voterverified

Voterverified is a term in election technology used to describe systems and processes that allow voters to confirm, after casting a ballot, that their vote has been recorded as cast and that it is included in the final tally. The concept is central to discussions of transparency, verifiability, and public trust in electoral results.

Common implementations include voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPAT), where a physical record is produced for each vote; and end-to-end verifiable voting (E2E-VV) schemes, which use cryptographic techniques to enable external verification of tallies without compromising ballot secrecy. Many jurisdictions use VVPAT in conjunction with electronic voting systems to support post-election audits, such as risk-limiting audits that compare paper records with machine tallies.

Verification methods may be applied to different voting modes, including in-person ballots, mail ballots, or internet-assisted voting. Proponents argue they strengthen accountability and enable independent verification; opponents raise concerns about privacy, coercion, implementation complexity, and the potential for new failure modes. Adoption and standards vary by jurisdiction, with ongoing research and pilot programs in many countries.

Voterverified, as a concept, continues to evolve with advances in cryptography, ballot design, and audit methodologies. It is often discussed alongside broader topics of election security, accessibility, and public confidence in democratic processes.