Glossary

Account

An account is a feature of Candidacy and is the top-level resource representing an end-user who can authenticate themselves.

Administrator (Admin)

A system role reserved for the Assembly Voting team or customers running their own Electa system. Within the user manual, you will see sections which mention Admin/Administrator rights. An administrator has more functionality/access than a User since they have access to all organizations on the Electa platform.

Auditor

A role within the user type hierarchy. Auditors can approve the configuration of specific elections.

Authorization

Refers to the process by which voters' identities are confirmed by the system through matching the data it holds on a voter to that the voter provides.

Auto Standalone Link

A link available for Scheduled-type election Templates which automatically signs voters into the system.

Automatic login link

A link available for Live Conference-type election Templates which automatically signs voters into the system.

Backend

The admin user panel from which Users can configure an election or candidacy in Electa.

Ballot Test

An E2E Verifiable functionality in which the voter can conduct a Benaloh challenge to verify that their vote has been recorded correctly before submitting it to the digital ballot box.

Benaloh Challenge

A term referring a test performed to confirm that the choices on a voter’s encrypted ballot match those they initially selected. Part of end-to-end (E2E) verifiability.

Blank / Blank vote

A Contest configuration which allows voters to cast ballots with none of the options selected. This can be set up as an “Active choice” (where voters can mark “Blank” on their ballots) or “Implicit” (where a blank vote can be cast by marking none of the options and casting the ballot).

Board (or Digital Bulletin Board, ie. DBB)

A functionality of end-to-end (E2E) verifiability. It refers to the election board which logs all activities of an election event.

Campaigns

A module in Electa used to send out emails and SMS messages either instantaneously or at a scheduled time point to one or more voters.

Candidate

A type of end-user in Candidacy who have signed up to be approved for running in an election.

Candidacy

A platform available in Electa which is used to register and collect information about candidates for an election.

Conductor Panel

The place from where the User controls the live voting flow.

Consensus required

A Contest configuration which mandates that a certain percentage (or portion) of voters agree on an Option before it can be declared the winner. This percentage or portion (e.g. 51% or 2/3) can be set by the User.

Contest

Interchangeable with Ballot.

Default voting

A Contest configuration in which a voter only marks options on a ballot without ranking the selection.

Demo mode

A system setup used when testing an election’s configurations. Indicates that an election is not yet active with real data.

Demo voter

A voter who is created to test the election setup while it is still in demo mode.

Distributing Weight

A Contest configuration which allows voters with a Weight of more than one to use their weight on multiple ballot options instead of a single one.

Election

A voting event in Electa consisting of at least one Contest, along with voters, groups, and other necessary configurations.

Election Activity Log

A log containing all activities which have occurred during an election, spanning the initial setting up of the election to the conclusion of voting.

Election code

A code which a voter needs in order to log into the system. They serve as passwords and Users may choose to employ one, two, or three codes for their election(s) when configuring them.

Election Manager

A role in the user type hierarchy. Election Managers have access to the “Elections” tab, allowing them to manage individual Elections along with the Voters and Contests therein.

Election Status

Specifies whether an Election is enabled/scheduled/disabled.

Election Verification Site (EVS)

This is an audit site which allows voters and auditors to review the election process. It consists of two tools: Ballot Tracking and Ballot Testing, the latter of which can be used by voters during an election and the former after. It also contains an activity log about the election which can be used to verify and audit election processes.

End-to-end (E2E) verifiability

A property of computer systems characterized by high tamper-resistance and the ability to check, at any stage of an event, the inner workings and processes of the system to ensure that it is running as it should.

End-User

This refers to either a voter or candidate in the frontend flows of the system. Not to be confused with User.

Feature flag

An extra feature which can be enabled/disabled for a given Organisation. An organization’s access to certain feature flags will depend on their specific needs, requirements, and contract stipulations.

Form

A feature in Candidacy that is used by the system to obtain information from the end-user. There can be three types of forms: identities, candidates, and recommenders.

Frontend

The area in which voters or candidates interact with the voting or candidacy platform. This term can refer to all of the following: Live Conference Voting frontend, Scheduled Voting frontend, Turnout statistics site, Election Verification Site, Observer screen, the Sign up module, and Candidacy site.

Groups

A feature of Candidacy in which end-users are divided in specific groups. These groups can be regions, departments, etc.

Identity

An identity holds information about an end-user in Candidacy and can be used to authenticate and authorize them.

Injectable Voter Attributes

See Templates.

Lists

A Contest option which groups options together, such as for parties or groupings.

Live Conference Voting

A voting format characterized by being carried out in real time with a sequential/synchronous voting flow.

Locale

The display language for the front end voter flow, or the language voters will see/use when entering the system.

Login link

An Injectable Voter Attribute link available for Live Conference-type election Templates which directs voters to the event login page when clicked.

Mixing process

Technology used to separate voter ID from vote prior to the calculation of the election result

Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

A system property which requires those logging in to use multiple sets of credentials, such as a password and external validation via an app. This better secures the system against false login attempts and malicious attacks.

Observer

A role in Live Conference Voting events created by a User to allow third parties to observe the voting event. An observer will be able to log in and follow the progress of an election, but can neither vote in nor interact with it.

Operator

A role within the user type hierarchy. Operators are able to view the configuration of, and voters within, an election but cannot edit them. They can, however, edit Ballots and Slides within an Election, as well as conduct Elections.

Option

An item on a ballot which voters may select. Examples include yes/no or individual candidates.

Organisation Manager

The second-highest role in the user type hierarchy. Organisation Managers can create and delete specified users, including Operators, Election Managers, Auditors, and other Organisation Managers. They need permission from an Organisation Owner to be able to manage Voters, Campaigns, and Translations.

Organisation Owner

The highest role in the user type hierarchy. Organisation Owners have full access to an Organisation and all Elections created within it.

Page

A feature of Candidacy that are used to provide information to all visitors of the candidacy site. Pages essentially are the frontend of Candidacy. They can be either a homepage or a page.

Parent (lists)

A Contest option which is the main item for a List.

Pre-election

The collective name for processes which must be completed before carrying out an election in Electa. These processes include setting up ballots, creating voters, and preparing message templates used to give voters access to the election.

The above is not to be confused with Candidacy, a platform within Electa dedicated to gathering candidates for an election.

Production mode

A term indicating that an election is active, using real ballot items, candidates, and voters.

Public key

An encrypted string of code containing an election code.

Ranked voting

A contest configuration which allows voters to mark ballot choices in the order of their preference. Results from contests using Ranked voting may be calculated in one of five ways.

Recommendation

An endorsement given by other end-users to a candidate.

Recommendation invitation

An email invitation sent from a candidate to another end-user requesting for a recommendation.

Recommender

End-user that gives an endorsement to a candidate

Reference

A unique identifier for an Option which will be visible in the result file.

Regular summation

The only calculation method available for Contests using Default voting.

Scheduled voting

A voting format which takes place over a specified time period with a non-synchronous voting flow.

Seats

Indicates how many places (seats) are available for candidates to win in a given Contest.

Sign ups

A function which, when enabled, requires voters to sign themselves up in order to participate in an election.

Single-Sign On (SSO)

Feature in Candidacy that allows for an external sign-in provider to be setup as the sign in method of the system

This can also be done for Electa under “Voting interface for Scheduled Voting elections“.

Standalone link

An Injectable Voter Attribute available for Scheduled elections which, when click, will send voters lands to the election login page.

Standalone voting client

A menu item for Scheduled Voting-type elections allowing a user to see what the login page will look like for voters.

Summary

A page which provides users with an overview of and election’s setup, resources, and statistics.

Template

A feature enabling a User to craft and send SMS messages or emails to voters with instructions relevant to the voting event, including how to log in, register as a candidate, and so on. In them, one may add Injectable Voter Attributes which insert links and/or a voter’s information into the template.

Threshold ceremony

An E2E Verifiable functionality in which one or more Trustee(s) initiate a voting event using their encryption key(s).

Tracking code

An E2E Verifiable functionality which allows the voter to track their ballot on the Election Verification Site.

Trustee

A person or entity holding an encryption key used to commence/conclude an election, as well as release results.

User

Refers to the user in the system that has access to create, edit, and delete election and candidacy events. Not be confused with End-user or Admin. In the system there exists different levels of user roles with different sets of permissions.

A user is a customer under a larger organization. There are five different types of user roles, each with its own permissions (see user type hierarchy). A user may obtain access to several organizations at the same time.

User modules

Modules available to voters via a panel during a Live Conference Voting event. These modules allow them to see voting rounds, comment, propose amendments, or register a a candidate.

User type hierarchy

A schema containing the different user roles found in Electa. These roles include (in descending order of permissions) Organisation Owner, Organisation Manager, Election Manager, Operator, and Auditor.

Vote verification

An E2E Verifiable functionality which enables voters to confirm that their ballots choices were properly recorded. See Ballot Test.

Voter group

A set of voters which all have the same eligibility/access needed to vote in defined Contests.

Voter session

The session a voter has from the time they have entered the voting system with their credentials to the session ends by actively quitting the voting system or the session expires after the expiration time has been exceeded.

Vote receipt

PDF receipt containing a tracking code which can be used by the voter to confirm their vote was submitted.

The receipt, which is part of the end-to-end verifiability principle, can be downloaded or received via email after casting a vote.

Voting round

An individual election on an election event which contains a predetermined amount of contests/ballots.

Voting frontend

A menu item available for Live Conference Voting events which enables a user to see how the system will appear to voters. Also refers to the interface used by voters when participating in the voting event.

Weight

How much a single vote counts towards the final results. By default, voters have weight of one, meaning one vote counts as one tally in the final result. However, certain election setups enable some voters to have weights greater than one.