The concept of electronic voting has become increasingly popular over the last few years, but it is far more complicated than it initially appears to be. The many forms of electronic voting and the various security issues that surround them will be covered in this article.
We'll talk about e-voting, also known as voting that involves electronic systems in any form, and i-voting, which stands for voting online.
It's necessary to understand the history of voting systems, what we expect from them, and why security is so crucial before we proceed.
What do we want from our voting systems?
A voting system must strike a balance between a number of essential elements. One of the most important elements is security, since we don't want any enemies or self-serving parties to be able to tamper with the results.
We also want to confirm the validity of the votes that were counted. Otherwise, a fair and democratic outcome won't be achieved.
Security is essential to the voting process, but other considerations must be balanced with it. The following additional factors must be taken into account in voting systems in order for the final vote total to accurately reflect the will of the electorate:
Accuracy - We desire that the final vote total correctly reflect the electorate's preferences.
Verifiably - It's critical to be able to examine the voting results' correctness and establish whether an election has been rigged. A further election may be held if evidence of fraud is discovered.
Anonymity - Because we don't want anonymity in every situation, the requirement for anonymity in voting is complicated. In order to stop people from voting more than once or committing other forms of fraud, we need to be able to confirm who is casting a ballot. The votes themselves should be anonymous, though. Knowing who someone voted for might result in intimidation or compulsion if the government, the rival party, or anybody else found out. This would be in conflict.
There’s a lot at stake in elections
The importance of elections is yet another important factor. The IMF expected the US GDP for 2019 to be $21 trillion. It has a value that is so enormous that few people could possibly understand it. It's enough to purchase Apple 21 times, just to give you a rough idea.
The outcome of an election has a big impact on a nation's future, including its alliances, trade, taxes, and regulations. This is a significant issue for other countries, significant corporations, and other interest groups when you consider the amount of money and influence involved.
For a very long time, foreign players have attempted to sway election results in their favor.
What is electronic voting?
It's crucial to understand what we mean when we talk about electronic voting. E-voting and i-voting are the two varieties, and both can be used in a variety of ways. These versions each have special benefits and challenges of their own.
I-voting
Remote e-voting, also known as i-voting, uses the internet to allow people to vote from essentially anywhere. It can be done with computers, smartphones and other devices. It’s probably what most people think of when they hear the term electronic voting.
I-voting has the most appeal, because participants don’t have to leave their home to vote. One of the main downsides is that many key processes occur away from the eyes of human observers, so it can be impossible to know whether a vote has been manipulated.
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