Evidence Based Elections and Software Independence
Turing Award winner Ron Rivest explains software independence and evidence-based elections as foundational principles for securing democratic processes.
Summary
The Concept of Software Independence
Coined by cryptographer Ron Rivest, 'Software Independence' states that an undetected change or bug in election software should not be able to cause an undetectable change in the declared election outcome.
Foundations of Evidence-Based Elections
Evidence-based elections require election systems to produce a trustworthy physical audit trail (primarily hand-marked paper ballots) that can independently prove the accuracy of certified election results.
Limitations of Purely Electronic Voting Systems
Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) systems and paperless internet voting cannot achieve software independence because voters cannot verify that software accurately recorded their intent.
Practical Implementation in Modern Elections
Implementing evidence-based election frameworks combines voter-verified paper ballots with statistical Risk-Limiting Audits (RLAs), providing verifiable mathematical resilience against cyber threats.
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