High-integrity app

The centre’s specialists worked throughout the first half of 2019 to develop a system for external and internal observation of the electoral process. Its operating principle is quite simple. Users — election commission members and observers — install the app on their mobile devices. It becomes a kind of independent platform where complaints about possible violations can be submitted and registered. The information posted is instantly accessible to all users, and they can respond promptly to the input they receive. However, ELORIS is more than just a chat room for people to communicate information to others. It is an official electronic ’single window’ app, where a person can: report a possible violation; complain about the actions of election commission representatives or observers; and even submit an official pre-trial complaint. ELORIS is not a book of complaints. The app can be used by election officials to send information to headquarters about voter turnout, ballot processing and the situation at the precinct. 

The app is integrated with the Public Services Portal, so it can only be used by authenticated people. The most important feature of the app, however, is that it will not allow for any manipulation of information after it has been entered. The information is automatically registered and encrypted in a blockchain system, where it cannot be covertly edited, deleted or altered as this will become visible to all users (for more on blockchain and its benefits, see the interview ’ We should look ahead at the windscreen instead of the rear view mirror’, pp.10-19). 

Achieving greater credibility

A few months after it was created, the developers successfully tested the software in real conditions. ’The system was tested in several precincts of the Leningrad region during the September elections in 2019,’ said Timofei Utnasin, Project Manager of the Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre at St Petersburg University. ’We received feedback from the first users of the system — both from observers and from the members of election commissions of different levels. ’We used this data to measure the scalability of the application in order to use it during the state level elections. It should be noted that no significant problems arose in the course of the pilot testing.’

It is also important that potential clients, in particular the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian Federation, have expressed their interest in the development. The Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova has also noted the development. This is not surprising, though. ’Recording of violations and instant notification of all responsible persons will increase the level of trust in the elections. It will allow us to quickly check and eliminate possible violations. The impossibility of making changes after registration will also increase the level of trust in the members of election commissions and observers. The app makes it possible to abandon the archaic system of transmitting information by phone and avoid possible recording errors,’ said Timofei Utnasin.

Other uses

The development of the Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre can also be useful for organisations that service larger sectors, e.g. heat and power facilities or public amenities. ’As a rule, these organisations want to deal with complaints in a simple and timely manner, with photos and geo-coordinates. This would eliminate the need for clarifying the details needed to address the problem,’ explained Timofei Utnasin. ’You might see a tree that is about to fall onto the roadway, thus posing a danger to others. You reach for your phone, open the app, take a photo, briefly describe the situation and send a message. The controller receives it instantly, sees the location on the map where the problem has occurred, sees the photo, and can properly prioritise the problem and allocate the necessary resources to fix it. With one click, the controller can send the request to service providers, then get photo confirmation after the problem has been fixed, and give feedback to the complainant.’ Timofei Utnasin emphasises that using ELORIS for such purposes is not only convenient, as it reduces the response time and speeds the solution to the problem at hand, but also helps to create a positive image for companies. ’It is one thing when a person (or a possible client of a company) has to send a request «to nowhere», but it is all very different when he gets a prompt response and sees a real result,’ said Timofei Utnasin.

ELORIS has many other areas of application. At the moment, the system is being further developed to be used as an online contracting system which would support the full contract life cycle. ’Our development can potentially be used as a decentralised cloud for signing official documents by the parties to civil legal agreements,’ said Timofei Utnasin.