Verifiable Elections: A New Approach to a Long-Standing Challenge

Abstract:

For decades, end-to-end verifiable elections have pushed the envelope of cryptographic tooling.  The task of allowing voters to confirm the correct counting of their secret ballots without enabling voters to reveal their votes to potential coercers and vote-buyers poses unique challenges that defy many of the standard techniques.

This talk will describe a new approach to verifiable elections that has been profoundly influenced by the failures of past constructions and deployments.  No encryptions are performed and no cryptographic keys are generated or used.  Instead, simple cryptographic commitments are used to achieve the above properties in a way that avoids placing burdens on voters or election administrators.

Suggested readings:

• ia.cr/2024/915
• ia.cr/2026/613