Revisiting legal and regulatory requirements for secure e-voting

Abstract

This paper addresses the democracy-oriented legal and constitutional requirements that an electronic voting system has to comply with. Its scope covers every election or decision-making process, which takes place through voting. Due mainly to the digital divide and to current technological limitation, electronic voting cannot be proposed as a universal means of voting but rather as an alternative option, supplemental to traditional voting means. An electronic voting process must be designed in such a way as to guarantee the general, free, equal and secret character of elections. In a democratic context an electronic voting system should respect and ensure attributes and properties such as transparency, verifiability, accountability, security and accuracy. Only then can it foster and promote the participation of the citizens, the legitimacy and the democratic transaction of the election process.