Voterverifiable

Voterverifiable refers to election systems and processes that allow voters to confirm that their vote was cast as intended, recorded as cast, and tallied correctly. The goal is to increase transparency, accountability, and public trust in elections by enabling independent verification by voters and observers. Although often written as voter-verifiable or voter-verifiability in official documents, the term voterverifiable is used here to describe the concept in one word.

Common implementations include voter-verifiable paper audit trails (VVPAT), which provide a physical record matched to electronic tallies, allowing voters and inspectors to verify that the paper record corresponds to the electronic vote. End-to-end verifiability (E2E-V) schemes use cryptographic proofs to show that ballots are included in the final tally without exposing individual voter choices. In practice, many systems combine these approaches with risk-limiting audits (RLAs), which statistically verify outcomes by sampling ballots and comparing them to reported results. Ballot imaging, verifiable logs, and strict chain-of-custody procedures also support voterverifiability.

Benefits of voterverifiable systems include greater auditability, the potential to detect and deter manipulation, enhanced public confidence, and a clearer linkage between cast ballots and final results. Challenges include higher costs, technical complexity, and the need to protect voter privacy while providing meaningful verifiability. Implementing voterverifiability requires robust governance, transparent procedures, accessibility considerations, and trained personnel to conduct and interpret audits.

Related concepts include verifiability, VVPAT, end-to-end verifiability, and risk-limiting audits. The term underscores a broader movement toward election integrity through mechanisms that empower voters to confirm the accuracy of electoral outcomes.