Blockchain Revolution

End-to-End E-Voting Systems
Citizens are making advances all the time. In 2015, academics from the National and
Kapodistrian University of Athens published a paper introducing DEMOS, a new end-
to-end (E2E) e-voting system verifiable in the standard model, without reliance on
setup assumptions or access to a “randomness beacon.”
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It uses a distributed public
ledger like the blockchain to create a digital ballot box that citizens can use to vote
from anywhere in the world.
An E2E verifiable election detects election authorities who try to misrepresent
outcomes. Voters cast ballots in exchange for receipts that allow them to verify that
(a) their vote was cast as intended; (b) it was recorded as it was cast; and (c) it was
counted as it was recorded. An external third party could verify the election results.
Voters still must accept setup assumptions and take a leap of faith on the election
results.
With DEMOS, the voting system generates a series of randomized numbers.
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Voters get two sets of numbers, or keys: one corresponding to them, and one to their
preferred candidate. After the encrypted vote is cast, it’s sent across multiple servers.
Results are published to a bulletin board publicly displaying all the information
related to the election.