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VOTE IN TOTAL
CONFIDENCE VIA THE INTERNET!
The European
Commission launches the € 3.2 million CyberVote project to demonstrate
over the next 3 years fully verifiable on-line elections guaranteeing
absolute privacy of the votes and using fixed and mobile Internet
terminals.
Context of the project
CyberVote, "an
innovative cyber voting system for Internet terminals and mobile
phones", is a research and development (RDT) project being funded by
the European Commission, with additional funding from the companies and
organisations undertaking the work. It is part of the Information Society
Technologies (IST) 1999 programme for research, technology development and
demonstration under the fifth framework programme (5th PCRD). It is
attached to Key Action "Systems and Services for the Citizens".
Project description
The goal of the CyberVote
project is to develop and demonstrate an on-line voting system integrating
a highly secure and verifiable Internet voting protocol, and designed to
be used at local, regional, national or European elections.
The project will analyse the
laws in force in the participating countries in order to identify the
requirements the system shall meet but also to study possible amendments
to allow its use in the legal framework in Europe.
This system will allow
voters to cast their vote through the use of Internet terminals such as
PCs, handheld devices and mobile phones. It will rely upon an innovative
voting protocol, designed within the project, that uses advanced
cryptographic tools. This protocol will ensure authentication of the
voters, integrity and privacy of their vote when sending it over the
Internet and during the vote counting and auditing process.
This system will be tested
in 2003 during trial elections that will be held in Germany, France and
Sweden. These trials will involve more than 3000 voters and will allow
full assessment of the system before any potential product launch.
The CyberVote project
officially started on 1 September 2000 and will end on 1 March 2003.
Social objectives
This project aims to achieve
an improvement of the democratic process by increasing voter participation
and thereby increasing the number of votes. On-line voting should lead to
an increase of citizens taking part in numerous types of elections.
The project will evaluate to
what extent on-line voting influences voter participation. CyberVote
should improve the voting process for all voters, but examples of citizens
who should particularly benefit from CyberVote include people with limited
mobility (the disabled, the ill, hospital patients, the elderly, etc.),
people travelling during the election day, and expatriates. The system
will satisfy their requirements by allowing them to cast their vote
without the need to go to their usual polling station. However, voters
will still have the option to vote via the usual paper procedure.
This system relies upon a
flexible and innovative approach. It will facilitate an increased and
equal participation in democratic processes. It will likely lead to a
substantial cost reduction in the electoral process for both the citizens
and the affected administrations. It will emphasise the transparency in a
convenient and user-friendly approach.
CyberVote will be simple to
use, accessible and affordable for all voters and candidates.
Security
CyberVote will allow the
voters to cast their vote in total confidentiality by preserving their
privacy during the whole voting procedure.
As this goal cannot be
achieved by a simple combination of off-the-shelf cryptographic
primitives, special-purpose cryptographic protocols will be used to
implement this unique set of security properties. The fundamental problem
addressed involves the simultaneous fulfilment of absolute ballot secrecy
and full auditability of the voting system.
Technology
The implemented system will
offer on-line voting through different kinds of Internet access. It will
allow voters to use commercially available equipment (PCs, handheld
devices or mobile phones) or existing public equipment (self-service
Internet access terminals, Internet booths, polling station equipment,
etc.).
Partners involved
The CyberVote project is
carried out by a consortium led by EADS Matra Systèmes & Information
and grouping together European partners. This consortium comprises:
Industrial partners:
- EADS Matra Systèmes & Information of France, http://www.matra-msi.com
- Nokia Research Centre of Finland, http://www.nokia.com
- British Telecommunications of the United Kingdom, http://www.bt.com
University partners:
- K.U.Leuven Research & Development of Belgium, http://www.kuleuven.ac.be/kuleuven/
- Technische Universiteit Eindhoven of The Netherlands, http://www.tue.nl
User partners:
- Freie Hansestadt Bremen of Germany, http://www.bremen.de/info/statistik
- Mairie d'Issy-les-Moulineaux of France, http://www.issy.com
- Kista Stadsdelsnämnd of Sweden, http://www.kista.com
This consortium has been set
up to allow the project to benefit from all the necessary expertise needed
for its realisation (experts in fixed and mobile Internet architectures,
researches in cryptography and security, experts in legal questions and
voter rights) and its experimentation during local, regional or national
elections.
CyberVote will be assessed
in Sweden in the borough of Kista/Stockholm, in France by the city of
Issy-les-Moulineaux and in Germany in the state of Bremen.
Point of Contact
For further information, please contact the
CyberVote Project Director :
EADS Matra Systèmes & Information
Mr Stéphan BRUNESSAUX
Tél : +33 2 32 63 40 55
Fax : +33 2 32 63 42 00
Email : sbrunessaux@matra-ms2i.fr
Web : http://www.eucybervote.org
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