When organising a digital election, election officials face many questions about how it can be conducted in a technically secure manner.

Technical Guideline TR-03169

The Technical Guideline TR-03169 (in german) "IT security requirements for conducting an electronic election" is aimed at election administrators with the aim of securing online elections in various contexts. In future, various elections (for example, the election of equal opportunities officers or works council elections) should be able to be held online with the help of TR-03169.

Online elections are a special application scenario. Depending on the election context, different legal requirements, such as election regulations, apply. In addition, specific processes and requirements must be mapped, for example with regard to the electoral roll, voting codes and ballot papers. In addition, the risks and damage scenarios characteristic of online elections must be assessed, for example: “How do I protect the principles of universal, direct, free, equal and secret voting?”. An essential part of TR-03169 is the implementation of IT-baseline protection. It offers the possibility of tailoring information security requirements to the needs of a defined information network.

Guidelines for end-to-end verifiability methods for online elections

In online elections, attention is paid in particular to the transparency and traceability of the result. In this context, a study was conducted on “End-to-end verifiability methods for online elections" .The results are summarized in a guide for organizers of online elections. This guide provides a comprehensible introduction to the topic of verifiability and can be used to help decide whether and how verifiability methods can be incorporated in the organization of a planned online election.

The guide will be published in the first half of 2025.

Guide for voters

A guide for voters participating in online elections is also available. It provides a brief introduction to the topic of online elections, focusing in particular on the implementation of voting principles and mechanisms protecting against manipulation, as well as practical tips on how to make one’s own voting process as secure as possible. The guide can also be used by election officials for providing voters with information.