A Verifiable I/O Approach for End-to-end Eligibility Verifiability in Black-box E-Voting Systems

The tension between upholding verifiability and ensuring voter anonymity is a longstanding obstacle in the development of e-voting systems. Although the concept of “end-to-end verifiability” has been rigorously defined for ballot casting, recording, and tallying, its extension to voter eligibility remains inadequately addressed. To fill this void, we introduce a Black Box model coupled with a verifiable output approach, providing a new lens through which to scrutinize how earlier research has successfully achieved various forms of verifiability. Further, we present a groundbreaking set of principles, named “verifiable eligibility conditions,” which not only evaluate the effectiveness of existing eligibility verification methods but also inspire our streamlined “Verifiable I/O Approach” for achieving end-to-end eligibility verifiability. We conclude by showcasing a comprehensive ticket-based e-voting protocol, offering a tangible implementation of our Verifiable I/O framework.