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Commercial launch of the blockchain service for online voting

Nov 18, 2020

The technological base of the service

The core of the system is the Waves Enterprise blockchain network, which implements the interactions between voters, as well as the acceptance, tallying and immutable storage of the data about their votes. The votes are stored in an encrypted form on each node of the decentralized network, which rules out the possibility of their modification or loss. Thanks to the role model integrated into the network, only authorized users can access the voting process, its contents and results.

Cryptographic protocol

Each voting poll is securely protected by cryptographic algorithms that ensure the voting data’s encryption and the participants’ choices. The cryptographic protocol provides the ability to verify data, prove its integrity and immutability at all stages of voting, starting from the moment voters send their votes and ending with the processing of votes for the final summing up of voting results. The protocol uses the following algorithms:

DKG Pedersen 91 on elliptical curves
Homomorphic encryption
Zero-Knowledge proofs

Next, we will reveal the listed algorithms in more detail.

DKG Pedersen 91

Encryption of votes and decryption of voting results is performed using cryptographic keys generated using the Distributed Key Generation (DKG) protocol proposed by Torben Pedersen in 1991. Thanks to the DKG algorithm combined with blockchain technology, the voting process becomes transparent and verifiable, and encryption keys cannot be compromised in the event of an attack on any node of the blockchain network. Simultaneously, neither the organizer nor anyone else can access the participants ‘ votes until they are counted, decrypted, and the final results are published.

Homomorphic encryption

The anonymity of voting is enabled by an algorithm based on the ElGamal encryption scheme, which possesses the properties of additive homomorphism and is known as homomorphic encryption. This mechanism allows for counting ballots in an encrypted form without disclosing any specific voter’s choice.

Zero-knowledge proofs

Thanks to the use of the zero-knowledge proof technique, end users will be able to verify the correctness of a claimed result of an election. The voting process is transparent and censorship-resistant since organizers do not know how the voting participants voted. In contrast, participants can check whether their vote was registered and correctly counted in the voting results.

Waves Enterprise’s approach of combining blockchain technologies with cryptographic algorithms has allowed us to create an online voting service that meets the modern user’s needs for reliability, privacy and transparency of e-voting. It significantly reduces the cost of organizing voting, polls, and even large-scale elections and referendums.