"e-ballot" -- Proposal for Electronic Voting, Version A

[Rich Littleton]

This is an excellent bit of work:  a concrete proposal for steps toward an
important goal.

I assume it will have to be given a few test runs to see how it works.  
Please put my name on a list of testers.  

Rich Littleton

______________________________________________________________________

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On Wed, 16 Dec 1998, Brian High wrote:

> "e-ballot" -- Proposal for Electronic Voting, Version A
> 
>         INTRODUCTION
> This is a rough outline for how electronic voting could be done.  It
> will be described as an automated process, but could also be implemented
> as a manual process.  For the purposes of discussion, the following
> case will be used: Organization=SCNA, Committee=USER SERVICES, 
> Voting-Pool=VOLUNTEERS.
> 
>         OVERALL DESCRIPTION
> This system will use an email account, "e-ballot", that will be used
> soley for the purpose of electronic voting.  It will also have a program
> running as a cron job to scan the mail file for specific types of messages
> and will maintain a few files and archive messages.  The program will
> respond to a small set of commands and send out mail automatically based
> on commands it receives.  In this way it will operate similar to majordomo.
> It will work completely through email and will use voter validation, but
> not require special tools or knowledge.
> 
>         HOW IT WORKS
> The email account (e-ballot) will accept 8 types of messages, all others 
> will be ignored and deleted.  The 8 types are: 
> 
> 1.  voter registration (must be member of "pool" -- see below)
> 2.  voter unregistration
> 3.  "move" to vote, including e-ballot phrasing
> 4.  "second" the move to vote
> 5.  ballot
> 6.  request for help file (includes list of groups to register for)
> 7.  create a new voting group (that would be listed above after creation)
> 8.  delete a voting group (must be person who created it)
> 
> (Voting pool updates will be mailed directly to the "vote-master"
> for manual installation.  The must come from an organization leader who
> has been designated by the organization for this purpose.  For SCNA 
> volunteers, the Volunteer Coordinator would send a list of volunteers
> to the votemaster.  These are volunteers who have signed the volunteer
> agreement and who are not in trouble for conduct violations.)
> 
> It would send confirmation messages, "move to vote" messages to registered
> voters of the group the vote pertains to, "second" messages to
> the group and e-ballots to the group.  It would also send tabulated
> voting results to the group.  (Here we use "group" to mean the subset
> of organization/committee members who have registered to vote and who
> have been accepted.  See below.)  [As you can see it works a lot like
> majordomo and could possibly be done by majordomo with the proper
> modifications.  However, it may be easier just to write a single
> perl (or other) script to do it.]
> 
>         VOTER REGISTRATION
> A voter registration message body would look like this:
> 
> ================ BEGIN MESSAGE BODY =================
> register scna user-services volunteers First-name Last-name
> ================  END MESSAGE BODY  =================
> 
> FORMAT: register org-name sub-group voter-pool First-name Last-name
> 
> ... and would "subscribe" the sender to the "voters" list
> for that organization/committee pair.  A file would be maintained
> in the /home/e-ballot directory for voters_scna_user-services and
> the email address of the sender would be stored there, but first the
> name will be checked against a list of approved_scna_voters-volunteers which
> is a list provided by the volunteer coordinator and contains names
> of everyone who has signed the volunteer agreement.  (This list is
> not to be confused with approved_scna_voters-members.)  So, if they are
> on that list, they will receive their unique voter password, which is
> generated randomly.  For their e-ballots to be honored, the ballot must
> have the same name and password on it.  The voters_scna_user-services 
> file will store the names and passwords and be readable only be e-ballot
> and by root.
> 
>         VOTER UNREGISTRATION
> Unregistering would work the same way, but backwards.  
> 
> ================ BEGIN MESSAGE BODY =================
> unregister scna user-services volunteers First-name Last-name PASSWORD
> ================  END MESSAGE BODY  =================
> 
> FORMAT: unregister org-name sub-group voter-pool First-name Last-name pass
> 
> A confirmation letter would be sent saying that the person had successfully 
> unsubscribed if the name and password matched the voters_scna_user-services 
> file entry.  They would then be deleted from that file.
> 
> 
>         MOVE TO VOTE, SECOND THE VOTE AND VOTING
> If a registered voter for a particular "committee" sends a message
> to e-ballot of the following format, it is a movement to vote:
> 
> ================ BEGIN MESSAGE BODY =================
> move scna user-services volunteers First-name Last-name PASSWORD 
> start
> I move that we should abandon holding physical meetings altogether
> and henceforth conduct all committee business using e-ballot.
> stop
> ================  END MESSAGE BODY  =================
> 
> When e-ballot got the message, it would save it in scna_user-services-move
> and would assign it a vote number.
> 
> A message would then be sent to all registered voters in scna_user-services
> that would say:
> 
> To: <list of voters>
> From: e-ballot at scn.org
> Subject: scna user-services volunteers MOVE to vote 0001
> ================ BEGIN MESSAGE BODY =================
> REPLY WITHIN THREE DAYS TO SECOND THIS MOVEMENT
> 
> First-name Last-name moves that we vote on the following:
> 
> I move that we should abandon holding physical meetings altogether
> and henceforth conduct all committee business using e-ballot.
> ================  END MESSAGE BODY  =================
> 
> If a reply to e-ballot comes for this message within three days, by
> a registered voter, then the message is stored in scna_user-services-moved
> and the following message is sent:
> 
> To: <list of voters>
> From: e-ballot at scn.org
> Subject: scna user-services volunteers CALL to vote 0001
> ================ BEGIN MESSAGE BODY =================
> REPLY BY NEXT SUNDAY (date) AT MIDNIGHT TO VOTE ON THIS
> ==> vote on first line of message body
> ==> EXAMPLE: vote YEA First-name Last-name PASSWORD
> ==> EXAMPLE: vote NAY First-name Last-name PASSWORD
> ==> EXAMPLE: vote ABSTAIN First-name Last-name PASSWORD
> 
> First-name Last-name proposed that we vote on the following:
> 
> I move that we should abandon holding physical meetings altogether
> and henceforth conduct all committee business using e-ballot.
> ================  END MESSAGE BODY  =================
> 
> When the messages are read by e-ballot, messages with "CALL to vote 0001"
> in the subject line will be checked for voter validation and the voted will 
> be counted and stored in scna_user-services-0001.  The vote count will be 
> sent to the "committee" (people in voters_scna_user-services).  If duplicates
> are received, the last one from any given voter will be accepted -- all
> others form that voter will be ignored.  If the vote comes after the stated
> date and time, the vote will be ignored.  If the name/password combo is
> wrong, an error message will be sent to the voter, the "vote-master", and the 
> person who called the vote will be CCed.  (No passwords will be ever be sent by 
> e-ballot.)
> 
> At this point, the e-ballot is complete for that vote.  Any action to
> be taken will be done so separately by those involved with the issue
> voted upon.
> 
>         SUMMARY
> This voting system would take several hours, probably 40 or more to
> program and test.  However, it need not be automated.  A person
> could do all of this work manually, but over time the work involved
> would exceed the time to write the program.  Also, I encourage everyone
> to search the 'net for a program that could perform the same functions,
> namely:
> 
> * register voters in a way that would be hard or impossible to "cheat"
> * ensure confidentiality
> * conduct all voting and other operations entirely by email
> * keep accurate and thorough records
> * work for many groups, not just one
> * clean up after itself  :-)
> 
> Personally, I am just barely at the point where I could write such a 
> program.  I know there are other out there whose programming skill
> and knowledge far exceeds mine.  I encourage anyone who possess such
> resources to speak up and take the the challenge.
> 
> Also, if you have a modified or entirely different proposal, let's 
> hear it!
> 
> --Brian High
>   Chair, SCNA User Services Committee
> 
> 
> 
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