Month: April 2018

We just launched a “warning for undervotes” feature. One of Simply Voting’s core guiding principles revolves around simplicity and ease of use from the voter’s perspective. Our aim is to always ensure that our interface and how information is presented to voters is streamlined and valuable.

To this end, Simply Voting has launched a small improvement to our voter interface which will help ensure that voters execute their vote to the allowed fullest extent. When a voter interacts with a question that allows multiple optional selections, if the voter selects less than the pre-configured maximum number of options, a special note, a warning for undervotes, will appear next to the appropriate question when the voter reaches the Confirmation page.

For example, in the screenshot above (taken from our demo at demo.simplyvoting.com in case you want to see it in action), the Board of Directors question allows for voters to select up to 3 candidates. This sample voter only selected 2, and a new “note” has been added to bring this to the voter’s attention. The voter can do what they wish with this information!

This feature is particularly valuable in elections where voters may inadvertently misunderstand the number of selections allowed or forget to make their full range of choices. By gently prompting voters to review any undervotes, we aim to reduce accidental omissions and empower voters to make more informed decisions. Importantly, this warning is non-intrusive, voters are not required to make additional selections if they intentionally choose to cast fewer votes. This strikes a balance between guiding voters and respecting their autonomy.

Contact us if you need more information!

As of today we are requiring voters and election organizers to connect to Simply Voting using TLS 1.2. The TLS protocol is used by browsers to encrypt communication between the visitor and the website. Its use is indicated by a green padlock in the browser window confirming that the connection is secure. TLS 1.2 is the modern version that supports the latest cryptographic ciphers, and is much more secure than TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1 which have been proven vulnerable to hacking.

By requiring TLS 1.2, older browsers that do not support this version will not be able to access the voting website or Election Manager. Modern TLS is supported by Firefox 28+, Chrome 33+, Opera 19+, Safari 7+, iOS Safari 5.1+, Android Browser 51+ and Internet Explorer 11.

Users stuck on older operating systems such as Windows XP or Mac OS X Mountain Lion may still access Simply Voting by using an alternative browser such as Chrome or Firefox. Users of Windows 7 that for whatever reason are prevented from updating Internet Explorer or installing an alternative browser can manually enable TLS 1.2 on Internet Explorer 8, 9 or 10 by checking it off in the Advanced tab in Internet Options.

After reviewing our logs we’ve determined that on average 0.2% of voters are using insecure browsers. This number will decrease over time as computers are updated, replaced, or have alternative browsers installed. Many large websites such as PayPal have already made this step, and there’s an approaching deadline of June 30, 2018 for websites to require a minimum of TLS 1.1 in order to remain PCI compliant (a security standard which Simply Voting adheres to) so many more will follow. While Simply Voting strives to make the voting system work with all browsers, we also place great importance on security. The time has come to drop support for insecure browsers, to make a safer voting system.