eVoting

Due to the elections in the USA there have been a number of articles about eVoting and the security of voting machines.

It was interesting to see in an article "Internet-based and open source: How e-voting works around the globe" http://arstechnica.com/features/2012/11/internet-based-and-open-source-how-e-voting-is-working-around-the-globe/2/ a comparison of banking and eVoting

"With banking, you want to know—and have an extensive record—of what actions were taken when, and you associate them with a certain person. Voting, however, requires secrecy, and separation from a person and a specific identity. Furthermore, with banking, there is insurance and other precautions put into place to reassure customers against fraud."

The comparison is good, with online banking an audit trial of transactions is important, however for voting there is a need for security and strong authentication, however anonymity is not necessary a requisite for an eVoting system if it is to mirror some of the paper systems.

Within the UK there is security and authentication, although often this is weak, involved in voting but there is no anonymity, a person's identity is tied to their vote. All voting papers in the UK have an unique number that is recorded against the name of the voter when they attend at the polling station, this allows the authorities (with a court order) to trace how an individual voted.