Standard for electronic poll books

CIO Strategy Council
Standards Development Organisation:
CIOSC
Working Program:
View the CIO SC work program
Designation Number:
CIOSC 119-2
Standard Type:
Consensus SDO Standard
Standard Development Activity:
New Standard
ICS code(s):
35.020
Status:
Proceeding to development
SDO Comment Period Start Date:
SDO Comment Period End Date:
Posted On:

Scope:

Note: CIO Strategy Council announced an organizational name change to the Digital Governance Council (DGC), effective January 30, 2023 and the creation of a new standards development division, Digital Governance Standards Institute (DGSI). This proposed standard will specify minimum technical requirements for voting technology and equipment currently used in Ontario provincial elections: electronic poll books. The proposed standards will ensure that the following core democratic voting principles are protected: - Accessibility - Integrity - Equality of the Vote - Secrecy - Verifiability - Security - Transparency/Accountability - Public Confidence. Emerging technologies not currently used in Ontario provincial elections (e.g., Internet voting, DRE machines, telephone voting etc.) are not in scope for this standard. Further, the standard shall not consider internal software applications, such as the e-registration portal and the Vote by Mail application portal. To uphold the public trust and integrity of the election process, the proposed standard will provide a framework to ensure the following: - Technology used to cast a vote will uphold the secrecy of the vote. - Technology used to tabulate votes will be verifiable and protected from tampering. - Technology used to transmit election results will be verifiable and protected from tampering. - Technology will not result in the breach of confidential personal information. - Technology used will provide a robust, accessible and consistent experience for all voters. - Technology used will support efficient audits and testing. - Technology used will be able to authenticate voter’s identity adequately and safely. - Technology used will be designed to provide transparency and confidence in the electronic voting system and election process.

Project need:

The evolution and adoption of voting technologies in Canadian elections has profoundly impacted electoral processes and election administration. The use of voting technologies by electoral management bodies (EMBs), including Elections Ontario (EO), has brought many benefits to voters and election administrators by making voting easier, offering more choices for where, when, and how to vote, and finding efficiencies in the electoral process (Elections Ontario, 2018). Over recent years, the growth of technology in Canadian elections has increased significantly and opened a new domain of politics (Garnett, 2020). While this emergence of a digital era of elections is expanding and offering electors more opportunities, it is also evident that rising concerns and issues surrounding security and integrity are associated with these new developments. The proponent of this Standard is Elections Ontario.

Note: The information provided above was obtained by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and is provided as part of a centralized, transparent notification system for new standards development. The system allows SCC-accredited Standards Development Organizations (SDOs), and members of the public, to be informed of new work in Canadian standards development, and allows SCC-accredited SDOs to identify and resolve potential duplication of standards and effort.

Individual SDOs are responsible for the content and accuracy of the information presented here. The text is presented in the language in which it was provided to SCC.