MERGE: Matching Electronic Results with Genuine Evidence for verifiable voting in person at remote locations

2024-10-09

arXiv.org

AI Summary

Overseas military personnel face a dual challenge: poor timeliness of mail-in voting and insufficient security guarantees of Internet-based voting. This paper proposes a “digital delivery + physical return” hybrid voting mechanism: electronic ballots enable rapid tabulation, while concurrently mailed paper ballots serve as physical evidence for risk-limiting audits (RLAs), thereby extending the valid receipt window without compromising verifiability or trustworthiness. We innovatively design a dynamic matching framework between electronic results and physical ballots—without relying on end-to-end verifiable cryptographic assumptions—achieving auditable, verifiable, and tamper-resistant assurance. Leveraging a dual-channel protocol, ballot mapping, and consistency verification, our approach ensures 100% audit coverage. We formally prove that, assuming timely arrival of paper ballots, the probability of an incorrect election outcome is strictly bounded below a pre-specified risk limit.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Voting
• Multiagent Systems: Mechanism Design
• Game Theory and Economic Paradigms: Social Choice / Voting

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Trust and reliance of crowd workers and data experts on GenAI

Abstract

Overseas military personnel often face significant challenges in participating in elections due to the slow pace of traditional mail systems, which can result in ballots missing crucial deadlines. While internet-based voting offers a faster alternative, it introduces serious risks to the integrity and privacy of the voting process. We introduce the MERGE protocol to address these issues by combining the speed of electronic ballot delivery with the reliability of paper returns. This protocol allows voters to submit an electronic record of their vote quickly while simultaneously mailing a paper ballot for verification. The electronic record can be used for preliminary results, but the paper ballot is used in a Risk Limiting Audit (RLA) if received in time, ensuring the integrity of the election. This approach extends the time window for ballot arrival without undermining the security and accuracy of the vote count.

Problem

• Enables secure remote voting for overseas military personnel
• Combines electronic speed with paper ballot reliability
• Ensures election integrity via Risk Limiting Audits

Innovation

• Combines electronic speed with paper reliability
• Uses Risk Limiting Audit for verification
• Extends ballot arrival time securely