Trust in the correct functioning of electoral systems is a key element in a democracy. When it comes to e-voting, trust is an even more delicate issue since the information and communication technology involved is usually not as easily understandable and controllable as traditional methods. E.g. it is more complex to monitor an electronic vote counting than the counting of paper ballots. The issue of trust is therefore a widely discussed topic when it comes to e-voting. Depending on the e-voting system at stake, there are various measures that can be taken in order to enhance and ensure trust. E.g. a DRE voting machine may provide for a voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT). VVPAT means that a paper ballot for each vote is printed by the electronic device that was used to cast the vote. A VVPAT is intended as an independent verification system for voting machines designed to allow voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly, to detect possible election fraud or malfunction, and to provide a means to audit the stored electronic results.
More general requirements that help build trust in the case of various forms of e-voting systems include:
- maximising the transparency of information on the functioning of the system
- verifiability (e.g. VVPAT or end-to-end verification)
- sufficient public debate on the subject before the introduction of e-voting
- a testing phase in order to gain information on e-voting
The International IDEA Policy Paper “Introducing Electronic Voting: Essential Considerations” identifies a comprehensive range of factors contributing to the building of trust in e-voting systems and visualizes them as a three-layered “pyramid of trust”. It is argued that trust needs to be based on all three layers. The layers themselves are interrelated.
