From SecureWorld
By Hemanth Tadepalli
In the current state of the election process, most state and federal elections in the U.S. rely on a majority of ways for casting a ballot, such as a mix of paper ballots, optical scan, and direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines. Currently, the United States has the longest ballots in the democratic world, and this is due to three levels of officials that are to be elected, which has increased the number of elected offices on ballots. As seen for many years now, the voting systems have served their purpose,
but have potential vulnerabilities. Paper ballots can be miscounted or lost and DRE machines are susceptible to hacking and software errors.
The challenge of ensuring secure and transparent elections affects a wide range of stakeholders, including voters, election officials, government agencies, political candidates, and international observers. Voters, who are the core stakeholders, rely on the electoral system to accurately and securely reflect their choices. From an administration standpoint, election officials and government agencies are responsible for administering and safeguarding the election process. From either side of the spectrum, political candidates depend on fair elections to validate their legitimacy, and international observers monitor elections to ensure they meet
democratic standards.
Mandating the use of End-to-End Verifiable (E2E-V) voting systems would be a solution to address significant vulnerabilities in current voting systems. These vulnerabilities include risk to tampering, fraud, and cyber attacks, which can emphasize the integrity of elections and affect public trust. E2E-V systems provide ways for voter verification, auditability, and tamper resistance through advanced cryptographic techniques. The goal is to ensure that every vote is accurately recorded and counted while maintaining voter anonymity and enhancing transparency...
Hemanth Tadepalli is a student in the Master of Information and Cybersecurity program.
