votesi

Votesi is an open-source framework and protocol designed to support secure, verifiable online voting for civic elections, organizational ballots, and referenda. It emphasizes end-to-end verifiability, privacy, and accessibility, aiming to allow voters to confirm that their vote was cast as intended, stored securely, and counted correctly, without revealing how they voted.

Design and operation: Votesi uses encryption to protect ballot contents, with tallies computed in a way that preserves privacy. A mix-net or homomorphic tallying scheme aggregates encrypted ballots into a final result that can be audited by independent observers using cryptographic proofs. Voter authentication typically relies on multi-factor methods; a separate verification path enables voters to verify receipt and the overall tally through non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs. A trusted setup may be used for some configurations, or a post-quantum ready approach is pursued in newer drafts.

Governance and status: Votesi originated in academic and civic-tech discussions in the early 2020s and has been developed as an open-source project with community governance. Implementations vary by deployment, with pilot tests in non-governmental, municipal, or organizational elections. The software is designed to be platform-agnostic and interoperable with standard voter rolls and ballots.

Reception and challenges: Supporters argue it increases transparency and accessibility while maintaining secrecy. Critics warn that cryptographic complexity can hinder trust, that end-to-end verifiability assumes honest observers and secure client devices, and that deployment requires strong IT infrastructure and robust policy frameworks to prevent coercion and ballot privacy threats.

See also: Electronic voting, End-to-end verifiability, Homomorphic encryption, Mix network, Open-source voting software.