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Condorcet.vote Alpha
Technical documentation

The protocol, as specified.

For verifiers, auditors and the curious: the whitepaper, the protocol specifications and the schemas that are authoritative.

To understand the guarantees without the cryptography, the Security page is all you need.

Security, without the jargon
Whitepaper

The protocol, end to end.

Cryptography, public register, threat model and trade-offs, in a single document. The English edition is the reference; the French edition is its translation.

English (PDF) Français (PDF)
Specifications · Protocol v1

From the ballot to the verification.

The base protocol stands on its own: signed ballots, public register, recount. The blockchain comes on top, so that anyone can check the register's integrity and immutability.

  1. Base protocol Signed ballot The ballot as the voter signs it: payload, ring signature, key image, ring digest.
  2. Base protocol Public register What every election publishes, whatever carries it: definition, rings, participation register, ballots.
  3. Over-protocol Blockchain The over-protocol that seals the register: envelope, four block types, serialization, chaining, signature, timestamping.
  4. Over-protocol OpenTimestamps timestamping Anchoring every block in the Bitcoin blockchain: what it proves, the pending → completed cycle, the .ots files and how to verify them.
  5. Voter side Voter files The files a voter can download: the vote receipt and the voting private key.
  6. Voter side Vote proof The cvproof/1 envelope: proving, at one's sole initiative, that a published ballot is one's own, which reveals the vote.
  7. Result Tally & recount Recomputing the result from the register: method, tally contract version, CEF export.
  8. Trusted third party Trusted platform How the platform works inside: its database, transport, secrets management and hosting rules.
  9. Over-protocol Platform keys The OpenPGP v6 certificates that sign the blocks, their rotation and their machine endpoint.
  10. Verification Verification procedure Verifying an election end to end: from the register alone, or with the blockchain.
JSON Schemas

The files that are authoritative.

The very files that validate every block before it is sealed, served at their identifier ($id) URL.

block.configuration.schema.json Block 0, the frozen election definition: title, type, seats, options, ring-size ceiling, opening roll size, ballot rules, candidates. Download ↓ block.rings.schema.json Block 1 and every emergency ring: the complete list of public keys allowed to sign, per ring. Download ↓ block.votes.schema.json The ballot batches: ring, key image, ring signature and the verbatim signed payload. Download ↓ block.closure.schema.json The final block: head totals and the pseudonymous participation register. Download ↓ signed-payload.schema.json The envelope of the payload string a voter signs: version, election, ballot expression, weight, optional voter ID. Download ↓
Tools & code

Check it yourself.

Vote proof tool Produce or verify a vote proof, entirely in your browser. Open source The open libraries the protocol rests on. GitHub The source code, open to inspection.