There are many apps for conducting online surveys. But what happens when you need to organize an assembly or elections with legal validity? Online survey tools often fail to meet the necessary requirements for legal voting, such as voter anonymity, secure electronic identification, result integrity, or end-to-end verifiability.
So, if you are looking for an app to streamline your voting processes - whether online, in-person or hybrid - you need software specifically designed for this purpose.
In this article, we explain the key conditions your online voting app should fulfill.
End-to-end verifiable voting apps
Kuorum is the only provider on the market that offers an end-to-end verifiable system certified. But what exactly does “end-to-end verifiable” mean?
In this other article, we introduced the concept of end-to-end verifiability. Now we’ll explain the three steps it involves:
- Cast as intended: In a paper vote, ballots are official documents issued by the electoral authority. If anything other than an official ballot is found during the count, the vote is considered invalid. But with a voting app, the ballot appears on the voter’s device, which is often beyond the control of the electoral authority. That’s why voting apps must have a mechanism allowing voters to verify that the vote they’re casting is correctly registered on the app’s servers without interference or hacking on their device.
- Recorded as Casted: Once we’ve confirmed the voter’s device isn’t compromised, what happens next? Online voting applications must have mechanisms for voters to verify that their vote isn’t altered once it reaches the servers. Typically, voters receive a voting receipt with a hash, an alphanumeric code that they can enter into a search engine to verify that their vote has been recorded without alteration.
- Tallied as Recorded: Legally valid online voting applications must ensure that it is not possible to alter votes at the time of counting. A wide variety of technologies are used for this purpose. If you’d like to learn more, feel free to contact our engineering team.
Finally, for particularly critical elections, it’s common to distribute the responsibility of unlocking the ballot box among multiple individuals using a distributed key. This prevents any one person from accessing results prematurely.
Secure voting applications
Information security (or cybersecurity) is essential for online voting apps. Certifications can help companies streamline the purchasing process. However, if your organization has an IT department and the voting event you plan to digitalize is important, it’s best to let your tech team evaluate the providers. At Kuorum we are used to dealing with IT departments and we speak their language.
Voting applications with all the features you need
If you’re looking for a voting app for elections, you’ll likely prioritize security. However, if you need a voting app for an assembly or board meeting, you should also ensure it includes all the features necessary to make your event a success without undue stress.
Make sure that the voting application you choose offers voter registration systems, access controls, quorum calculation, and options for delegated, early, and weighted voting. Additionally, for online or hybrid assemblies, the app’s integration with video conferencing systems will be crucial.
Voting applications that are easy to use for all ages
Lastly, the usability of the voting app you choose is critical. Voting events can be highly stressful for organizers, and you don’t want you or your team to spend the day resolving issues for people who find the system difficult to understand. When comparing providers, insist on seeing a demonstration of the tool to ensure it’s simple and intuitive enough for people of all ages and varying levels of digital proficiency to use without difficulty.
