Electric Democracy: Proof of Work to secure Elections

TL;DR

This paper proposes a zero-trust electronic voting system using Proof of Work and cryptography to enhance security, transparency, and societal participation in elections.

Contribution

It introduces a novel voting protocol combining Proof of Work with cryptographic primitives for secure, open-source elections in zero-trust environments.

Findings

Design enables secure, transparent elections with single-use authorizations.

Zero trust approach improves observability and trustworthiness of voting.

Potential to increase voter participation through enhanced availability.

Abstract

Electronic voting consistently fails to supplant conventional paper ballot due to a plethora of security shortcomings. Not only are traditional voting methods mediocre in terms of convenience and interface, they also encompass principal-agent problem, where the state may have vested interest in the outcome of the ballot. Electronic voting protocol using cryptography to deliver in zero trust environments is long overdue. Here I propose using Proof of Work algorithm at user devices in combination with other well-known security primitives to build a zero-trust voting system. The state would only issue single-use voting authorizations to its citizens, while zero trust design would allow conducting elections by an open-source platform with enhanced observability. It is also hypothesized that the heighten availability of plebiscite by means of the proposed design may ultimately change the way our society participates in the policy making.