A Smart Contract for Boardroom Voting with Maximum Voter Privacy

Patrick McCorry, Siamak F. Shahandashti, Feng Hao

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

We present the first implementation of a decentralised and self-tallying internet voting protocol with maximum voter privacy using the Blockchain. The Open Vote Network is suitable for boardroom elections and is written as a smart contract for Ethereum. Unlike previously proposed Blockchain e-voting protocols, this is the first implementation that does not rely on any trusted authority to compute the tally or to protect the voter’s privacy. Instead, the Open Vote Network is a self-tallying protocol, and each voter is in control of the privacy of their own vote such that it can only be breached by a full collusion involving all other voters. The execution of the protocol is enforced using the consensus mechanism that also secures the Ethereum blockchain. We tested the implementation on Ethereum’s official test network to demonstrate its feasibility. Also, we provide a financial and computational breakdown of its execution cost.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFinancial Cryptography and Data Security - 21st International Conference, FC 2017, Revised Selected Papers
Subtitle of host publication21st International Conference, FC 2017, Sliema, Malta, April 3-7, 2017, Revised Selected Papers
EditorsAggelos Kiayias
PublisherSpringer
Pages357-375
Number of pages19
ISBN (Print)978-3-319-70971-0
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017
EventFinancial Cryptography and Data Security - , Malta
Duration: 3 Apr 20177 Apr 2017
http://fc17.ifca.ai/

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume10322 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

ConferenceFinancial Cryptography and Data Security
Abbreviated titleFC
Country/TerritoryMalta
Period3/04/177/04/17
Internet address

Bibliographical note

© Springer, 2017. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details

Keywords

  • electronic voting
  • blockchain
  • smart contracts
  • Ethereum

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