End-to-end verifiable election systems (E2E systems) provide a provably correct tally while maintaining the secrecy of each voter's ballot, even if the voter is complicit in demonstrating how they voted. Providing voter incoercibility is one of the main challenges of designing E2E systems, particularly in the case of internet voting. A second challenge is building deployable, human-voteable E2E systems that conform to election laws and conventions. This dissertation examines deployability, coercion-resistance, and their intersection in election systems. In the course of this study, we introduce three new election systems, (Scantegrity, Eperio, and Selections), report on two real-world elections using E2E systems (Punchscan and Scantegrity), and study incoercibility issues in one deployed system (Punchscan). In addition, we propose and study new practical primitives for random beacons, secret printing, and panic passwords. These are tools that can be used in an election to, respectively, generate publicly verifiable random numbers, distribute the printing of secrets between non-colluding printers, and to covertly signal duress during authentication. While developed to solve specific problems in deployable and incoercible E2E systems, these techniques may be of independent interest.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-40).

Thesis--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 40-42).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Florida, 2005. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 105 pages. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation investigates changes in election results associated with adoption of different voting technologies. The empirical application uses election data for different offices from the period 1994-2002. We exploit a discontinuity associated with a change of the voting mechanism, from paper ballot to Direct Recording Electronic (DRE), conditioned on Brazilian election structure with overlap (local elections held two years out of phase with general elections) as a source of identification for election results determinants. We find robust evidence that the shift to an easier voting mechanism reflected on an enfranchising effect (increase in valid votes) which ultimately resulted in more political competitiveness. The impact on election outcome creates a source of identification for the determinants of mayors decision related to municipalities\' resource allocation. Specifically, we find evidence suggesting that facing an increase in political competition municipalities with a previous low level of competition reallocate public spending towards health care. / Essa dissertação consiste em uma análise das mudanças em resultados eleitorais associadas a adoção do voto eletrônico em 1998. Utiliza-se para essa investigação, a análise empírica de resultados das eleições para diferentes cargos entre 1994 e 2002. A partir da descontinuidade associada à adoção do voto eletrônico em 1998, em substituição à cédula de votação, e da estrutura sazonal das eleições brasileira (que, com um intervalo de dois anos, alterna as eleições municipais e as estaduais/federais) exploramos o impacto eleitoral da adoção da nova tecnologia e os desdobramentos em outras variáveis políticas. Encontramos forte evidência de que o voto eletrônico resultou em enfranchising (aumento dos votos válidos) e, em última instância, em maior nível de competição política. Usamos a mudança no grau de competição como fonte para identificação dos determinantes da alocação de gastos municipais. Especificamente, encontramos evidências que sugerem que aumentos no nível de competição política, para municípios com níveis menos acirrados de disputada eleitoral, tem impacto na realocação dos orçamento público municipal em direção aos gastos com saúde.

Due to resource-saving and efficiency consideration, electronic voting (e-voting) gradually replaces traditional paper-based voting in some developed countries. An anonymous e-voting system that can be used in elections with large electorates must meet various security requirements, such as anonymity, uncoercibility, tally correctness, unrecastability, verifiability, and so on. Especially, the uncoercibility property is an essential property which can greatly reduce the possibility of coercion and bribe. Since each voter can obtain one and only one voting receipt in an electronic voting system, coercers or bribers can enforce legal voters to show their voting receipts to identify whether the enforced voters follow their will or not. It turns out that the coercion and bribe will succeed more easily in digital environments than that in traditional paper-based voting. In this dissertation, we analyze four possible scenarios leading to coercion and discover that the randomization property is necessary to blind-signature-based e-voting systems against coercion. Based on this result, we extend our research and come up with two provably secure randomized blind signature schemes from different cryptographic primitives, which can be adopted as key techniques for an electronic voting system against coercion and bribery.

Due to convenience and efficiency, electronic voting (e-voting) techniques gradually replace traditional paper-based voting activities in some developed countries. A secure anonymous e-voting system has to satisfy many properties, such as completeness, tally correctness, and uncoercibility, where the uncoercibility property is the most difficult one to be achieved. Since each voter can obtain a voting receipt in an electronic voting system, coercion and bribe (vote-buying and vote-selling are included) become more and more serious in electronic voting environments than traditional paper-based voting environments. Unfortunately, most of the solutions, like receipt-freeness or untappable channels, proposed in the literature, are impractical owing to lack of efficiency or too complicated to be implemented. It will make uncoercible e-voting systems unacceptable by the people. In order to cope with the drawbacks of the previous schemes, this thesis will present a generic idea, which is independent of the underlying cryptographic components, on electronic voting to achieve the uncoercibility property and other requirements. The proposed method is an efficient and quite practical solution to match the current environments of electronic voting.

This dissertation investigates changes in election results associated with adoption of different voting technologies. The empirical application uses election data for different offices from the period 1994-2002. We exploit a discontinuity associated with a change of the voting mechanism, from paper ballot to Direct Recording Electronic (DRE), conditioned on Brazilian election structure with overlap (local elections held two years out of phase with general elections) as a source of identification for election results determinants. We find robust evidence that the shift to an easier voting mechanism reflected on an enfranchising effect (increase in valid votes) which ultimately resulted in more political competitiveness. The impact on election outcome creates a source of identification for the determinants of mayors decision related to municipalities\' resource allocation. Specifically, we find evidence suggesting that facing an increase in political competition municipalities with a previous low level of competition reallocate public spending towards health care. / Essa dissertação consiste em uma análise das mudanças em resultados eleitorais associadas a adoção do voto eletrônico em 1998. Utiliza-se para essa investigação, a análise empírica de resultados das eleições para diferentes cargos entre 1994 e 2002. A partir da descontinuidade associada à adoção do voto eletrônico em 1998, em substituição à cédula de votação, e da estrutura sazonal das eleições brasileira (que, com um intervalo de dois anos, alterna as eleições municipais e as estaduais/federais) exploramos o impacto eleitoral da adoção da nova tecnologia e os desdobramentos em outras variáveis políticas. Encontramos forte evidência de que o voto eletrônico resultou em enfranchising (aumento dos votos válidos) e, em última instância, em maior nível de competição política. Usamos a mudança no grau de competição como fonte para identificação dos determinantes da alocação de gastos municipais. Especificamente, encontramos evidências que sugerem que aumentos no nível de competição política, para municípios com níveis menos acirrados de disputada eleitoral, tem impacto na realocação dos orçamento público municipal em direção aos gastos com saúde.

This dissertation consists of three papers exploring how critical historical moments can produce different electoral patterns in Latin American countries. Through the comprehension of times in which new institutions emerge (or are reformed), the articles investigate how factors can move voters beyond what the discipline has acknowledged as the typical patterns of voting behavior. Specifically, the papers look at elements such as biased information exposure during the expansion of the voting franchise, changes in technological and procedural rules of elections, and long-term exposure to autocratic government repression on the eve of the re-birth of democratic institutions. The first paper studies the 1958 Chilean presidential election to assess the impact of pro-partisan informational channels on aggregate voting patterns by using information retrieved from national election archives and an original dataset for radio stations across the territory. The analysis exploits as-if random variation in signal reception using a linear regression model to estimate the effect of exposure to pro-partisan radio signal strength on electoral results. Results show that exposure to partisan radio substantially increases electoral support for the ideologically closest candidates, providing persuasive evidence regarding the relevance of informational control. The second article explores the effect of the different periods of Pinochet’s repression machinery on the 1988 plebiscite results by using a two-part methodological strategy, achieved through collecting ecological data of repression cases, pre-existing security infrastructure, aggregate electoral outcomes, and survey responses. The first strategy employs a two-stage least square model to observe the possible influence of repression’s geographical variation on electoral outcomes. The second approach looks at a multilevel logistic regression with survey observations to assess the possible influence of different levels of repression on individual self-reported vote choice. Results show a null relationship between the variables of interest, but it is not possible to reject the idea that repression doomed Pinochet’s regime because its effect could be mediated by television and campaign ads. Lastly, the third paper investigates how the introduction of new voting technologies can decrease the rate of residual votes by limiting the capacity of political and bureaucratic agents to intervene during the vote-counting moment. Based on district-level data for elections in Peru and Paraguay, the analysis of this research uses a comparative framework taking advantage of the conditions under which the implementation of electronic voting happened by using a group-time difference-in-difference model. The quantitative exploration is complemented by in-depth interviews conducted in both countries. Results show that the implementation of electronic voting is associated with a decrease in the rate of residual votes that can be attributed to the user—error reduction and the limitation of political activists’ capacities to influence the rate of null votes. The findings of the different articles can serve as an important addition to the broader literature on comparative politics and political behavior in Latin America. Moreover, they highlight the relevance of observing how unique conditions and novel institutional settings might be essential to revisit crucial historical moments and comprehensively understand factors that shape political dynamics.

<p>One of the major reasons for political instability in Sub-Saharan Africa originates from the way elections are conducted. Most African countries have quite a handful of electoral malpractices which lead to political instability, civil wars and low economic growth.  Electronic voting might be a solution to the election problems and thus bring in a stable political atmosphere which attracts investors.</p><p>This thesis looks at the prospects and challenges of implementing e-voting in Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa as a solution to the current manual paper-based system and proposes a framework and requirements which can be used as guidelines for its adoption and implementation.</p><p>The thesis has been conducted by studying literature on electronic voting and Diffusion of Innovations Theory. Furthermore, a case study has been conducted on the Ghanaian electoral process, by conducting interviews with the Danquah Institute of Ghana and through questionnaires to some Ghanaian citizens in both the rural and urban areas of Ghana.</p><p>The main results from the thesis show that the adoption and subsequent implementation of e-voting in SSA countries, can only be possible if the governments show strong committment and support by securing funds through donor organizations, and providing the necessary IT infrastructure and other resources needed to support the project. Voter education too is an absolute necessity. The adoption of e-voting is mainly based on how the innovation will be diffused and the perceived benefits that will be derived from the investment. Hence, particular attention should be paid to the various communication channels, especially the media, through which messages are passed across to the citizens.</p>