Before starting to answer, it is important to precisely define the anonymity notions linked to a voting process.
- The voter’s anonymity: nobody knows who voted
- The voting form anonymity: nobody knows to whom the form belongs
Anonymity of the voter
It is essential to determine whether the list of voters will be public, private or impossible to produce. Various techniques allow creating this type of anonymity. OAdeo proposes a whole set of solutions to meet the specific voting rules of an election.
Anonymity of the voting form
This is the issue addressed by the question “is the vote anonymous?”. Indeed, in a paper ballot, the anonymity of the envelope containing the form (inserted in the ballot) is the guarantee of the confidentiality.
In the case of a computer based election, the anonymity is achieved if nobody “watches” while the system is working. It means that the organisers and system designers must be trusted by you. Moreover they must make sure that they will not “break the confidentiality” when they connect on the servers or look at the logs.
The anonymity of the form as a basis of the confidentiality for electronic ballot is obviously a little satisfying solution. With OAdeo, the anonymity of the forms is not necessary. As confidentiality is reached thanks to inalienable and verifiable mathematical principles: you do not need to trust us! The confidentiality of the election is complete even if we connect on the servers or if we look at the system logs.