Proof of Vote®
An end-to-end verifiable digital voting protocol using distributed ledger technology (blockchain)
Click Here to download whitepaper in PDF Format
Click Here to download appendix in PDF Format
We present the Proof of Vote® protocol, an end-to-end voter verifiable (E2E) digital voting system that uses blockchain to ensure the verifiability, security, and transparency of an election. The protocol leverages an ElGamal re-encryption mixnet for anonymity, a multi-signature scheme for voter authentication and authorization, and verifiable distributed key generation and verifiable decryption for vote encryption and decryption.
Background
Votem Corp is a three year old blockchain-based mobile voting headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Our point of view is that online and other forms of remote electronic voting have not become a material channel of voting across both private and public sector organizations due to legitimate fears of hacking and the lack of a system that is as easily verifiable as paper-based in-person voting methods.
Our goal is to advance the state of the industry to make online and electronic voting a more viable and complementary channel by collaboratively developing a protocol based on distributed ledger, or blockchain, technology with remote voting methods for voting access points including mobile and online (web-based) methods.
In our effort to create the most comprehensive protocol for verifiable, accessible, secure and transparent elections, we think it’s critical to incorporate the perspective, knowledge, opinion, and experience of the voting public it will ultimately serve.
These collective efforts from election administrators, academics, blockchain enthusiasts, and security experts will challenge, strengthen, and build upon the protocol while fostering a sense of collaboration and transparency in its development.
Your feedback will push the boundaries of what has been considered for electronic voting and will help us realize the ambitious objective of modernizing democracy.
Contributing Feedback
Types of contributions / What we’re looking for
There are many ways you can contribute to Proof of Vote:
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eVoting considerations, critiques, and recommendations related but not limited to: trust, end-to-end verifiability, auditability, software independence, voter coercion, dispute resolution, voter authentication, mobile endpoint security, cryptographic decisions, and blockchain.
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Editorial consistency and accuracy
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Clarity of language
Ground Rules
Please be thoughtful and considerate to those contributing. For the most part, everyone contributing is aligned on the mission of using technology to make democracy more accessible and secure; reasonable people can disagree on how best to do this and we welcome such thoughtful disagreement and constructive discourse.
Please be respectful and refrain from ad hominem attacks of character, as we work to maintain a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, background, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, expertise, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation.
How to Contribute
Use Github Issues for clarifications, questions, comments and concerns regarding the protocol.
If you prefer to not use Github, you more than welcome to email your comments to [email protected] instead.
The Votem Protocol Team will do its best to address all issues raised by the community in a timely manner.
For more information on how to create an issue or pull requests, please refer to the following documentation: https://help.github.com/articles/creating-an-issue/
License and Attribution
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.
In order to avoid duplicating the Creative Commons license, we ask you to read it in detail and we would like to emphasize a few important items from the license agreement below:
License Grant
Subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, Votem hereby grants You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to exercise the Licensed Rights in the Licensed Material to:
- reproduce and Share the Licensed Material, in whole or in part; and
- produce and reproduce, but not Share, Adapted Material.
As-Is Material. Unless otherwise separately undertaken by Votem, to the extent possible, Votem offers the Licensed Material as-is and as-available, and makes no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the Licensed Material, whether express, implied, statutory, or other. This includes, without limitation, warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, absence of latent or other defects, accuracy, or the presence or absence of errors, whether or not known or discoverable. Where disclaimers of warranties are not allowed in full or in part, this disclaimer may not apply to You.
No downstream restrictions. You may not offer or impose any additional or different terms or conditions on, or apply any Effective Technological Measures to, the Licensed Material if doing so restricts exercise of the Licensed Rights by any recipient of the Licensed Material.
No endorsement. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be construed as permission to assert or imply that You are, or that Your use of the Licensed Material is, connected with, or sponsored, endorsed, or granted official status by Votem or others designated to receive attribution.
Sharing/publishing the Licensed Material. If you share the material, you must: Identify Votem as the creator(s) of the Licensed Material and any others designated to receive attribution, in any reasonable manner requested (including by pseudonym if designated);
- a copyright notice;
- a notice that refers to this Public License;
- a notice that refers to the disclaimer of warranties;
- a URI or hyperlink to the Licensed Material to the extent reasonably practicable; indicate if You modified the Licensed Material and retain an indication of any previous modifications; and indicate the Licensed Material is licensed under this Public License, and include the text of, or the URI or hyperlink to, this Public License.
This is not an exhaustive list of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noderivatives 4.0 International License so please be sure to review it in detail before agreeing to the terms!
Contact Us
For any questions/concerns/suggestions/comments, please reach us at: