The Bordeaux start-up becomes the first blockchain-based electronic voting solution to achieve the highest level of compliance certified by the CNIL.
The Bordeaux start-up V8te, which has been marketing an electronic voting platform since November 2020, becomes the first player certified “level 3” by the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) for an online voting product connected to a blockchain (Ethereum). This is the highest level of certification issued by the CNIL for an electronic voting solution. Only a handful of online voting platforms have obtained it, but none have so far used blockchain.
This level of certification corresponds to a solution allowing “the transparency of the ballot box for all voters from third-party tools”, having an infrastructure involving a redundancy system that can “take over in the event of a failure of the main system and offering the same guarantees and characteristics”, and allowing “ automatic and manual control by the electoral office of the integrity of the platform throughout the election”.
PROFESSIONAL AND TRADE UNION ELECTIONS
Founded in March 2020, V8te communicates on a number of 4000 customers, including Unsa, Orange, RATP, the city of Clamart in the Hauts-de-Seine, the Ile de France region, and the CFTC. It achieves “several hundred thousand euros in turnover” and holds 100% of its capital.
The objective of the start-up is to offer its solution “to large groups and institutions for large-scale and simultaneously scheduled elections in several regions or countries in the world”. Romain Menetrier, co-founder of the start-up of a dozen people, explains in a statement that the evolution of the Ethereum protocol towards a consensus based on proof of stake and no longer proof of work is an asset for its technology, “which requires both security, transparency and scalability”.
ENSURING TRANSPARENCY AND INVIOLABILITY
V8te’s online voting system is based on encryption mechanisms validated by the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (Anssi). Concretely, the voter sends his ballot from his computer, smartphone or tablet. Registrants receive a personal username and password, which can be used only once. The platform produces a token or key to ensure the anonymity of the vote. When the voter logs out, the voting token is automatically deleted. The voter has the opportunity to check himself that his ballot is contained in the decentralized virtual ballot box, has not been modified and has been counted.
It is possible to access the “digital ballot box” to verify that all the ballots collected come from legitimate voters and that the results proclaimed correspond to the votes cast. “When the law allows, citizens will be able to use our voting solution in official, national and European elections,” says Guillaume Odriosolo, CEO and co-founder of V8te.
The start-up’s online voting platform is referenced by the Interministerial Digital Directorate (Dinum) and audited by Orange Cybersecurity. It makes it possible to carry out all types of ballots: by secret ballot or by show of hands, proxy voting, general meetings, professional elections… V8te invoices its solution according to the number of votes and voters, from 0 to 1590 euros per year for companies, and offers in addition options such as the establishment of a report, the intervention of a judicial officer, or a hotline service.
Sources: https://www.usine-digitale.fr/article/v8te-premiere-plateforme-de-vote-en-ligne-basee-sur-la-blockchain-certifiee-par-la-cnil.N2014447