How Our System Works
The best way to explain how our system works is to first divide it into the core areas:
This is divided into High Level Overview diagrams and more detailed Development/Operational Detail diagrams.
How The Voting Process Works
Our voting system and processes are designed to be secure, auditable, Open Source, and to protect Voter Anonymity.
Overview:
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Ballot Marking Device
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Cast Vote and Print Serialized 'A' and 'B' Ballots
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Vote stored on an 'A' and 'B' storage device
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Ballot Scanning Device
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Voter scans in their 'A' and 'B' Ballots
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Image is OCR'd to text
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Image and Textual data storage on 'A' and 'B' storage device
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Voter Retains their 'B' Ballot for Online Auditing
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Should a discrepancy be found by the Voter, the Voter can choose to accept the issue...or they can then come forward with their 'B' Ballot and an affidavit attesting to the problem. Legislation protects the Voter information and anonymity still.
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Simplified
Voter Ballot Auditing In Detail
What if the Voter determines their Vote is counted wrong on the Portal?
Should a Voter determine their vote is wrong on the Portal, they have two options:
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Ignore the issue and allow their Vote to be wrong or invalidated
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Present their 'B' Ballot copy and a signed affidavit to the Election Commission
If the Voter chooses to pursue option 2 their identity will still be protected under legislation. They can, however, come forward as a witness publicly too.
One of the biggest problems within the U.S. Election system is the inability of a Voter to just 'prove' or 'verify' that their Vote was counted properly. It is simply assumed that this has happened. Closed Source systems and a lack of a serialized Voter retained ballot prevent this from occurring.
The IVS solution solves the technological side of this problem.
Our system provides:
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A digital 'A' and 'B' Ballot stored on the Ballot Marking Device
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A digital 'A' and 'B' Ballot stored on the Ballot Scanning Device
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1 physical copy with the local Elections Commission
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1 physical copy with the Voter
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Open Source Software and Hardware for everyone to review
The upload and counting software intakes the 4 digital copies of the Ballots (2 x 'A' and 2 x 'B') and compares them to ensure that all copies agree. If 2 or more copies do not agree, the ballot is flagged for committee review and included in the tally of 'Unverifiable Votes'. These votes are then pulled from physical storage and counted manually.
Voters are able to determine the status of their Ballot by using the online portal and inputting their 'B' Ballots Serial Number. This portal also provides the raw database available for download.
How System Development Works
All systems development (software, hardware, firmware, etc) is Open Source where possible. There is a leveraged 'core' system design and that implementation is extended for each specific Election.
For example:
An Election Commission contracts with us to release a version of the core software for their specific election requirements. This version, once approved by the Commission is signed and released, along with the source code to the public. It should be noted, every Digital Ballot entry and Physical Ballot copy contains the Application Name, Version, and Signature...so that Voters can verify the system against their Ballots.
While anyone can review and study the code...changes are only accepted from verified persons and requires a registration process and proof of U.S. Citizenship.
At this time, there are still some components that are closed source...such as the Texas Instruments AM5728 ARM Cortex A-15 processor itself. We are, however, looking into open source CPU designs for future versions derived from the RISC-V International project.
