Remote Voting:What Can We Do?

David Wagner

Tuesday, August 13, 13

voting technology is in a period of stasis

Tuesday, August 13, 13

voting technology is in a period of stasis

...now's the perfect time to innovate!

Tuesday, August 13, 13

I hope to inspire you,by sharing exciting research opportunities

Tuesday, August 13, 13

let's talk about remote voting

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Tuesday, August 13, 13

vote-by-mail

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Tuesday, August 13, 13

40-50% of voters vote by mail,in several Western states

Tuesday, August 13, 13

What can we do to improve vote-by-mail?

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Tuesday, August 13, 13

not-quite-remote voting

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Tuesday, August 13, 13

it might be time to re-considerthe precinct model

Tuesday, August 13, 13

it might be time to re-considerthe precinct model

imagine if you were only allowed to dropoff outbound mail at your home post office

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Can we enable voters to vote atany polling place of their choice?

Tuesday, August 13, 13

voters would like to be able to research candidatesand make their choices, at a time and place oftheir convenience

Tuesday, August 13, 13

voters would like to be able to research candidatesand make their choices, at a time and place oftheir convenience (e.g., on their phones/computers)

Tuesday, August 13, 13

voters would like to be able to research candidatesand make their choices, at a time and place oftheir convenience

... but voting over the Internet is risky.

(e.g., on their phones/computers)

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Can we establish a technology foundation for pre-voting?

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Tuesday, August 13, 13

accessibility

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Tuesday, August 13, 13

15% of US voting-age have disabilities(≥ 30 million eligible voters)

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45-72% of polling places haveimpediments to access

Source: GAO 2009.

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poll workers often have difficultysetting up accessible voting machine

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Can we help disabled voters vote from home?

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Tuesday, August 13, 13

overseas voting

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Tuesday, August 13, 13

there are 6 million eligible US voters abroad(civilian + military)

Tuesday, August 13, 13

for ≈ 25% of overseas voterswho wanted and tried to vote,

their vote didn't count.

Source: OVF 2013.

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Tuesday, August 13, 13

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Tuesday, August 13, 13

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Tuesday, August 13, 13

15% of overseas votersreturned their ballot electronically

(email, fax, or web – no paper).

Source: OVF 2013.

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Can we help overseas and military voters?

Tuesday, August 13, 13

it is time to study how tomake Internet voting work.

Tuesday, August 13, 13

In 2004

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Internet votingis not safe!

In 2004

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Today

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Let's try to makeInternet voting safeenough for overseas

voters

Today

Tuesday, August 13, 13

is it even possible?

Tuesday, August 13, 13

‟if only voting weren't anonymous,it would be easy”

Tuesday, August 13, 13

‟if only voting weren't anonymous,it would be easy”

just publish everyone's vote

Tuesday, August 13, 13

‟if only voting weren't anonymous,it would be easy”

just publish everyone's vote

Anne:Grace:

Charlie:....

vanillachocolatevanilla

Tuesday, August 13, 13

overseas ballots already aren't 100% anonymous

Tuesday, August 13, 13

publish everyone's vote

10923:92301:46388:

....

vanillachocolatevanilla

Tuesday, August 13, 13

publish everyone's vote

10923:92301:46388:

....

vanillachocolatevanilla

trackingnumber

Tuesday, August 13, 13

publish everyone's vote

10923:92301:46388:

....

vanillachocolatevanilla

trackingnumber

vote

Tuesday, August 13, 13

problem solved

Tuesday, August 13, 13

problem solved?

Tuesday, August 13, 13

wait a minute:does this provide privacy?

Tuesday, August 13, 13

wait a minute:does this provide privacy?

No!

Tuesday, August 13, 13

10923:92301:46388:

President: Obama, Mayor: Brown, ...President: Romney, Water District 3: ...President: Romney, School District 7: ...

Tuesday, August 13, 13

if Alice is the only overseas voter witha particular ballot style, she has no privacy.

10923:92301:46388:

President: Obama, Mayor: Brown, ...President: Romney, Water District 3: ...President: Romney, School District 7: ...

Tuesday, August 13, 13

if Alice is the only overseas voter witha particular ballot style, she has no privacy.

10923:92301:46388:

President: Obama, Mayor: Brown, ...President: Romney, Water District 3: ...President: Romney, School District 7: ...

in one county: 4% of voters would be uniquely identified28% of voters would have anonymity set < 20

Tuesday, August 13, 13

one tracking number isn't safe

Tuesday, August 13, 13

one tracking number isn't safe

so give 'em two!

Tuesday, August 13, 13

10923:92301:46388:75190:23209:44852:

President: ObamaWater District 3: JonesSchool District 7: SmithMayor: BrownPresident: RomneyPresident: Romney

Tuesday, August 13, 13

10923:92301:46388:75190:23209:44852:

President: ObamaWater District 3: JonesSchool District 7: SmithMayor: BrownPresident: RomneyPresident: Romney

Anne'strackingnumbers

Tuesday, August 13, 13

another approach:end-to-end (open-audit) cryptographic schemes

Tuesday, August 13, 13

another approach:remotely-supervised remote voting

See: Juan Gilbert's research.

Tuesday, August 13, 13

there might be hopefor making Internet voting auditable

Tuesday, August 13, 13

caveat:

Tuesday, August 13, 13

caveat:

usability

Tuesday, August 13, 13

caveat:

usability > auditability

Tuesday, August 13, 13

caveat:

usability > auditability > security

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Tuesday, August 13, 13

caveat:

we don't know how tobuild a secure bulletin board.

Tuesday, August 13, 13

suppose 20% of voters verify their voteagainst the public website (BB), right after voting.

Tuesday, August 13, 13

suppose 20% of voters verify their voteagainst the public website (BB), right after voting.

if website is hacked,

Tuesday, August 13, 13

suppose 20% of voters verify their voteagainst the public website (BB), right after voting.

if website is hacked, it can change everyone's votes

Tuesday, August 13, 13

suppose 20% of voters verify their voteagainst the public website (BB), right after voting.

if website is hacked, it can change everyone's votes

after voters verify them but before they're counted.

Tuesday, August 13, 13

ok, so some crypto geeks needverify their votes didn't change.

Tuesday, August 13, 13

ok, so some crypto geeks needverify their votes didn't change.

if (voter == "Josh Benaloh") do_not_cheat = True

Tuesday, August 13, 13

public website (BB) knows who you are,and can show something different to each person

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Can we build a public bulletin board thatis worthy of our trust?

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Can we make Internet voting safe enoughfor overseas, military, and/or disabled voters?

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Internet voting that's both auditable and usable?

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Will voters be able to audit their vote?And, will they actually do it?

Tuesday, August 13, 13

do I know how to make Internet voting safe today?

should we deploy Internet voting today?

should we research it?

No.

No.

Yes!

Tuesday, August 13, 13

Can we make Internet voting safe enoughfor overseas, military, and/or disabled voters?

We have to try!

Tuesday, August 13, 13