Provotum: a Decentralized eVoting due to Secure Blockchains
When it comes to voting and elections, most people trust the ballot paper and the ballot box more than eVoting systems. However, Blockchains enable encrypted, tamper-proof electronic voting.
The public discusses security of electronic voting systems – in short eVoting. However, what exactly are those properties a secure system has to offer? Is it at all possible to replicate or even surpass security properties of paper-based voting documents electronically? And how can a fully decentralized system, namely a Blockchain, be helpful in this context? These questions are addressed within the Communication Systems Group CSG at the Department of Informatics IfI.
eVoting systems must provide both, cryptographic assurance of voting secrecy and seamless electronic evidence of the correct results determination. In combination with a Blockchain-inspired ballot box, the immutability of all votes submitted can be ensured.
A Blockchain is a publicly accessible and decentrally managed ledger in which entries are continuously persisted and chained using cryptographic methods. This chaining ensures that no changes can be made to any entry once persisted without recognizing it. This is the essential feature, particularly in the context of voting and elections, in order to store all votes securely. In addition, a digital ballot box of this type enables individual voting secrecy to be ensured through encryption. At the same time, all results can be verified via cryptographic evidence.
At this booth, visitors can interactively use such a system, cast a vote, and verify this vote afterwards. This allows visitors to practically understand how a Blockchains work in the context of eVoting.
