Secure internet voting protocol for overseas military voters

Abstract

Overseas military members are known to be disenfranchised at a far higher rate than traditional voters. This fact stems from problems associated with the traditional vote-by-mail absentee process, which does not mesh well to the military member's frequent address changes, mail delivery in combat environments, and the simple delay in the two way mail system. Initiatives by the Federal Voting Assistance Program aim to improve voting capabilities for U.S. military members. Among these initiatives are the efforts to provide a complete system allowing the military voter the ability to receive and cast voted ballots directly over the Internet. This paper proposes a communication protocol to securely provide this voting option to our military voters while maintaining integrity in the U.S. election process. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.