Alexander Prosser

Electronic voting: algorithmic and implementation issues

Electronic transactions over the Internet, particularly using the World Wide Web have become an integral part of economic life. Recently also the public sector has started to use the new medium for its administrative processes. This paper analyses several approaches to implement an electronic voting system and discusses them with a view to voter anonymity and protection from manipulations. The paper then develops an algorithm designed to guarantee anonymity of the voter and to avoid the risk of manipulation of votes. The algorithm is based upon the strict separation of voter registration and submission of votes, which implies that certain information has to be stored on a secure media. The paper discusses the security criteria and possible implementation options for such secure storage.

The impact of EDI on interorganizational integration

Abstract This paper considers the interorganizational effects of Electronic data interchange (EDI) from a transaction cost perspective. In particular, it uses empirical methods to identify those factors which distinguish open and closed EDI systems. The results obtained show that open EDI furthers market coordination by reducing asset specificity and by making additional partners available, but that the degree of interorganizational integration and mutual dependence is not reduced by the use of open EDI systems alone.

Deploying Electronic Democracy for Public Corporations

The term electronic voting is often used as a method to stop sinking voter turnout or to enhance the accessibility of the election. Before conducting an election using electronic voting, technical standards and legal issues have to be solved. In Austria the “social partnership” model is built upon numerous public corporations, such as the chamber of Commerce or the Student Union. These corporations suffer in contrast to elections to the national parliament from a low voter turnout. As e-voting is seen as one measure to raise voter participation, the Austrian national parliament passed the Student Union bill on 1st of February 2001 that allows e-voting in the context of the bi-annual student elections. In this paper the authors present e-voting in the Student Union in a three-fold way. First the legal situation is addressed, then the acceptance of e-voting by voters and finally the technical solution of a two phased method that is used for a test election during the 2003 Student Union elections. It is based on a Kerberos-style algorithm designed to guarantee the separation of the identification process and the registration process as well as to prevent a malicious server administration from generating fake votes.

E-Democracy: Eine neue Qualität im demokratischen Entscheidungsprozess

AbstractThe paper outlines the use of Internet-based services which support the citizen’s participation in democratic decision making. This may concern electronic voting as well as electronic petitions and initiatives. Existing or proposed system variants were analyzed in regards to their adherence to democratic principles. The findings show that hardly any of them were able to fulfil the standards required in regards to democratic voting procedures.The paper proposes an alternative system for electronic voting via the Internet and discusses its implementation.Electronic voting as well as electronic initiatives create new opportunities for the participation of the individual in political decision making due to considerable decreases in transaction costs.

Technology-Enabled Innovation for Democracy, Government and Governance

This paper analyses the legal basis and technical possibilities for citizen participation by electronic means on the European Union level; in particular, the various forms of dialogue introduced by Art 11 TEU as well as Art 20 TFEU are analysed. [1a, 1b]

Advancing Democracy, Government and Governance

Knowledge Management in Government is high on the agenda and new developments give strong impulses. The contribution portrays chances and challenges in conjunction with these trends and discusses the following subjects: Knowledge Transfer, Best Practice Case Collections, Open Government Data, Social Media, Mobile Government, and Semantic Technologies.

E-voting: usability and acceptance of two-stage voting procedures

Two-stage voting procedures, where registration for voting and actual vote casting are separated, are considered a viable way to ensure voter secrecy and anonymity in casting votes. This, however, comes at a price; a media has to be constructed to bridge these two phases and to ensure that the media cannot be abused. This contribution reports about an e-voting test among Austrians abroad conducted in 2006, which focused on the usability issues of such two-stage procedures.

The Role of the Election Commission in Electronic Voting

In this paper the control possibilities of an Election Commission in an Electronic Voting process are described and technical solutions are presented. Decisions in the committee need not be made unanimously, rather arbitrarily defined quora are supported.

Implementation of Quorum-Based Decisions in an Election Committee

The paper proposes a method to implement the role of an election committee in electronic voting. Decisions in the committee need not be made unanimously, rather arbitrarily defined quora are supported.

Ein Algorithmus zur sicheren elektronischen Stimmabgabe über das Internet

In einem grundlegenden Beitrag identifizieren Nurmi, Salomaa und Santean [1] zwei Dienste im Rahmen eines E-Voting-Systems: den Registrator, bei dem eine elektronische Wahlberechtigung eingeholt wird, und die Stimmabgabestelle (elektronische Urne). Im folgenden wird die Eignung von aus der Literatur bekannten Verfahren diskutiert und ein eigener Vorschlag vorgestellt.3