Towards best practice for e-election systems: Lessons from trial and error in Australian elections

Abstract

Research on mitigating vulnerabilities in electronic elections has focused mainly on developing cryptographic voting and counting schemes that satisfy strong mathematical requirements. However many practical problems with e-election systems in general cannot be solved by cryptology. In this paper we consider some of these practical problems by examining deficiencies that are common to the many e-election systems currently used in Australia, including but not limited to e-voting and e-counting systems. We identify poor practices in the commissioning, development, operation and scrutiny of these systems, and we then make recommendations for improving practice. We argue that best practice guidelines for e-election systems need to be explicitly articulated and should include four key elements: failure-critical engineering, risk assessment, a culture of audit and strong transparency. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.