Blockchain, anonymizer, electronic voter list. How electronic voting is developing in Moscow

Electronic elections (remote voting)

Main article: Electronic elections (remote voting)

2024: Blockchain, anonymizer, electronic voter register. How electronic voting is developing in Moscow

When developing and developing the electronic voting system in Moscow, experts pay special attention to the safety and stability of the platform under any loads and circumstances. In addition, the functionality is expanding, which makes electronic voting more convenient and understandable for users. The evolution of the system is described in materials published by the official portal of the mayor and the government of Moscow on July 30, 2024.

It is said that the electronic voting platform is based on blockchain technology. It provides information storage in the form of a chain of interconnected blocks and protects it from any third-party interventions. The blockchain receives the votes of those who make a choice online and using an electronic voting terminal. Thanks to blockchain, it is impossible to imperceptibly change data, add or delete it.

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mos.ru

Another defense mechanism is anonymizer. It is designed to depersonalize electronic voices and encode them using encryption keys. Moreover, information is recorded in a chain with a random delay in time, which provides additional security for the secrecy of voting.

Redundancy is provided in case of technical failures, such as power outages or network disconnection. The plots have additional devices with a SIM card and autonomous power supply. Plus, the possibility of manually recalculating digital votes has been implemented: together with an entry in the blockchain, they are additionally printed on special printers.

Within the framework of the system, an electronic voter list has been implemented. It takes into account all Muscovites who can cast a vote in the elections, regardless of the method of voting. Thus, it is not necessary to submit a separate application for voting in electronic form. The list is formed on the basis of data from the state automated system "Elections" and exists as a single register. The corresponding mark gets there as soon as the voter receives a paper or electronic ballot, so the person will not be able to vote again. Moreover, the electronic voter list increases the reliability of the electoral process: it protects against errors associated with the human factor. The system finds a Muscovite in the list automatically according to his passport data. When voting online on the mos.ru site, they are taken from their personal account, and when they are in person, they are recognized when scanning the document. In addition, an automated search in a single list eliminates cases of erroneous receipt of a ballot instead of another person.

Special algorithms of electronic queue help to cope with high loads during peak hours of voter activity. They can turn on at certain points - in which case you need to wait a little before receiving the ballot. The electronic queue helps to ensure the stability of the entire system and record every voice without loss.

In 2023, another way of electronic expression of will was added to online voting - at polling stations. Special terminals connected to the electronic voting system were installed in the premises. These devices record anonymous and encrypted voices on the blockchain network.

The Moscow electronic voting system was first used in the elections in 2019. The developers of this complex software and hardware complex continue to improve and develop it: they are introducing new functions, making electronic voting more convenient and understandable for users, the materials say mos.ru.[1]

2023

The share of electronic voting in elections in Moscow increased from 10% to 80%

The share of electronic voting in elections in Moscow increased from 10% to 80%. Ilya Massukh, director of the Center for Competencies in Import Substitution in the Field of Information and Communication Technologies (CCICT), cited such data in October 2023.

According to him, throughout Russia, about 30-40% of voters used remote electronic voting (DEG) in the elections in 2023. At the same time, there is no agitation in the regions in this area, he stressed.

The share of those who voted electronically in the elections in Moscow reached 80%

Ilya Massukh also drew attention to the fact that the system, which processes millions of requests during voting, may be one hour or two behind in time.

This is normal and not critical. It is necessary to introduce into the public consciousness an understanding that the system can lag behind by an hour. The CEC guarantees today that everyone's voice will be taken into account, not changed and the results will be visible. Do not be afraid that an SMS notification did not arrive or the system was unavailable for 10 minutes, - explained the head of the CCICT.

According to Ministry of Digital Development the Russian Federation, published in September 2023, more than 1 million people from 24 regions of the Russian Federation took part in voting on the federal platform for remote electronic voting. Turnout was 88%. The top regions in terms of voting activity included Moscow Nizhny Novgorod both regions and. Altai Territory Sverdlovsk Novosibirsk region In total, 1.21 million applications were submitted for participation in the DEG, 1 million 72 thousand voters took advantage of the possibility of remote voting, the department said.

Political analyst Vitaly Ivanov, in a conversation with the Moscow city news agency in September 2023, explained that the high percentage of voters in online elections is due to digitalization. He also noted that the mayoral elections in Moscow were transparent.

Who is inclined to look at this objectively, he will not see any fundamental problems, difficulties and the like, "he said.[2]

The Moscow City Election Commission approved the use of portable electronic voting terminals in the mayoral elections

On July 27, 2023, at a meeting of the Moscow City Election Commission, the use of portable and stationary electronic voting terminals in the upcoming mayoral elections was approved.

The main innovation this year is that there are two types of electronic voting terminals: the stationary electronic voting terminal, which is located at the polling station, and the portable electronic voting terminal. Accordingly, the first will provide the opportunity to vote without using a paper ballot to those voters who came to the polling station. The second will provide the possibility of voting for voters at home using a portable terminal also without a paper ballot, - said Dmitry Reut, deputy chairman of the Moscow City Election Commission.

In Moscow, in the elections in September 2023, portable terminals for electronic voting will be used

According to him, a voter who is "included in the voter list of a specific polling station" has the right to vote using a portable electronic voting terminal. At the same time, voters voting at home have the opportunity to vote with the help of a traditional paper ballot. At polling stations, it will also be possible to vote in the traditional way.

It is noted that voters will be able to independently monitor remote electronic voting using a special service on the Internet. Candidates, representatives of political parties will have access to a separate node (node) of the distributed database. Observation will be provided both for the election of the mayor of Moscow and for the election of deputies in 13 municipalities of the Trinity and Novomoskovsky districts.

The Moscow City Electoral Commission also added that it will be used as part of electronic voting, blockchain which completely excludes the possibility of changing the election results received.^[3]

2022

In Moscow, for the first time, an electronic register of voters is used for remote voting in elections

At the end of August 2022, it became known that To Moscow for the first time they began to use the digital voter register for remote electronic voting (DEG) in elections. On September 9-11, 2022, councils of municipal deputies in 125 districts will be elected in the capital.

According to Kommersant, legislation now allows maintaining such a register, but so far only Moscow has been able to technically implement it. According to the creators, the register should minimize provocations and human errors during the elections and make the procedure as convenient as possible: now there is no need to apply for online voting at the place of residence in advance, a decision can be made until the last minutes of voting on September 11, 2022, and the register will record the issuance of a ballot at the polling station or online and, accordingly, will block the second voting method.

In Moscow, for the first time, the electronic register of voters is used for remote voting

The system test on August 26, 2022 was carried out both online and at traditional sites opened one per district. About 460 thousand people took part in the trial voting, and more than 446 thousand preferred online; about 11.5 thousand more came to the plots. Voters answered the question about the improvement of districts, and after the counting of electronic votes, it became clear that the winning option was leading by a margin of 39 thousand votes - thus, the counting of all votes from the polling stations could no longer change it, even if all those who voted offline chose an alternative option. According to the chairman of the IPCC Olga Kirillova, both systems demonstrated performance during training.

According to the newspaper, the Moscow organizers of the DEG expect that delays in summing up its results, as was the case during the Duma elections in 2021, will be avoided this time and the preliminary results of online voting will be summed up first.^[4]

An electronic voter list is being created in Moscow

An electronic voter list is being created in Moscow to avoid human errors when entering data. Olga Kirillova, chairman of the Moscow City Electoral Commission, announced this at the end of April 2022.

According to her, due to the change of residence, about 45 thousand corrections are made about voters every month. In addition, the changes are also related to departure, death or coming of age.

An electronic voter list is being created in Moscow to avoid errors in entering data

In addition to the introduction of an electronic voter list, Muscovites in the elections in September 2022 will face a number of other innovations, which Kirillova also spoke about. So, when issuing a bulletin, scanners for a passport will be used. This will also avoid errors due to the human factor that may arise when checking passport data.

The ability to sign with a stylus is also introduced. This is an electronic graphic signature on a tablet using a special "pen" - a stylus. Legally, such a signature has facsimile effect, that is, it is equal to a handwritten signature. The advantages of an electronic signature are that its verification will avoid errors that may arise due to the human factor. This will reduce the likelihood of falsifications. At the same time, the voter will still be able to choose the usual method of signature - in this case, a PEC member will make the corresponding note in the electronic list.

In addition, the voter will be able to receive a ballot at any table, regardless of the address of the house. The workplace of a member of the precinct election commission will become universal. This will make it possible to distribute the queue more efficiently and evenly.

Another innovation is that voters who voted online will automatically be marked as voters in the system. This will allow not to submit in advance applications for participation in remote electronic voting.^[5]

2021

CEC Chairman Ella Pamfilova proposed to abandon the use of the DIT electronic voting system

Despite a victory of United Russia in Moscow thanks to the system of the remote electronic vote (REV) from the DIT, the chairman TSIKELLA Pamfilova suggested to refuse further use of this platform on the following federal elections. This became known on September 27, 2021.

In the elections to the State Duma, as well as regional and municipal, held in Russia on September 17-19, 2021, electronic voting was used in seven regions. In six of them, citizens voted on a federal platform developed by Rostelecom and Ministry of Digital Development by order of the CEC of Russia, and in Moscow - on a platform developed by the Department of Information Technologies (DIT) of Moscow.

In the DEG systems of Moscow and Rostelecom, there is a different author's approach. In addition, Moscow was a pioneer on this path. It is also important that it is difficult and expensive to maintain such a system throughout the country: it is not used every year, but the technical capacities involved require funds to maintain them in working condition constantly. Moscow serves the DEG software and hardware complex (CAS) on its own, and the fact that part of the costs fall on the Moscow budget is good. The rules of operation of both systems are the same, and we do not see contradictions between them, explained deputy chairman of the CEC Nikolai Bulaev.

According to the results of the last online voting, the Central Election Commission (CEC) presented the results of online voting in the regions almost immediately after its completion, but the publication of data on Moscow was first delayed, and then postponed to the next day.

In the case of the "deferred decision," it is necessary to restore the entire chain of transactions and take into account the last voter's vote in time. As part of the re-voting, the counting time is significantly increased, this was also observed on testing the system on July 30. This is due to the fact that in order to count the result, you need to compare each vote with each in order to restore the chains of votes, as well as check that the last in time is taken into account. With a large volume of operations - and almost 2 million people participated in electronic voting in the elections to the State Duma - this takes longer, told the press service of DIT.

Moscow, indeed, is ahead of other regions in the development of the DEG, and what has been accumulated in Moscow will not go anywhere, they will continue to develop everything that they do on various aspects of Moscow life on their platform. But I think that in the future, federal elections will be held according to the general rules and on a single platform.

DIT has done a lot for the victory of United Russia in the elections in Moscow. According to the results of face-to-face voting in the capital, this party won only 30.1% of the vote, losing to the Communist Party (30.4%). But in the Moscow DEG "United Russia" received 44.77%, which gave it a total result of 36.96% of the vote (against 22.66% of the Communists who showed the second result). But instead of gratitude, Moscow received a "reprimand" from the CEC.

Technically, everything worked normally and as conceived by the architects of the solution. The question was in the functional differences between the platform developed by the Central Election Commission of Russia together with Ministry of Digital Development and Rostelecom, from the platform of the Moscow mayor's office, or rather, in the function implemented on the Moscow platform, which provides the opportunity to "re-vote" within 24 hours and is officially called "deferred voting." This feature caused a long counting of votes, although technologically the solutions are identical - these are blockchain and smart contracts. There are still a number of features in the field of encryption: in the Moscow system, votes are counted after decryption, and in the federal system, individual ballots are not decrypted until the final grouping and counting of votes, emphasized Sergey[6].

DIT Moscow for the first time described in detail the architecture of the voting system on the blockchain

Kirill Polyakov, coordinator of distributed register technologies DIT of Moscow , first described in detail the architecture of the remote voting system based on the technology blockchain and briefly shared plans for its further development. Representatives TAdviser of DIT shared this Moscow with on February 11, 2021.

According to Kirill Polyakov, a distributed architecture was used to increase the fault tolerance of the remote voting system - geographically distributed data centers (data centers) were involved. This ensured fault tolerance: the system could continue to work even with a power outage in the entire area of ​ ​ Moscow.

We tested such a scenario before voting - we turned off one of the data centers and checked the stability of the individual components and the system as a whole. We also used satellite platforms to meet load requirements, the expert explained. - The blockchain itself was distributed in two nodes per data center - only six nodes in three data centers, plus an observer node. Since the system is peer-to-peer, it is not possible to operate in a mode where one data center is master and the second is standby.

The observer's nod is implemented so that you can watch the results in real time. Noda was presented as a web interface with the ability to view and download encrypted results in real time. The next step will be to use a full-fledged node, however, as part of working with such a high load, it is necessary to provide for the danger of affecting the network through the observer node, Kirill Polyakov emphasized. According to him, the main advantage of electronic voting is the ease of monitoring the process. But it's important to strike a balance between transparency and vulnerability.

Therefore, our next mandatory step is anchoring into a public network (a mechanism for checking data from a private blockchain for invariability by publishing them into a larger network with a large number of participants and blocks - approx.), The expert specified. - In the future, we plan to expand the electronic voting system to mobile devices - to make it possible to synchronize with the nod, provide processor power to provide control and a possible additional channel for calculating the result. The plans also include the development of the functionality of the web interface. Here we look towards great opportunities for collaboration and verification of the result at the observer level.

2020

On June 9, 2020, it became known that Kaspersky Lab was engaged in the implementation of the blockchain project for electronic voting on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation by order of the Moscow Department of Information Technologies.

This platform was based on the Bitfury Exonum open source blockchain solution, which is included in the register of domestic software.

Kaspersky Lab turned out to be the developer of the blockchain voting system on the Constitution

Blockchain technology works in Proof of Authority mode. Smart contracts of the register of ballots are responsible for accounting for user votes, they will save encrypted votes of participants in the blockchain system, and after the end of voting, decrypt and publish the results in the blockchain system, according to the official page of voting on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

According to CoinDesk, the previous experience of blockchain voting in Moscow raised questions from experts. When the system code was presented publicly, French researcher Pierric Gaudry showed that it was quite easy to hack.

According to Sergey Tikhomirov, a blockchain researcher and candidate of sciences from the University of Luxembourg, electronic voting without blockchain has many problems, which was clearly demonstrated in the last elections in Moscow.

There was no technical way to observe the vote, administrators could fake the data at any time. Unlike paper ballots, in this case, the fake leaves no traces, he said.

Despite hopes that blockchain could make elections more transparent and fair, "there is no evidence yet that it is effectively fighting fraud," said Nir Kshetri, a management professor at the University of North Carolina.

Earlier, Bitfury said that the company's Russian division focuses on promoting blockchain for the government and large corporations.^[1]

2019

Discovery of a vulnerability in the electronic voting system

On August 14, 2019, the report of the Director of Research of the National Center for Scientific Research of France, Pierrick Gaudry, was published, where the author claims that the encryption used in the Russian electronic voting system for the upcoming elections to the Moscow City Duma in September is "completely unsafe." It can be hacked in just 20 minutes, the researcher concluded^[2].

Godry found this could be done with a regular PC and public free software. During the study, he himself used a script that takes up one page. Using this script, an attacker can gain access to the votes of all voters before the polling stations are closed, the researcher revealed. It will also be able to monitor changes in preferences in real time. At the same time, we are not talking about rewriting or removing voices from the system in the study.

Remote electronic voting is planned to be held for the first time. Residents of three constituencies will be able to take part in it: No. 1 (Zelenograd), No. 10 (Bibirevo, Lianozovo, Severny) and No. 30 (Chertanovo Central and South).

At the time of the announcement of plans for electronic voting in February 2019, the Moscow government emphasized the security of the developed system: "Blockchain technology will ensure the transparency and invariability of all data. It will be almost impossible to trace the path of the bulletin. "

DIT plans to strengthen the protection of the electronic voting system (photo - mosday.ru)

The discovery of the vulnerability was preceded by the opening of public testing of the system for its security. Its creators posted on the site for developers - Github - the source code of some elements of the system built on the blockchain.

Pierrick Godry in his report explains: during testing, the creators of the system posted on Github the so-called public encryption keys and the data encrypted by them every day, and also disclosed information about private keys and data posted a day earlier. The voter's ballot is encrypted with a public key, and it can only be decrypted with a private key. The purpose of such daily updates is to make sure that encryption keys cannot be hacked, and data can be decrypted for at least 12 hours during which voting will take place.

However, the French researcher found that the length of the public encryption key is less than 256 bits, which allows you to calculate the private key and crack the encryption of the system in about 20 minutes.

Without access to information about the protocol used in the system, it is difficult to accurately calculate the consequences of this vulnerability and how easy it will be for an attacker to find a match between ballots and voters, although I believe that this weak encryption scheme is used precisely to encrypt ballots. In the worst case scenario, it could cause the choice of all voters using the e-voting system to become publicly known as soon as they vote, says Godri.

Stanislav Smyshlyaev, deputy general director of CryptoPro, told RBC that Pierrick Godri is one of the most respected cryptographers in the world. The mistake of the developers of the electronic voting system, according to Godri's report, is that one of the cryptosystems uses a key of too short length, which is not persistent, explains Smyshlyaev.

At the same time, the developers tried to strengthen the security of the system by introducing threefold encryption with three different short keys, but as a result, the resistance of the final cryptosystem from hacking did not triple - it almost did not grow at all, he says.

The representative of CryptoPro added that in order to avoid such errors, cryptographic tools in Russia are usually certified by the FSB, and systems using them are being investigated.

I am sure that any laboratory accredited by the FSB of Russia would quickly catch such a vulnerability, "says Stanislav Smyshlyaev.

At the same time, according to him, it is not completely clear from the open data - for which exactly the module that the researcher was able to hack is used in the electronic voting system, therefore, "it will not be possible to assess the practical consequences of the vulnerability in this segment of the system."

Artem Kostyrko, deputy head of the Moscow Information Technology Department (DIT), told TASS that the French expert did not hack the online voting system and did not provide a private key for a length of 256 characters, which could decrypt the code^[3] to^[4]. He noted that even a decrypted bulletin on the blockchain looks like a set of numbers from which it is impossible to understand which candidate was voted for.

And most importantly, the vote is protected by the constitutional principle implemented in our country. It is secret and anonymous. Who voted, how he voted and even whether he voted at all, it is impossible to understand. This is achieved through the work of an anonymizer, - TASS quoted Kostyrko as saying.

DIT told RBC that three 256-bit private keys really do not provide sufficient encryption resistance, but such an application was used only during the trial period. The department assured that within a couple of days the key length will be changed to 1024 bits.

But according to Godry, this is not enough - at least 2048-bit encryption keys are needed to protect the votes, requiring a major system redesign. The longer the encryption keys, the more time and resources it takes to hack them^[5].

According to DIT, in the process of open public testing, about half of the attacks on the voting system come from abroad. The operation of servers was recorded, including those located in the USA, Germany, the Netherlands, and Southeast Asian countries. For the month that is being tested, no successful hacks have been registered, according to DIT.

92.3% of registered voters in Moscow voted online

92.3% of registered voters took part in electronic voting in the elections to the Moscow City Duma on September 8, 2019. Voting ended at 20 o'clock.

Electronic voting is a unique experience not only for our city, but also for the whole of Russia. And such a high turnout once again confirms that voters are interested and convenient in this form of election. In the morning, a technical failure occurred in the hardware module and voting had to be temporarily suspended, but we managed to quickly restore the system's functionality. All registered voters were able to vote. We contacted anyone who had difficulty getting or filling out the ballot - that's 543 people. They received a call from the call center, a push notification in their personal account on the mos.ru and an email or SMS message. As a result, 85%, or 462 voters, after our notification returned to the system, received a ballot and voted, - commented the deputy head of the Department of Information Technologies of the city of Moscow Artem Kostyrko.

The technical failure that occurred during the voting did not lead to the loss of votes, - said Ilya Massukh, head of the Electronic Headquarters at the Public Headquarters for Control and Monitoring of Elections of Moscow City Duma Deputies. - Ballots that hit the queue during the failure were printed after the system resumed operation.

Online voting took place in three experimental constituencies: No. 1 (Kryukovo, Matushkino, Savelki, Silino, Old Kryukovo), No. 10 (Northern, Lianozovo, Bibirevo) and No. 30 (Chertanovo Central, Chertanovo Yuzhnoye). Those users who applied and were included in the register of electronic voters were able to take part in it.

In general, 11,228 people registered to participate in electronic elections in Moscow. Of these, more than 10 thousand people received voting ballots.

The turnout for online voting was 92.3% - this is more than 10 thousand people. 9,810 people filled out the ballots and voted - 87.4% of the number of registered voters, - added Artem Kostyrko, deputy head of the Moscow DIT.

The fourth test of electronic voting in Moscow went without failures

The fourth testing of electronic voting in Moscow passed without failures. On August 28, 2019, 2,188 people took part in the experiment, which is 21% more than at the previous stage, said Artem Kostyrko, deputy head of the Moscow City Information Technology Department.

During testing, residents of three constituencies answered the question of what should be developed in their area in the first place. To choose from, the participants in the experiment were offered two answers: "parking space" and "parks and green spaces." According to the results of the vote, the majority supported the development of parking lots.

The system worked normally, without failures. We took into account all the comments of experts and members of the working group that were received during the previous stages of testing. During the fourth test, we also worked out all possible failure scenarios. At the same time, nothing was recorded that would interrupt the voting process or make any changes to the operation of the system. So we are ready for the elections on September 8, - said Artem Kostyrko.

The first testing of the electronic voting system in Moscow took place on July 11 at the election of the heads of student councils. Then there were a number of failures, which the specialists took into account and corrected. Already during the second test, the system worked normally. The third testing took place on August 21, the turnout was 53%, no failures were found.

Residents of three constituencies can take part in electronic voting: No. 1 (Kryukovo, Matushkino, Savelki, Silino, Old Kryukovo (Zelenograd), No. 10 (Bibirevo, Lianozovo, Severny) and No. 30 (Chertanovo Central, Chertanovo Yuzhnoye). Applications for participation in electronic voting can be submitted through your personal account on the mos.ru until September 4 inclusive. As of August 29, 2019, more than 5.2 thousand people have already registered.

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