In Canada, we go to the polls at least once every four years to elect a new federal government. We have one of the most trusted election management systems in the world, much to our delight.
For voters, the process is straightforward:
- They register once, establishing their residence and ability to vote in that riding
- Then they are provided a polling location for advanced or same day voting
When they go to vote, these steps are followed:
- Present government ID
- Their name is checked off a list
- Receive a ballot
- Mark ballot in private enclosure, fold and drop in box
This ensures that voters are ID verified, eligible to vote in that riding, only voting once and doing so with a reliably high level of privacy.
Now we'll outline how the research technology powering Revolve Polling is able to create a digital counterpart of our federal electoral system when registering panel users and through the survey submission process.
Just a quick note before we continue: many of the specifics of our research technology have been detailed in our previous articles, Understanding Revolve Polling and Zero-Knowledge Proofs for Everyone. These would be helpful to reference as we won't go into details here, just provide an overview.
For users, the registration process follows:
- Verify government ID with our third-party provider
- Present this verification within our mobile app, disclosing limited personal details
- We create a unique, privacy respecting account
When responding to surveys:
- Options are selected
- A zero-knowledge proof stating they are an anonymous, pre-verified user is generated
- The proof and survey responses are submitted to our server
- We receive and verify the proof, which enforces uniqueness per user/survey without breaking anonymity
So now we can draw a parallel to our federal electoral system and show that the same standards are achieved.
Just as a ballot can't be traced back to a voter, a survey submission proof can't be linked back to a respondent's identity. We ensure they are verified, provide privacy and enforce unique submissions.
Canada has outstanding election standards. Elections Canada is widely trusted and it's our privilege to get through each election with barely a murmur of doubt in the process. By no means are we endorsing utilizing digital processes to replace existing election standards. We're simply proud to build a research organization that mirrors our democratic process, striving for accuracy and privacy for our panel users.
If you would like to learn more or have any questions, please feel free to reach out!