Timeline for Is it possible to use blockchain or public ledgers for voting?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
21 events
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| S Nov 17, 2020 at 20:34 | history | post merged (destination) | |||
| Nov 11, 2020 at 22:04 | comment | added | Michael Borgwardt | @endolith no - the GUID system does just that, with the mentioned drawbacks. In my answer I mention that cryptography could make it possible to eliminate those, but such a system would be far too complex for most people to understand, they'd just have to trust experts that it provides the claimed guarantees. | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 15:07 | comment | added | endolith | @MichaelBorgwardt Is it impossible to come up with a system in which a voter can observe their own vote increasing the total, without that information also being completely open to the public? | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 13:23 | comment | added | emory | @MichaelBorgwardt You are right. In a perfect voting system you should be able to prove to yourself and others that your vote was received and used. You should be able to prove to yourself but not others that your vote went to the right candidate. Just describing the requirements is tricky - never mind implementing them. | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 9:06 | history | edited | gerrit | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Remove unfriendly "lol". There are no stupid questions.
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| Nov 11, 2020 at 7:06 | comment | added | Michael Borgwardt | @endolith: If a voter observes their vote increasing the tally for their candidate in public it's not secret, and if they observe it in private they cannot know whether what they are shown is what is actually counted, especially given that most polling stations have multiple voters voting in parallel. | |
| Nov 11, 2020 at 6:57 | comment | added | Michael Borgwardt | @emory: I'd say that a voter being able to confirm that their vote was counted for the candidate they wanted is at least as important as whether it was counted at all. | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 23:06 | comment | added | emory | @MichaelBorgwardt I have no idea if that is possible, but can you prove it is impossible? | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 23:05 | comment | added | emory | @MichaelBorgwardt I am not convinced that "if there is any way for a voter to trace their vote, they can be coerced into disclosing it". I only want to be able to prove that my vote was (1) received and (2) was used or (3) not used in the computation of the final tally. If I prove that my vote was used in the final tally, then you can infer that I voted for Trump, Biden, or Jorgenson. If a single voter can prove that their received vote was not used in the computation of the final tally, then the whole election must be thrown out and done over. | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 22:59 | comment | added | endolith | @MichaelBorgwardt No, I mean something temporary that allows you to see your vote go into the total, but without anyone else seeing it or identifying who made the total go up. Each voter observes their own vote increasing the tally, and the total is compared with the total number of people who voted at that polling location, so each person can verify that their ballot was counted, and everyone can verify that no additional ballots were added, and everyone can assume that the tallies are correct since everyone verified their own vote, but no one else can connect a particular vote to a voter. | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 22:40 | comment | added | Michael Borgwardt | @endolith: that would be the GUID mentioned by OP. When you vote, you get a long, randomly-generated-on-the-spot number that is recorded with the vote you just cast but not anywhere else and in particular not connected in any way to you. After the election, the list of all such GUIDs and the votes cast with them is published. Anyone can check that their GUID matches the vote they cast and anyone can check that the total count is correct. As I wrote, the problem is that people can be coerced to disclose their GUID. | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 21:45 | comment | added | Noctiphobia | @Polygnome how is it possible to watch that only eligible voters put their ballots in, in cases where the voter's identity is not confirmed in any meaningful way (e.g. in many states in USA)? Plus, aren't the votes eventually being inserted into an electronic system, which, again, most voters don't understand? | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 20:29 | comment | added | endolith | Is there a way to verifiably see that your vote was added to the total, without it being traceable by others? | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 12:50 | history | edited | Michael Borgwardt | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 10, 2020 at 11:04 | comment | added | Polygnome | Compare that to electronic voting, where the average citizen can do exactly nothing to validate anything... | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 11:04 | comment | added | Polygnome | " while in principle it is easy to commit fraud with them". Its damn hard to do fraud with them, at least when in-person voting is used. You can watch how the empty urn is sealed, you can watch that only eligible voters put their ballots in, you can watch how the urn is unsealed and how votes are counted. The US puts a dent into this since urns are transported and you have no way of veryfiyng the transit, but when counting takes place in the voting station, and a citizen exercvises their right to watch, its damn hard to defraud. | |
| Nov 10, 2020 at 10:10 | history | edited | Michael Borgwardt | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 10, 2020 at 8:41 | vote | accept | CommunityBot | ||
| S Nov 17, 2020 at 20:34 | |||||
| Nov 10, 2020 at 7:51 | history | edited | Michael Borgwardt | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 10, 2020 at 7:42 | history | edited | Michael Borgwardt | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 10, 2020 at 7:37 | history | answered | Michael Borgwardt | CC BY-SA 4.0 |