Electronic voting, also known as e-voting, is the use of electronic machines to record or tally votes in an election. This definition encompasses a large number of voting systems, including punchcard systems, which debuted over 40 years ago, as well as the modern Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) systems.
Course DescriptionSelected recent research topics in electronic voting systems, with special emphasis on threats and countermeasures. This course will study the security and privacy, reliability, verifiability, auditability, transparency, complexity, cost, and accessibility to the disabled of current, past, and future voting technologies. Modern technologies include those of Diebolt, Sequoia, VoteHere, Populex, Scytl, Democracy Systems, MIT/CalTech, Ted Selker, and David Chaum. This course will also examine current standards, policies, and laws dealing with electronic voting. Required work includes carrying out and presenting an original research project.
ObjectivesThis course has three main objectives:
- To introduce students to a broad range of research topics in electronic voting systems.
- To help students learn how to design secure information systems, through examples of electronic voting systems.
- To help students learn how to read and present research papers, and to carry out new and significant research projects of their own.