Security Examination of the MERGE Voting Scheme
Engaging assessment: A Web Voting Scheme Critically Defective in Innovative Ways.
Summary: The recent release of the “MERGE” strategy is tailored for usage within the pilot CAC-vote system. Through this scheme, votes are transmitted online for tabulation of results and determination of winners, complemented by the dispatch of voter-verifiable paper ballots via postal services. The protocol operates on the principle that internet-transmitted votes are utilized for decision-making while audits and recounts rely on the timely submission of paper ballots. The underlying rationale is to enable preliminary inclusion of (digital) votes from military voters abroad in the results before receipt of (physical) ballots. While MERGE harbors intriguing concepts not fundamentally flawed in nature, its application demands significant revisions to legislation, practices, and technical as well as logistical capacities within U.S. electoral jurisdictions. The chasm between concept and reality remains substantial and insurmountable in the foreseeable future. Sponsors of this research initiative at DARPA— the research-funding agency—ought to acknowledge that MERGE constitutes online voting (with election outcomes contingent on internet-transmitted votes unless a comprehensive manual count ensues), refraining from touting it as an integral component of credible election procedures without substantial alterations to election statutes and management across the U.S.
Schneier’s portrait in the sidebar snapped by Joe MacInnis.
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