Election Day in Republia
Transforming Public Elections in Emerging Democracies
Co-authored by Netvote Election Advisory Council Secretary, Jeffrey Phillips.
It’s Election Day in Republia, a resource-rich nation of 25 million people that recently emerged from decades of conflict. The stakes are high as leaders from various parties seek to bind together a unified nation through the power of the ballot. A successful election with high voter turnout that produces legitimate leaders would be a tremendous stride forward toward democratic peace and stability. The converse, an election fraught with low turnout, intimidation, violence, and vote tampering would instead reignite the past grievances that have fueled its civil war.
Several factors risk the integrity of the election. Extremists fearful of losing their privileged status have threatened Election Day violence. Local political bosses promise monetary rewards to residents who vote for their choice candidate, leaving voters with little choice but succumb to vote buying. In rural areas, farmers and miners doubt the utility of traveling hours to reach the nearest polling station. Knowing polling stations are not accessible, disabled voters are resigned to the fact that their journey to the polls will be time wasted. Migrant workers who are registered to vote in their home district but work in the capital city debate if it’s worth the lost wages to take a torturous bus ride home to vote, only to board the bus the next day to return to work.
Of course, Republia is a fictional country, but the scenario is one that is all too familiar in emerging democracies. Paper ballot voting in the developing world is fraught with challenges that undermine democratic processes. “Traditional” e-voting is expensive and raises security concerns. Fortunately, innovations in voting technology are creating opportunities that empower voters, boost turnout, reduce irregularities and human error, and all at a fraction of the cost of paper ballot elections. This is the promise of Netvote.
Netvote provides an open source platform that moves voting, tabulation and auditing for elections to the public blockchain. Netvote is a 100 percent open source, publicly auditable platform that provides true voter anonymity. In other words, the technology is un-hackable since anonymized votes are stored on publicly viewable ledgers. Coercion-proofing further ensures that voters will be able to cast a ballot for their candidate of choice.
How would this work in Republia?
Sponsored Voting
Sponsored voting will look differently depending on the type of election. In emerging democracies like Republia, it might mean getting an ally or non-governmental organization to offset some of the election cost. It could come in the form of a donated vote allowance.
To administer the election, the Republian election commission needs a vote allowance capable of supporting 10 million eligible voters. At ten cents per vote, the election costs $1 million, significantly cheaper than competing solutions. But there are options for additional cost savings through sponsorship. Development agencies or pro-democracy organizations might contribute by donating a share of vote the vote allowance needed to run an election on Netvote’s blockchain protocol.
Registration
Voter registration requires voters, in almost every case, to have a recognized form of identification. Republia, like many emerging democracies, has large portions of the population disenfranchised by a lack of official identity. This makes voter registration and exercising civic duties nearly impossible for many would-be voters.
Countries like Republia will lead the charge toward improved solutions for voter registration by leapfrogging methods reliant on institutions with little practical penetration in these places, such as postal services or motor vehicle departments. Partnerships and integrations with projects such as with Procivis, ID2020 and Civic, which are working to help identify the unidentified using decentralized architecture with blockchain and biometrics, or uPort would allow for a simple and elegant voter registration process. The transitional Republian government partners with these entities during a promotional period to drive voter registration.
Authentication
Republian voters with citizen credentials acquired through registration have everything they need to authenticate for voting. Read more about authentication here.
On Election Day, registered voters in Republia would have two options for casting ballots.
Polling Stations
Polling stations are important in elections for a variety of reasons. They can be places where voters feel safe casting free and fair choices. Voters can obtain information and instruction about an election. Observers stand by to ensure the openness of the democratic process. Emotionally, they lend some authority and formality to an election.
However, polling stations can also present problems. In some instances, they offer a one-stop-shop for those who would incite violence and intimidate or coerce voters. They can be time-consuming and costly to set up, and training and paying qualified poll workers is a task fraught with challenges. Ultimately, traditional polling stations disenfranchise voters who can’t make it to the polls.
In Republia, Netvote will facilitate voting at polling stations in areas where voter intimidation is not known to be a problem. Using mobile devices and tablets donated by election observers, voters authenticate and are taken to the user-friendly ballot on a distributed app. Polls will be less expensive to set up, allowing Republia to provide polling stations even in areas with smaller populations.
Absentee Voting
Yet not everyone can access the polls or has a desire to travel to the polls. Republia, like many developing nations, has populations living hours from the closest polling station or who live overseas but are still citizens and want to participate in the new democratic process. The country has deep penetration of Internet access and mobile device usage. For those voters in areas with no signal access, mesh-networks such as RightMesh will help allow voters to cast a ballot.
Registered voters receive a notice from the Election Commission that they can download a voting app. Those voters living over an hour or more from a polling station, are disabled or away from home, or are living in an area where voter intimidation is anticipated will all be encouraged to vote remotely. Voter authentication will happen the same way it would at a polling station.
Republia believes one day every voter will vote from their own homes, but knows polling stations still play a vital role in establishing a democratic process. For now, those with nearby polling stations or without personal computers or mobile phones will be encouraged to travel to polling stations where tablets will be available with trained staff to provide assistance.
Voter Incentives
The interim Republian government wants to encourage 100 percent participation across its eligible voting population. They initially considered compulsory voting but decided instead on a system of voter incentives. Voters who participate in this inaugural election will receive a QR code associated with their unique voter ID allowing them to either receive easily redeemable discounts on government services or a cash rebate. The latter is available to voters under a certain income level.
This formal incentive program — made possible by the donated vote allowance from NGOs — is designed to both combat apathy, as well as to prevent voters from falling prey to the far-too-common corrupt practice of vote buying. Government service discounts have the added benefit of driving engagement in the new government. The small cash rebate is expected to have the effect of injecting economic activity into low income areas and catalyzing commerce at small, family-run enterprises.
Coercion Proofing
Before voting begins, Republians will be given an option to set up two electronic pins: one to verify their vote and the other to use in the case of voter intimidation. The “false” pin will simulate a used ballot to protect voters should they find themselves forced to reveal their vote to an intimidator.
Delayed Reveal
The transitional government wants to ensure no voter feels influenced by another’s vote. They have opted for a “delayed reveal” that will hold the vote tally secure and secret until the polls are closed. After the determined voting period ends, voters, election observers, the government, and the general public will be able to audit results.
Public Audit
Netvote’s public audit dApps allow for free and easy audit by any interested party. In addition to authenticating their own vote, voters can participate in the transparency of the election by reviewing the election results at large, with voter anonymity completely protected.
Impact
So how would this technology affect the risk factors previously discussed? Voter intimidation and electoral violence would be mitigated as the number of voters traveling to polling stations is greatly reduced. Rampant vote buying significantly declines as the accountability mechanism for making payments, namely checking voters names off lists outside the polling station is largely eliminated, empowering voters to select the candidates they feel are best suited to represent their priorities. Rural voters, disabled voters and migrant workers with mobile phones can vote from the comfort of their home. Errors in the laborious counting process, and the risk of tampering in transit to regional tabulation centers are eliminated. Instead, the Republia Election Commission will have publicly verifiable election results instantly when polls close.
The cost of Netvote is as much as 60% less than the traditional paper ballot system, preserving scarce resources for necessary economic development programs.
In this fictional scenario, voters turn out in droves and have high confidence in the results. Citizens elect new leadership that shepherd Republia into the future as a responsible member of the international community that protects human rights at home and realizes the potential of its citizens.
Since the dawn of the Internet age, there has been much fanfare about e-voting. However, risks of hacking and low internet penetration have, until now, rendered e-voting an utopian vision. Netvote and its blockchain technology, coupled with affordable internet and accessible mobile devices are disrupting this notion.
As the march of democracy continues around the world, Netvote is taking a giant leap forward.
To read more about Netvote or download our protocol white paper, please visit our website.
