral process. Attention is focused on special voting methods that are most actively used during the pandemic, especially such as remote voting, postal voting, early voting and others. The postponement of elections during the COVID-19 pandemic should be considered as a new legal phenomenon in the practice of elections, having a massive character, having a direct impact on the electoral process, its individual stages, guarantees of electoral rights, methods of voting of voters, turnout and election results. It is necessary to develop a detailed mechanism for regulating the postponement of elections, especially in emergency situations, by including relevant provisions in the current domestic electoral legislation in order to ensure genuine guarantees of free and periodic elections. The results of the study can be used to improve electoral legislation, develop election rules during the pandemic, and take into account the most effective foreign experience in the electoral practice of the Russian Federation.

Second Version of a Mini-Survey to Evaluate Food Intake Quality (Mini-ECCA v.2): Reproducibility and Ability to Identify Dietary Patterns in University Students.

Evaluation of food intake quality using validated tools makes it possible to give individuals or populations recommendations for improving their diet. This study’s objective was to evaluate the reproducibility and ability to identify dietary patterns of the second version of the Mini Food Intake Quality Survey (Mini-ECCA v.2). The survey was administered using a remote voting system on two occasions with four-week intervals between administrations to 276 health science students (average age = 20.1 ± 3.1 years; 68% women). We then performed a per-question weighted kappa calculation, a cluster analysis, an ANOVA test by questionnaire item and between identified clusters, and a discriminant analysis. Moderate to excellent agreement was observed (weighted κ = 0.422–0.662). The cluster analysis identified three groups, and the discriminant analysis obtained three classification functions (85.9% of cases were correctly classified): group 1 (19.9%) was characterized by higher intake of water, vegetables, fruit, fats, oilseeds/avocado, meat and legumes (healthy food intake); group 2 (47.1%) frequently consumed both fish and unhealthy fats (habits in need of improvement); group 3 (33%) frequently consumed sweetened beverages, foods not prepared at home, processed foods, refined cereals and alcohol (unhealthy food intake). In conclusion, the Mini-ECCA v.2 has moderate to excellent agreement, and it is able to identify dietary patterns in university students.

Auditable blockchain voting system - the blockchain technology toward the electronic voting process

There exist many different electronic voting solutions and each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Most of the existing systems suffer from inadequate transparency and auditability. However, recently introduced blockchain technology may provide a solution to these problems. In this paper, auditable blockchain voting system (ABVS) is presented. It combines existing voting approach and combines it with blockchain technology to create a supervised and remote internet voting system, which is transparent and audit capable. The paper describes the system's processes, components, model and results of initial testing.

Electronic secret voting system using decentralized technologies developing principles

The paper reveals the prospects of using electronic trust services, in particular electronic signature services, for building voting systems. The advantages of such systems are described, as well as problematic issues related to the implementation of remote voting systems in practice. The most famous existing electronic voting protocols based on classical principles are analyzed. Their shortcomings and difficulties in implementation are highlighted. We present new principles for building an electronic voting system. In particular, the paper proposes a two-level architecture of a decentralized electronic voting system, which consists of a decentralized public key infrastructure that combines trusted certification authorities and a decentralized voting system that integrates the distributed representative offices of an electronic voting agency. Also, an adapted protocol of electronic voting is proposed. Unlike the analyzed protocols, the new approach is based on a decentralized public key infrastructure. The paper shows how, using DLT technology, it is possible to ensure that the necessary requirements for system stability are met without introducing significant redundancy into the interaction protocol of all interested parties. Deploying a decentralized electronic voting system based on a decentralized public key infrastructure allows voters to use existing key pairs. The proposed electronic voting protocol is a modification of the Nurmi-Salom-Santin protocol without the need for special bodies to form voter lists. It also allows preserving the anonymity of voters without the use of blind signatures.

The Principles Established by the Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)5 on Standards for E-voting Applied to Other Channels of Remote Voting

E-voting is highly suspicious to many citizens and institutions. Past pilot implementations ended before Supreme Courts and mostly not in favour of e-voting. Beside these political and legal battles regarding e-voting, postal voting seems to be commonly accepted and not in question. Motivated by a landmark ruling of the Austrian Constitutional Court in 2016, which led to the revocation of the run-off elections result due to irregularities with postal voting, this paper analyses whether current postal voting regulations and standards in Germany comply to the principles established by the latest Council of Europe (CoE) recommendation on standards for e-voting. Both voting channels are channels for remote voting, hence principles established for one channel must, in the view of the author, also be fully applicable for the other channel. This paper applies the standards set by the recommendation to e-voting to the more commonly used remote voting channel postal voting and concludes that most of these standards cannot be met.

Shareholder Engagement and Shareholder Voting Modes: Two of a Different Kind

This paper provides evidence that remote voting became the current technique for voting. Based on data for French companies, I found that gradually more and more shareholders, and not only institutional shareholders, vote in absentia. While a controlling shareholder continues to participate and vote in the general meeting in personam, other large shareholders, including institutional investors, make use of the technique of remote voting. Next, a decreasing group of shareholders with very small stakes attend the general meeting in person or empower the chairman of the board to vote. Consequently, shareholder engagement cannot take place in the general meeting. The ‘forum function’ of this “physical” general meeting of shareholders as the place where presentations by the board are followed by a fruitful debate and discussion with the shareholders helping to further form their opinion before issuing an informed vote, is eroded. New technological developments should be considered for shareholder engagement. Distributed ledger technology, like blockchain, is certainly one avenue that deserves further study to serve as an alternative tool for the development of the voting and communication process in an accessible, open and transparent way.

Framework for practical and receipt‐free remote voting

Remote voting allows the voters to cast their votes remotely at their convenience, and it is desirable in many circumstances. In the literature, a number of verifiable remote voting schemes have been introduced recently. However, some of these schemes are only suitable for the low coercion environment. Since without the receipt-freeness guarantee, voters can be coerced or bribed to vote the candidate favoured by adversaries. Some other schemes provide a very high level of security assurance, e.g. coercion resistance, but these schemes are normally very complex, and ordinary voters are required to perform complicated crypto calculations. In this study, the authors introduce a generic framework for practical and receipt-free remote voting. In their proposed scheme, voters do not need to have special knowledge or use any trusted device to cast their votes, and meanwhile, they cannot prove to the others how they have voted.

Blockchain Technology for Corporate Governance and Shareholder Activism

Blockchain is a technology that can offer smart solutions for classical corporate governance inefficiencies, especially in the relationship between shareholders and the company. Annual General Meetings (AGMs) are generally considered dull mandatory yearly rituals and its important theoretical functions, the information, forum and decision-making functions, are de facto eroded. In addition, the AGM suffers from procedural flaws, especially when shareholders vote remotely. Therefore we make a strong plea for the modernization of the AGM with the use of blockchain technology. Blockchain technology can lower shareholder voting costs and the organization costs for companies substantially. Moreover, blockchain technology can increase the speed of decision-making, facilitate fast and efficient involvement of shareholders. In addition, the main problems with the current chains of intermediaries and remote voting system have to do with transparency, verification and identification – issues that are directly linked to the advantages of blockchain technology. The recent prototypes of blockchain-based AGMs that are discussed in this contribution show that blockchain technology as tool for shareholder participation is definitely feasible.

Issues & Vulnerabilities Related to Online Voting and Its Mitigation

Majority share of the traditional voting systems have been utilized throughout the years in races. Each of these strategies had orderly inadequacies. The current customary voting frameworks have been subjected to gross manhandle and abnormalities. Electronic voting which is rising as a contrasting option to these traditional voting frameworks, however exceedingly encouraging is not free of blemishes; remote web voting frameworks still experience the ill effects of numerous security issues which depend on the customers, the servers, and the system associations. Denial of service attack and Sybil attack still have a place with the most difficult security issues. In this paper we talk about the security issues related with remote web voting. Moreover we examine how Sybil assault can be utilized as a part of character and certifications burglary. Specifically, we look at the plausibility of running national races over the Internet. The concentrate of this paper is on the impediments of the current conveyed framework as far as the security of the hosts and the Internet itself. We infer that without fitting safety efforts, web based races can be a test.

Smart Electronic Voting Machine

Elections casts an ennobling influence on the minds of people and forms the prominent feature of our country-India, in which every individual participates vigilantly and the populace remains the sovereign power. This project proposes an innovative idea that aims to construct an electronic voting machine with internet connection capability that would enable voters to cast their vote from anywhere on the planet called remote voting process. The device has biometric sensor to verify the voter’s integrity that leads to a much more secured local voting process than the existing one. In addition to this, the device comes with capacitive touch keys and mp3 quality audio to aid visually impaired or illiterate people to cast their vote independently.

The Safety of Appropriate Use of Over-the-Counter Proton Pump Inhibitors: An Evidence-Based Review and Delphi Consensus.

The availability of over-the-counter (OTC) proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for the short-term (2 weeks) management of frequent heartburn (≥2 days/week) has increased markedly, yet evidence-based recommendations have not been developed. A panel of nine international experts in gastroesophageal reflux disease developed consensus statements regarding the risks and benefits of OTC PPIs using a modified Delphi process. Consensus (based on ≥80% approval) was reached through multiple rounds of remote voting and a final round of live voting. To identify relevant data, the available literature was searched and summarized. Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system terminology was used to rate the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations; consensus was based on ≥2/3 agreement. After 4 rounds of review, consensus was achieved for 18 statements. Notably, the available data did not directly reflect OTC use, but instead, prescription use; therefore, extrapolations to the OTC setting were often necessary. This limitation is regrettable, but it justifies performing this exercise to provide evidence-based expert opinion on a widely used class of drugs. The panel determined that using OTC PPIs according to label instructions is unlikely to mask the symptoms of esophageal or gastric cancer or adversely impact the natural history of related precursor conditions. OTC PPIs are not expected to substantially affect micronutrient absorption or bone mineral density or cause community-acquired pneumonia, Clostridium difficile infection, or cardiovascular adverse events. However, OTC PPI use may be associated with slightly increased risks for infectious diarrhea, certain idiosyncratic reactions, and cirrhosis-related spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. The available evidence does not suggest that OTC PPI use consistent with label instructions is associated with substantial health risks. To minimize potential risks, healthcare professionals and consumers must actively participate in decision making when managing reflux-related symptoms in the self-care setting.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40265-017-0712-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The differentiated effects of health on political participation.

Several studies have shown that an individual's state of health can significantly affect their decision to vote, but analysis is often only done on a single level of government; the national level. However, prior research has shown that the determining factors for voting can differ according to the level of government being considered. Our analysis is the first attempt to take a comprehensive look at the magnitude of health and political participation in a same country on different levels. Based on Canadian General Social Survey-Social Identity (2013; N = 27 695), we examined both the direct and indirect effect of self-rated health and self-rated mental health on (1) national voter turnout; (2) local voter turnout and (3) other forms of political participation. The results show that health has a different effect on turnout depending the level of government. While health certainly affects participation on both levels of government, general health significantly affects national electoral participation levels while mental health more significantly affects electoral participation on the municipal level. Additionally, people who consider their mental health to be poorer, are more likely to sign an online petition. These elements highlight the necessity of questioning the cost of voting according to the level of government, and that further research into the potential offered by Internet and remote voting, is worthwhile-despite the opinions of critics who eschew these means of voting.

Detecting the Detectable: Unintended Consequences of Cryptographic Election Verification

Cryptographic end-to-end election verification is a promising paradigm for adding universally checkable proofs to electronic and remote voting systems. Although the idea of requiring convincing proof-based results makes good sense, the possibility of unintended outcomes must be considered.