ABSTRACT: It's 2022, we can do almost everything online with a computer that lives in our pocket, the metaverse is behind the corner… are we ready to safely put the most important democratic processes online too? Before we answer, we need to learn more about elections and all the many ways they can go wrong. BIO: Michele Pittoni is a computer engineer working on infrastructure reliability and security. He's interested in complex systems of all sorts, from the technological to the social and human side. His most recent fixations have been the Eurovision Song Contest and the foundations of modern democracy. You can usually find him at Speck&Tech events, where he serves as the Secretary of the association, or playing and explaining board games at Ludimus.

1. Can we vote online yet?
Speck&Tech #43 “Res Publica”
23rd
May 2022

2. Requirements of a democratic election
Representation
Accuracy
Coercion resistance
Confidence

4. Requirements of a democratic election
Representation
Accuracy
Coercion resistance
Confidence

5. Voter registration
and identification
Vote casting
Vote counting
Tabulation and
announcement of results

6. DRE BMD

9. Voter registration
and identification
Vote casting
Vote counting
Tabulation and
announcement of results

10. «A voting system is software-independent if an
undetected change or error in its software cannot
cause an undetectable change or error in an
election outcome.»

11. «With vote-by-mail, it is not possible to guarantee
that a voter has cast his or her ballot privately. A
voter might be coerced into making particular
selections.»

12. So, can we vote online?

13. No.

14. Thanks!
sli.do/ST43

15. A very boring slide with links and references
● 📺 Tom Scott, Why Electronic Voting is a BAD Idea (8'20")
● 📺 Tom Scott, Why Electronic Voting Is Still A Bad Idea (12'01")
● 📺 J. Alex Halderman, Security Analysis of Estonia's Internet Voting System (1h12'57")
● 💻 Independent Report on E-Voting in Estonia
● 📄 Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy
● 📄 Rivest and Wack, On the notion of “software-independence” in voting systems