Helios Voting

What Helios Voting is

Helios Voting is free, open-source web software for running verifiable online elections. Voters receive a ballot tracker they can compare with the Ballot Tracking Center to check that their ballot was received and tallied appropriately. A vote is encrypted in the voter’s browser before it is sent and stays encrypted in the database; individual votes are not decrypted during the normal tally. Administrators can designate multiple trustees, all of whom must participate in decrypting results. They can also define voter eligibility, set when an election opens and closes, and choose when results are released. Depending on the election setup, voters may use election credentials or Facebook, Google, Yahoo, or Twitter to authenticate. The site names book clubs, parent-teacher associations, student governments, workers’ unions, and states as possible settings. For audits, Helios stores names, email addresses, eligibility information, and vote metadata such as where and when someone voted. It advises against collecting votes online for high-stakes U.S. federal and state elections because of risks to voters’ home computers.