Quest for Solutions
A concise summary of the successive ideas that preceded the formation of the final solution, outlining the goals this solution had to achieve. An enumeration of the problems generated by these very ideas, and the formulation of requirements for a system capable of overcoming the entire complex of issues while circumventing the tangled knot of contradictions. The setting of objectives.
Failed concepts
Specialized Personal Voting Devices
The first idea that addressed the challenge of enabling a voter to cast a ballot from anywhere was the use of specialized personal voting devices. This would allow a voter to avoid having to rush to a designated polling station within a strictly defined timeframe or, an even more cumbersome process, first obtaining an absentee ballot and then searching for the nearest polling station at their current location on election day.
Furthermore, specialized personal voting devices could easily prevent voter impersonation through biometric login, as well as eliminate multiple voting by a single individual and access to the vote by ineligible persons.
However, the loss or malfunction of such a device would strip its owner of their right to vote. Moreover, if these devices possess a unique identifier, it cannot be concealed, which jeopardizes the secrecy of the ballot. If they lack such an identifier, then multiple voting becomes possible. Thus, a specialized personal voting device alone is incapable of preventing malicious actions.
A Non-Governmental Server with a Database
Another idea that immediately comes to mind is using a third-party, non-governmental server to store data and manage the voting process, including voter registration and eligibility. A server not subject to state structures should eliminate the possibility of these structures influencing the server’s administration or demanding the use of specific software. However, it is difficult to imagine a state body responsible for elections that would agree to entrust the conduct of an election to external actors.
Furthermore, control over the voter database grants access to their personal data, which cannot be handed over to private individuals who bear no responsibility. This creates the need to license the entity maintaining the voting system. That is, it makes this structure dependent on the very authorities from which it was created to be independent.
Insurmountable Difficulties
How to Control the Registration of Personal Voting Devices
Unlike the production and distribution of money, which is controlled by the state that has a vested interest in it, the production, storage, and distribution of individual personal voting devices could become a tempting target for manipulation by state structures staffed by individuals capable of such actions. In the absence of state control, the production and distribution of unaccounted-for devices, as evidenced by Russia’s historical experience described above, becomes highly probable. However, organizing independent public oversight in a country as vast as Russia appears to be a task of insurmountable complexity, with abuses seeming inevitable.
How to Control the Registration of Personal Voting Devices
In a scenario where the storage of personal data and the choice of software used on voting support servers is managed by structures independent of the state, control over their activities must be precluded on the part of the state, yet is insurmountably difficult to implement on the part of society. This creates an intractable problem of distrust towards the activities of these structures and the voting results, rendering the entire endeavor pointless.
A New World and New Idea
The Proliferation of Personal Devices and Internet Access
By the beginning of the 2020s, our world had changed significantly. An overwhelming majority of people had become internet users. In many countries, their numbers approached 100 percent of the population. Access to the internet is achieved from any device, be it personal computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones. Mobile internet replaced fixed-line access, becoming an integral part of life. (For more details, see the page Political landscape)
The internet became a foundation for numerous overlay networks.
This was facilitated by the proliferation of personal devices. Landline phones and non-smart TVs virtually became a thing of the past. The widespread adoption of universal smart devices rendered many specialized gadgets obsolete. Including voting devices. They can be successfully replaced by an application (For more details, see the page Patented ideas).
Thus, it became evident that the foundation of a voting system should be an application for a personal device and a peer-to-peer overlay network.
Tasks the Voting System Must Accomplish
Looking back at the variety of voting abuses and striving to eliminate past mistakes, we formulated a list of tasks that our voting system must accomplish:
- To facilitate registration and voting access that preclude the disclosure of personal data.
- To ensure ballot secrecy.
- To enable verifiability while preserving secrecy.
- To ensure the verifiability of the lists of registered and actual voters.
- To prevent ineligible persons from voting.
- To counteract voter coercion and vote trading.
- To prevent ballot stuffing or ballot substitution.
- To ensure the immediate publication of results and their reliable preservation.
- To guarantee technical resilience.
- To ensure security and robustness against all contingencies, including technical failures, smartphone/computer shutdowns, hacking attempts, malicious actions by users, and external attacks.