RU2753392C1 - Method for secret ballot voting and electronic apparatus for implementation thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: checking-devices.SUBSTANCE: invention relates to methods and apparatuses intended for conducting and operational support of electoral processes. The electronic apparatus for secret ballot voting is comprised of: a cover whereon a monitor screen is mounted and a base panel located whereon are a start button, ten drawing buttons marked with numbers from 0 to 9, a comma button for separating the elected if there are several thereof, an Internet key, a plastic card reception slot and a paper receipt issuing slot, mounted inside into the circuit of the electronic apparatus are an electronic counter, a scanner connected with the plastic card reception slot, and a receipt printer connected with the paper receipt issuing slot, a processor unit, a telecommunication information exchange apparatus, an external electronic and optical media storing/reading apparatus, operating under software control.EFFECT: eliminating the possibility of falsification of the vote of a voter, resulting in increased security during election.2 cl, 3 dwg

Description

The invention relates to methods and devices intended for conducting and operational support of electoral processes of secret ballot during elections, polls, referendums, allowing to neutralize any falsification, including hacking.

Known methods of secret ballot, based on the use of paper ballots, in which the voter, entering the booth for secret ballot, personally marks the selected candidate on the ballot, after which the voter lowers the ballot into the ballot box [see, for example, US Pat. RF No. 2153192 for class G07C 13/00 published on July 20, 2000; or US Pat. RF No. 2178203 for class G07C 13/00 published on January 20, 2000; or US Pat. RF No. 2178203 for class G07C 13/00 published on 10.01.2002].

The main disadvantage of the known methods is their high complexity of implementation due to the need to make a large number of paper ballots, the difficulty in counting votes when processing the voting results, as well as the possibility of compromising the voting results if a part of the voters conspired, and they all fill in incorrectly (with errors) your ballots. Then, after the announcement of the voting results, the organizers of the compromise accuse the election commission of fraud. This circumstance alone is sufficient to consider these methods of secret ballot unsuitable for practical use.

Automation of vote counting and reduction of the labor intensity of this operation is carried out during the transition to the use of electronic ballots. The method consists in the fact that before voting, the members of the commission give the subject of will an electronic means for identification, containing a unique identification number, in the booth for secret voting, the subject of will enters the specified means into a computer, voting is carried out by the subject of the expression of will in a given form of a visual image of an electronic ballot on the computer touch screen of the choice sign in the field related to the object of will, in favor of which the choice was made, while a record of the choice made is formed in the computer and the code is erased from the identification tool, which I hand over to the commission, the generated form of the electronic bulletin is displayed by the subject of will using a printer on paper and puts it in a sealed ballot box [see. Patent RF 2212056 for class G07C 13/00 published 09/10/2000].

The main disadvantage of this method is that the electronic ballot is less protected from attempts to compromise the voting system. Thus, multiple use of the same electronic ballot is possible, the secrecy of voting is not ensured. An attack on the voting system using false means of identifying the voter is possible. The voter receives his identification code at the election commission, and due to the anonymity of the voting procedure, the voter cannot check how many similar codes and to whom they were issued.

The use of technology for the formation of electronic digital signatures makes it possible to introduce strict accounting of all legally significant actions into electoral systems of electronic voting. For example, there is a known method of electronic voting, in which all actions of voters are under control, since under each document formed by the voter (electronic ballot and receipt for receipt), he puts his electronic digital signature and sends it to the election commission [see. pat. RF No. 2242793 for class G06F 17/40 published on 20.12.2004].

The main disadvantage of this method of electronic voting is that the voter is forced to trust the election commission in terms of ensuring his anonymity. A voter cannot be guaranteed that his anonymity will never be compromised. The databases of the electoral commission containing a bunch of a voter's name with his identification number can be stolen (compromised). If encrypted, the encryption key may be compromised.

The closest in essence and the achieved effect, taken as a prototype, are a secret ballot method and an electronic device for its implementation, the essence of which is as follows.

The method of secret voting consists in the fact that the subject of the expression of will, after his identification, carried out by presenting an identity document, and visual verification by a member of the election commission of the photo image on the identity document, with the subject of the expression of will and registration on paper - a list of subjects of will, receives from a member of the commission a protected document of strict accountability - an electronic means of identification, which is activated by a unique identification number and confirms his suffrage, in a secret voting booth the subject of will enters the specified removable electronic means of identification into the computer of a device or complex for electronic voting, voting is performed by entering into a given the form of the visual image of the electronic bulletin on the touch screen of the computer of the choice sign in the field related to the object of will, in favor of which the choice was made, while in the computer Then, a record of the choice made is formed and the code is erased from the identification tool, which submits to the commission, the generated form of the image of the electronic bulletin is displayed by the subject of will using a printer on paper. At the same time, the complex for electronic voting is set up, the results are processed for the types of elections held to participate in voting simultaneously, by entering the setting information using a telecommunication exchange device or an external storage medium, information is exchanged between the devices of the complex for electronic voting, and the results are processed by receiving / transfer of information through bidirectional interface communications, carried out by cable connection, connection via optical, acoustic or radio signal or other data transmission medium, or by transferring information through external media, registration of the exercised right of subjects of will to vote is carried out on the device of a member of the precinct commission for voting on an electronic carrier in the electronic list of the subjects of will expression of the site, the subject of the will receives from a member of the precinct commission an external information carrier containing, for the types of elections held simultaneously at the polling station, one or more signals, each of which consists of an electronic digital signature code, a voting act code certifying the right of the subject of will to vote, a unique identification code, a number or index code of a polling station, a date code voting, an election type code that is placed (recorded, applied, printed, etc.) on an external medium together with the code of the act of voting, the subject of will confirms the receipt of the external medium with his signature or other mark in a paper copy of the list of subjects of will of the site for voting, the subject of the expression of will activates the electronic voting procedure by placing the received external information carrier into the input / output device of the electronic voting device, the electronic voting device performs a control check for the presence of electron codes digital signature, the act of voting, compliance of the act of voting with the electronic digital signature code, verification of the compliance of the code of the voting precinct number contained in the signal on the external data carrier with the voting precinct number contained in the information base of the electronic voting device, the code of the voting date of the current date, verification of the presence of a code on the use of the right to vote, in the absence of any of the listed codes on the external medium, the subject of will is given a message about the refusal to vote, otherwise an image of an electronic ballot corresponding to one from unmarked or unused signals placed on an external storage medium, the subject of the expression of will conducts a vote by confirming touching the touch screen of the video monitor in the highlighted screen field related to the object in oleicon, in favor of which the choice was made, while a mark is made in the highlighted field of the screen - the sign of the choice; until the final confirmation of the choice, the subject of will expression is given the opportunity to repeat the selection procedure an unlimited number of times, after making the selection, the electronic voting device automatically generates in the information base an electronic record of the completed voting act, containing the result of the choice made by the subject of will expression in favor of one of the voting objects and the act code voting; marks the signal on the external storage medium corresponding to the implemented voting by placing a code or mark on the use of the right to vote on the external storage medium; removes the image of the electronic ballot from the touch screen of the video monitor, the control check procedure; upon completion of the voting cycles, the electronic voting device prints out an authentic printed copy of the electronic records of all completed voting acts, which the subject of will can use to control the correctness of the registration of his will when counting votes and determining voting results, upon completion of voting at the precinct, the complex for electronic voting and processing of results performs an automated counting of votes and generates voting results based on the formed set of electronic records of all voting acts by summing them up for each of the options for expressing the will, as a result of the dialogue procedure for entering the text fields of the final of the protocol, the protocol of the precinct commission on the results of voting is formed and printed, certified with an electronic digital signature and transmitted using telecoms exchange to higher election commissions.

A complex for electronic voting, processing of results, operating under the control of special software, containing a functionally combined printer, one or more devices of the members of the precinct commission, operating under the control of special software and consisting of a video monitor, a device for recording / reading external electronic or optical media, a keyboard , a mouse manipulator and a processing unit that is connected to a video monitor, one or more portable or stationary voting devices, a telecommunications exchange device, one device of a member of the precinct commission acting as a master connected to a printer, a telecommunications exchange device, and the rest of the members' devices precinct commission, with devices for voting, devices for monitoring bidirectional interface links [see. pat. RF No. 2298229 for class G07C 13/00 published on April 27, 2007 in Bul. No. 12].

The main disadvantages of the known secret ballot method are the lack of the ability on the part of the voter to control the election commission in terms of preserving his anonymity, the lack of the possibility of the voter to control the fate of his will at all stages of vote counting (including when sending the filled-in electronic ballot of the voter to other higher election commissions) the ability to control the actions of the voter himself by the officials of the election commission due to the anonymity of the vote.

The main disadvantage of the complex for secret voting is the constructive volume of the electronic and related equipment and, as a consequence, the complexity of the entire complex, which contains many electronic devices interconnected by cables.

The basis of the invention is the task of simplifying the secret voting procedure and simplifying the electronic equipment that ensures secret voting and excluding any falsification of the results of the voters' will expression, including the possibility of hacking in the electoral process by changing the secret voting procedure.

The solution to this problem is achieved by the fact that in the known method of secret ballot, which consists in the production of electronic ballots with a unique identification number, in the issuance of one ballot to the voter upon registration, allowing the voter to personally fill in his ballot using an electronic ballot filling device, According to the proposal, the voter, after registration, receives a numbered plastic card, selected at random, after which he approaches the electronic device and inserts the received numbered plastic card into the card reader in the electronic device, which, after activating the device, fixes the serial number of the voter on this device and further generates a full passport abbreviation with a non-repeating number containing the series and the number of this electronic device in the form of a numerator of a fraction, in the denominator of which the number of the plastic card selected oops in random order, forming a three-digit collective code of the voter, and giving him a printed check with a three-digit code indicated on it, and displaying this three-digit code on the monitor screen of the same electronic device, voting using the keyboard on an electronic device adds to the code the number of the candidate chosen by him , and, further, the voter by pressing the button "Internet" immediately on the panel of the electronic device sends his electronic vote to the electronic memory database of the central election commission, where they are stored, and the third component of the voter's electronic code is displayed on the board under the corresponding surname of the chosen candidate for visual study of the elected candidates by the election commission and observers, and after the completion of the election process, each voter can contact the CEC database and, who presented himself only with his election code from his paper check, request the result of his vote, and if the requested If the voter is not satisfied with the vote, then the voter has the right to protest him, appealing with falsification, and withdraw his falsified vote.

The solution to this problem is also achieved by the fact that an electronic voting device containing a functionally integrated printer, a scanner for plastic cards, one or more electronic devices operating under the control of special software and consisting of a video monitor, a device for recording / reading external electronic or optical media , keyboard, processor unit, telecommunication information exchange device, according to the proposal, an electronic ordinal voting counter and a scanner in a block with a special narrow-function receipt printer, a start button, a keyboard, an "Internet" key are built into the scheme of the electronic secret voting apparatus.

The further essence of the invention is explained in conjunction with the illustrative material, which depicts the following: FIG. 1 is a side view of the proposed electronic secret voting device; fig. 2 - the same, top view; fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the operation of an electronic secret ballot device.

Outwardly, an electronic device for secret voting is structurally and proportionally close to a regular laptop. As in a laptop, a monitor screen 2 is mounted in the cover 1 for visual control of the voter's own voting process. And on the base panel there are 3 electronic devices: start button 4 devices, ten draw buttons 5, marked with numbers from 0 to 9, one button 6 with a comma, to separate the elect if there are several of them and the "Internet" button 7. On the front panel 3 there are also two slots 8 and 9. One of them (slot 8) is intended for installing a plastic card (not shown), and the second (slot 9) is intended for issuing a paper check to the voter to control the electoral process. Inside the electronic device there is a scanner (not shown) connected to the slot 8, and a narrow-functional unit of a receipt printer (not shown) connected to the slot 9, as well as an electronic voter counter of any known design.

The secret ballot process by the proposed method is carried out as follows.

On election day, a voter with a personal passport comes to the polling station assigned to him. Upon entering the polling station, the voter, using the presented passport, passes the identification of his personality, after which he goes to the registration hall, where he is first re-identified by the passport, and then recorded in the address books. After going through all the procedures of identification and fixation, as a person having the legal right to vote, the voter receives a plastic numbered card with his signature, which are in front of him in unlimited random order. A plastic card, like a bank plastic card, has all degrees of protection, it has a card number strictly printed on its surface. At the same time, the card does not contain any information about the voter. This card is a pass to the voting room, where the voter passes without showing a passport, thereby depersonalizing himself, but presenting his card. The voting room contains the electronic secret voting devices described above. The voter approaches one of the free electronic devices of secret voting and takes a place in front of monitor screen 2. It should be noted that at the beginning of the election campaign, traditionally, a drawing of lots is held for candidates for election, followed by assigning each candidate his own individual drawing number, which will be used voting instead of the candidate's name on an electronic secret ballot device. For those voters who wish to vote against all, their own draw number is provided, for example, 000. Therefore, the voter must remember the draw number of the candidate he chooses.

Then the voter presses the button 4 for starting the electronic secret voting device and inserts his plastic card into the slot 8. The control of the switching on of the electronic device can be carried out by the indicator lamp 10. For the same purpose, the sound adapter 11 can also be used. The scanner 12 is functionally connected to this slot 8.

Electronic counter 13 (see Fig. 3) fixes the serial number of each voter on a given electronic device with the transfer of this number to the drive of the system unit of this electronic device and to this number the system unit adds a relation, in the numerator of which the serial number of this electronic device is indicated, and in the denominator, the number of the plastic card, which is magnetically recorded on it and indicated on the surface. This information is transmitted to a printing device - a narrow-functional receipt printer 14 for printing this formed individual number of the voter, which he receives from the slot 9. The plastic card is not returned to the voter after scanning, but is absorbed by the electronic device and stored in it until the end of the voting process, as a protocol document ... The voter takes a paper check with an individual code pushed out of slot 9 for subsequent control of his vote. In this case, the same individual voter code is automatically displayed on the monitor screen 2. The voter, visually perceiving the information from the monitor screen, using the draw buttons 5, puts down the number of the selected candidate, which is displayed on the monitor screen 2 as an addition after the fraction. This completes the formation of the already three components of the symbolic code of the already electronic voice of the voter on the monitor screen 2, consisting of: the serial number of the voter on the involved electronic device of secret voting, the conditionally mathematical relationship with the full passport abbreviation of the involved electronic device in the numerator, the number of the plastic card in denominator and number of lots chosen by the voter of the candidate. This individual code can be recorded on flash memory 15. Visually convinced of the correctness of his choice, the voter presses the "Internet" button 7, and by this action sends his complexly formed electronic vote to the database 16 of the electronic memory at the CEC, where all election protocols will be kept at any time for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of their voting by voters.

But this is in perspective, and at the current time of the ongoing electoral process, all the draw numbers of candidates for election arriving via the Internet in the electronic memory database will be automatically selected from the electoral electronic devices and displayed on electronic boards at the CEC for visual and protocol examination by members of the electoral commission and present as observers of candidates for election or their representatives.

In parallel with the ongoing process at the polling station, a team of several members of the election commission and an arbitrary number of observers, taking with them the required number of numbered plastic cards and an electronic secret ballot device of the described design, travel to the addresses to conduct voting at home among voters with impaired health and those who do not have the opportunity to independently arrive at the polling station. Upon arrival, after the briefing, documentary identification of the voter is carried out. The voter then takes a seat in front of the opened electronic secret ballot device. And the process of home voting takes place according to the method already described.

A significant difference between the claimed technical solutions from the previously known ones is that the voter, after identification, is completely depersonalized, therefore, no one has the opportunity to falsify the voter's electoral vote, under no circumstances. The use of an impersonal individual code obtained on a specific electronic device using a specific plastic card excludes access to secret information stored in the device's memory block, which immediately transmits the voter's will on the Internet to the CEC, and the plastic card is seized by the electronic device. None of the known methods of secret voting and an electronic device for its implementation can have the marked distinctive features, since they do not contain, in their totality, the totality of the claimed essential features.

The proposed method of secret voting and the electronic device for its implementation do not contain operations, sequences, as well as units and equipment that could not be reproduced taking into account the latest achievements of science and technology, in particular, in the field of organizing election combing, therefore, the declared technical solutions meet the criterion of industrial applicability. In the known sources of scientific and technical information and patent documentation, such methods of secret voting, as well as electronic devices that ensure its implementation, with their inherent set of essential features have not been identified, therefore, the proposed technical solutions have all the signs of novelty and can receive appropriate legal protection in accordance with with the current legislation in the field of intellectual property.

The claimed technical solutions are not obvious to specialists and do not and cannot follow from the existing state of the art, therefore, they meet the criterion of "inventive step" and can be protected at the level of the invention.

The technical advantages of the declared technical solutions, in comparison with prototypes, include the following:

- an open common space, and not closed booths, since electronic devices for secret voting can be deployed with screens in reasonable angles from each other to minimize the visualization of the actions of the voter from the voting neighbor;

- small size of electronic devices placed on tables;

- the possibility of group voting at the same time, based on one voter for each electronic secret voting device;

- absence of strangers from the side of the screens-monitors of electronic devices for secret voting: all members of the election commission and observers are placed on the back of the screens-monitors to control the actions of voters and preserve the secrecy of voting;

- the absence of ballot boxes for dropping ballots, since they are not necessary.

The social effect from the implementation of the proposed technical solutions, in comparison with the use of prototypes, is obtained due to the preservation of the complete anonymity of the voter and the impossibility of forging the individual voter code.

The economic effect from the implementation of the proposed technical solutions, in comparison with the use of prototypes, is obtained by reducing the cost of electronic equipment.

Claims (2)

1. An electronic device for secret voting, containing: a cover on which a monitor screen is mounted and a base panel on which a start button is located, ten draw buttons marked with numbers from 0 to 9, a semicolon button to separate the elected, if any several, the "Internet" key, a slot for accepting a plastic card and a slot for issuing a paper check, an electronic counter is mounted inside the circuit of an electronic device, a scanner connected to the slot for accepting plastic cards, and a receipt printer connected to the slot for issuing a paper check, a processor unit, a device for telecommunication information exchange, a device for recording / reading external electronic and optical media, operating under software control. 2. A method of secret voting, implemented using an electronic device according to paragraph 1, which consists in: receiving by the voter, after registration, a numbered plastic card, which is randomly selected and inserted into the slot for accepting plastic cards; fixing by the electronic counter after activation of the electronic device the serial number of the voter; the formation of a full passport abbreviation containing the series and number of this electronic device in the form of the numerator of the fraction and the number of the plastic card in the denominator, forming a three-digit code; issuance by a receipt printer of a printed receipt with a generated three-digit code, which is subsequently used to check the voting result in the database of the Central Election Commission (CEC); displaying the generated three-digit code on the monitor screen; selection of the candidate's number using the draw buttons of the keyboard, as a result of which three components of the electronic voice code are formed and displayed on the monitor screen, consisting of: the serial number of the voter; full passport abbreviation containing the series and number of this electronic device in the form of the numerator of the fraction and the number of the plastic card in the denominator, and the draw number of the candidate chosen by the voter; sending an electronic voice by pressing the "Internet" key to the electronic memory database (CEC) for further storage; display on the scoreboard at the CEC of the third component of the voter's electronic code under the corresponding surname of the elected candidate for visual examination by the election commission and observers of the elected candidates.

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