Programming, computing and information concept. Image - Peshkova, Getty Images Pro

Online Voting Testing in the Russian Federation: Observers’ Assessment

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Russian Federation has tested the system of remote electronic voting. In order to participate in the testing, one had to apply (April 21 - May 7) and then vote (May 12 -14).

The process of Internet voting was of significant concern to election observers, as neither technical specification nor official program code of the system had been published. Moreover, the respective legislative standards had not been developed. Public discussion and tools for effective monitoring had also been lacking. In addition, a special expert group was supposed to supervise the testing. However, the composition of this group remains unknown; its work has been kept secret.

Once the testing was over, the CEC announced seven regions in which remote electronic voting would be conducted during the 2021 State Duma elections. Among them are Kursk, Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, and Yaroslavl regions, Moscow (on a different platform), and Sevastopol1.

The Movement in Defense of Voters' Rights "Golos" observed the testing phase, took part in the voting, and shared their conclusions and recommendations in a respective report. The report was subsequently sent to the CEC of the Russian Federation.

 

Key conclusions and recommendations of Golos:

  • Testing the remote electronic voting system prior to elections should be intended to increase public confidence by allowing observers, experts, political parties, and others to monitor the process. It is also done in order to check the technical readiness of the system. To achieve this, some means of overseeing the testing should have been provided to the above-mentioned entities. However, the CEC did not observe this rule. The organizational procedures of the remote electronic voting system were not carried out openly and publicly. The public at large was not provided with tools enabling them to oversee the operation of the system, which further contributed to increasing mistrust.
  • Development of the remote electronic voting system is not being carried out based on a thoroughly thought out technical specification, provided by the CEC of Russia, which must clearly describe its procedures and processes. On the contrary, the developers first create a system that is later formalized by the regulatory documents of the Russian CEC. This issue arises from the lack of legislative standards applicable to Internet voting systems. The absence of these standards allows developers to generate voting systems with significant built-in flaws, yet avoiding any responsibility.
  • The CEC of the Russian Federation did not hold the required open, public expert discussion of the remote electronic voting system, which, as a result, has significantly reduced public confidence in it. In the very midst of the testing phase and after public criticism of the closed nature of the system, the Chair of the CEC established an Expert evaluation group, the composition of which was not rendered publicly available. Fragmentary comments in the media assert that the above-mentioned group is headed by the developers of the system, which indicates a clear conflict of interest.
  • The official code of the system components, which was used for testing, as well as its full description required for verification and analysis, were not published. A mandatory procedure certifying compliance of the program code with the program codes previously published for verification and analysis was not offered. Also, no alternative methods for thoroughly checking the system have been offered.
  • Whether by accident or deliberately, the CEC of Russia commissioned the testing phase of the system in parallel with the implementation of United Russia's party primaries. Both actions were conducted based on the Gosuslugi.ru2 website. This led to state employees in the Russian regions being forced to take part both in the testing of the voting system and in the primaries of the party. Thus, voters have become even more vulnerable to pressure due to the peculiarities of remote voting.
  • During the period established for acceptance of applications for participation in the remote electronic voting, the members of the CEC did not have access to information related to all submitted applications, including the list of applications rejected by the system with a specification of reasons for rejection. Only technical specialists of the State automation system ''Vybory'' (Elections) and Rostelecom3 had access.
  • The Russian CEC did not operate with exact numbers, as is customary for an election commission. Rather, it published rounded numbers of submitted and rejected applications from voters who wanted to take part in the remote electronic voting.
  • A large number of voters were not allowed to participate in the testing without proper explanation. There were roughly 137 thousand refusals out of almost 2.5 million voters. The exact numbers were not publicized.
  • Despite one of the testing objectives being to assess the security of the system in terms of voting secrecy, no means for such verification had been provided. The results of testing have demonstrated that citizens have no chance to make sure the remote electronic voting system guarantees the secrecy of their expression of will.
  • Users' devices cannot be considered a trusted environment within the system of remote electronic voting, as in the case of a software virus, the expression of will may be distorted and the secrecy of voting violated, passing unnoticed by the system.
  • Any person with access to the voter's credentials could cast a vote on Gosuslugi.ru. An attacker could easily switch the mobile phone number to receive a confirmation code, which is sent to confirm the identity of the voter via SMS. Examples of such unauthorized access to the identity verification system have been reported in different regions of Russia. A serious vulnerability of the system is that it allows voting from a personal account linked to a phone number registered to someone other than the respective voter. Thus, the remote electronic voting system does not allow both the CEC members and observers to ensure that all voters personally take part in the voting process by having entered their credentials and an SMS code themselves.
  • On May 12, an anomalous ratio of the number of "ballots issued" vs. "ballots encrypted" was published on the main page of the "Observation portal" of the system. "Ballots issued" appeared 11.5 times more frequently than "ballots encrypted". If we stand on the presumption of an integral and proper operation of the system, such a ratio should be close to 1. The developers of the system could not explain the reason for this statistical anomaly and refer to the incompleteness of the data published by the system during the testing period. They also asked to wait for the release of the next version of the system, which would contain additional tools, allowing for the acquisition of a larger dataset.
  • External observation data indicate malfunctions in the operation of the remote electronic voting system.
  • During the testing phase, a reduced monitoring interface was provided. It contained no option to download files with transactions and provided no direct access to the database. It should be noted that the option to download such a file from the system had already been implemented last year.
  • No objective instruments enabled both the voters and observers to confirm any presence of the blockchain technology, the application of which had been announced by the CEC. It is impossible to check whether the data is being saved, to which database, and how many such databases are in use. The databases remain under the control of the technical specialists only and are closed to external audit. Both the display of a set of blockchain transactions in the web interface of the portal and the ability to download transactions in a file to check the operation of the system are inadequate, as there is no way one can verify that instead of a live broadcast from the database an edited video is being displayed.
  • The voting interface did not provide for voter's access to information about all candidates, lists of candidates and electoral associations included on the ballot, including biographical data of candidates in the scope established by the commission organizing the elections, information on the income and property of candidates in the scope established by the election commission organizing the elections , information on the facts of submission of false information by candidates, etc., as required by Art. 61 of the Federal law no. 67.
  • The system was not adapted for the voting of visually impaired voters. At the end of the testing phase, the developers promised to improve the interface.
  • As part of the ongoing testing of the remote electronic voting system, all citizens' reports about issues and the responses to them should be rendered publicly available. But as we can see, while implementing this costly contract, the developers are not at all interested in voluntarily revealing emerging errors, issues, and their scale. Neither do they provide any instruments for external audit. At the same time, it has been made known that the support service received more than 10 thousand calls during the testing phase.
  • Generation and division of the decryption key into separate bits were not conducted openly and publicly during the testing phase.
  • Lack of control tools (decryption key, transaction database, and details confirming its authenticity) did not allow to verify the correctness of the decryption of votes and accuracy of vote counting.
  • The system documents, including electronic ballots, were not signed with the electronic signature of the members of the election commission. Therefore they do not have the required legal power.
  • There is no method to verify vote tabulation, which should be as reliable, objective, and accessible as counting paper ballots is.
  • At the end of the testing phase, a detailed report including an attachment of technical information and data sets, allowing to evaluate the results of performed work, as well as the fulfillment of the testing goals was not provided. Only the interested party presented at the May 19 CEC meeting, as it was composed of the system developers, whose reports on testing results were fragmentary and biased.
  • Cybersecurity of voting conducted over the Internet is of critical importance. Both representatives of government bodies and members of election commissions have recently been actively discussing a threat of foreign interference in the Russian elections. However, this does not prevent them from promoting online voting. Either they understand that in reality there is no such threat, or, knowing about the threat, they purposely expose the elections to unjustified risks.
  • To prevent violation of the electoral rights of citizens and delegitimization of election results, it is not recommended to use the remote electronic voting system proposed during the testing phase in elections without a substantial revision and consideration of the recommendations submitted herein.

The full report may be found here (Russian).

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2 The online public services portal of the Russian Federation - REM

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On August 18, the Ministry of Justice of Russia included the Movement 'Golos' as the first unregistered organisation into the registry of unregistered public associations performing the functions of a foreign agent. Here is the translation of their statement.

Russian regional elections in 2018. Image by Wikimedia Commons

According to the CEC data as of 9 July 2021, 4,370 elections and referenda are scheduled for 19 September 2021, including elections to the State Duma, nine gubernatorial elections (new heads will be elected in three more regions), 39 elections to regional parliaments, and 11 elections of representative bodies of regional centres. Here's an overview of legal regulations and peculiarities of these races.

Participants of Just Russia rally take off their uniforms 5 minutes after the start of the Yekaterinburg rally on May 1, 2019. Image by Wikimedia Commons

PART 4: JUST RUSSIA-PATRIOTS-FOR TRUTH

According to sociologists, the same four parties represented in the parliament now: United Russia, the Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and Just Russia will probably be elected again in 2021. How are these four parties organized? What is their support base in regions?

A screenshot of a live broadcast of the voting process. Image by 'Golos' Movement.

In 2021, the Russian Central Election Commission decided to scrap open video broadcasts from the polling stations – a feature of Russian elections since 2012. The Movement in Defense of Voters' Rights 'Golos' has appealed to the President to help overturn this decision.

Map of Violations, Golos website. Screenshot - Aug. 12, 2021

This is the second overview of reports of possible violations of electoral legislation gathered via the 'Map of Violations' by the Movement for the Defense of Voters' Rights 'Golos' between August 2 and August 8.

May 1st, 2009. LDPR Rally. Photo by Photobank Moscow-Live / flickr

PART 3: LDPR

According to sociologists, the same four parties represented in the parliament now: United Russia, the Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and Just Russia will probably be elected again in 2021. How are these four parties organized? What is their support base in regions?

The Rt. Hon. Sir Alan Duncan represented the UK at the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg, Germany, 8-9 December 2016.
OSCE Flags. Photo by Alex Hammond / FCO. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
#Commentary

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Parliamentary Assembly will not deploy international election observation missions to the 2021 State Duma elections due to major limitations imposed on the institutions. Announcing the decision, ODIHR Director noted that the ability "to independently determine the number of observers necessary for us to observe effectively and credibly is essential to all international observation."

Reporter's notebook. Photo by 2008 Roger H. Goun. CC BY 3.0
#Commentary

On 28 July 2021, the Central Election Commission adopted a new media accreditation procedure that restricts media access to observe and report on the electoral process. The new rules violate the freedom of media editorial policy and may significantly reduce the transparency of the election process.

Map of Violations, Golos website. Screenshot - Aug. 5, 2021

This is the first overview of reports of possible violations of electoral legislation gathered via the 'Map of Violations' by the Movement for the Defense of Voters' Rights 'Golos' between June 22 and August 1.

May 1st Demonstration of the Communist Party, 2012. Photo by Photobank Moscow-Live / flickr

PART 2: CPRF

According to sociologists, the same four parties represented in the parliament now: United Russia, the Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and Just Russia will probably be elected again in 2021. How are these four parties organized? What is their support base in regions?

Ballot stuffing, elections March 18, 2018, Lyubertsy. Image - Golos
#Commentary

Less than two months before the elections, the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) decided to scrap open video broadcasts from the polling stations, which have been the feature of Russian elections since 2012.

1st of May Demonstration in Moscow. 2010. Image - Photobank Moscow-Live / flickr

PART 1: United Russia

According to sociologists, the same four parties represented in the parliament now: United Russia, the Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and Just Russia will probably be elected again in 2021. How are these four parties organized? What is their support base in regions?

Ballot box for voting on Constitutional Amendments 2020. Photo - Wikimedia Commons

Since the last State Duma elections in 2016, lawmakers have introduced 19 amendments to the election law. In the year leading up to the State Duma elections in September 2021 alone, seven significant legislative amendments have been introduced, six of them in less than four months before the start of the campaign.

TV reporter, Bryansk. Photo - pxfuel

After almost a decade of crackdowns on big players, the landscape of critical journalism in Russia is dominated by local or smaller niche projects. But if the 2020-2021 trend of relentless attacks on media, journalists, and bloggers continues, many of these small projects are not likely to survive into the autumn. The regime makes it pretty clear that it no longer intends to tolerate any dissent.

"1941- ssshhh!" - Image by James Vaughan / flickr

The laws on "foreign agent" and "undesirable organizations" continue to hamper the work of affected organizations, stigmatize and damage their reputation, and isolate the civil society from international cooperation and support. What are these provisions and how are they being applied?

Vladimir Putin Speech at State Duma plenary session 2020-03-10. Image - Wikimedia Commons

The Russian State Duma's seventh convocation is coming to the end of its five-year term. And according to a new report from iStories and Znak.com, dozens of its deputies haven't said a word in a parliamentary session since they were elected in 2016. Others haven't put forward a single bill. Be that as it may, this hasn't stopped these lawmakers from collecting high salaries and planning to put their names on the ballot for the State Duma election coming up in September.

Kaluga. A Holiday. Image - flickr

During the United Russia primaries, experts detected possible falsification of the results and instances of interference in the electronic voting process. According to some analyses, 99% of votes for the first 22 candidates on the United Russia party list were falsified while the amount of falsified votes for candidates in single-mandate constituencies reached 80-95% of the votes cast.

Arrest by the police. Image - Wikimedia Commons

According to election observers, recent amendments further limiting citizens' passive suffrage constitute a "fifth wave" of depriving Russians of their right to stand for election since the collapse of the USSR. New restrictions have a particular impact on politically active citizens.

Programming, computing and information concept. Image - Peshkova, Getty Images Pro

In May, the Russian Federation has tested a new system of remote electronic voting. The Movement in Defense of Voters' Rights "Golos" observed the testing phase, took part in the voting, and shared their conclusions and recommendations in a respective report.

"I have the right to choose!" Photo - EPDE.

Opportunities for independent citizen election observation and civil society space in general have been shrinking steadily in Russia over the past decade. Recently, further restrictions have been adopted that limit the ability of citizens to independently monitor electoral processes.

May 1st Demonstration of the Communist Party, 2012. Image by _TMY2892/flickr

Over the past 14 years, the authorities have blocked 120,000 candidates from participating in elections of various levels, depriving millions of Russian citizens of the right to choose their representatives.

A demonstration in Moscow. Image - by Andrey, Pxhere.

Russia has finally outlawed Alexey Navalny's political and anti-corruption movement. Here's how the crackdown affects activists, journalists, and ordinary supporters.

Plenary meeting of the State Duma. Image - Wikimedia Commons
#Commentary

The President of Russia approved the law prohibiting those who are "involved" in the activities of an extremist organization from running in elections.

Electoral headquarters of Alexey Navalny. Photo - Wikimedia Commons

On June 9, the Moscow City Court, based on the charges by the Moscow Prosecutor's Office, recognized the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), the Foundation for the Protection of Citizens' Rights, and the headquarters of Alexei Navalny as extremist organizations. Now, many citizens are under a threat of pressure and persecution.

Vladimir Putin at the United Russia Congress (2011-11-27). Image - Wikimedia Commons

Between May 24 and 30, United Russia held its preliminary selection of candidates for 2021 State Duma elections. Nearly 12 million citizens participated in the party's primaries. Yet, a more careful examination shows an increasingly controlled and non-transparent process, aimed at having the public formally 'endorse' a carefully vetted list of pre-selected candidates.

Meeting of Central Election Commission Chair Ella Pamfilova with OSCE / ODIHR Director Matteo Mecacci. Photo - CEC

Between 2003 and 2018, OSCE/ODIHR published 139 recommendations on how to improve the conduct of elections in Russia. In the run-up to the State Duma elections in 2021, Russia has fully implemented just over 10% of them. Some have been tackled more promptly than others.

Man using computers. Photo by: Lisa Fotios from Pexels

Ahead of the State Duma election on September 19, 2021, Russia just tested its remote electronic voting system. While the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (CEC) is preparing the report about the results of the test, election monitors say Russia's electronic voting system is a black box.

Alexei Navalny. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The Russian authorities are expected to orchestrate a result in the upcoming State Duma elections that will give United Russia a clear majority of seats. This does not mean, however, that the manipulation of the electoral process by the authorities is complete. In a limited number of competitive districts, true opposition candidates including candidates who are associated with Aleksei Navalny have a real chance of winning if they are allowed to run. In recent weeks, steps have been taken to block these 'undesirable' candidates from participating.

Central Election Commission (CEC) of Russian Federation during April 21, 2021, meeting. Photo by: CEC.
#Commentary

On March 19, 2021, the new composition of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Russian Federation was revealed. Out of 15 members, eight new people joined the CEC. In particular, the new Commission has been 'reinforced' by bureaucrats from the Presidential Administration, the State Duma, and the Civic Chamber (a consultative civil society institution closely linked to the government).