Scytl’s technology successfully used in the first binding Internet election in Austria
Scytl’s election management system EMS/RCP and Internet voting solution Pnyx have been successfully used by the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research to manage and execute the first binding Internet voting election in Austria: the May 2009 Austrian University Elections. It was one of the most complicated Internet elections ever carried out: 230,749 students from 21 different universities were able to cast votes for 376 simultaneous elections with over 100 parties and 2411 candidates. The complete process was managed by 21 independent electoral commissions at the Austrian universities and 1 national electoral commission. The students could cast a paper ballot or, if they had activated their citizen card, use the Internet voting channel. Overall voter turnout (paper and Internet) was 25.7% and turnout for the Internet voting channel was 16,6%. The Internet voting has proven to be a very effective alternative voting channel to the existing traditional paper ballots.
22 th June 2009
Scytl successfully carries out the Internet voting election for the French living overseas
340,000 French living in Africa, North America and Latin America have been called to participate in the election to the ‘Assemblée des Français de l’Etranger’ (AFE) organized by the French Ministry of Foreign Affaires. Approximately 10% of the votes have been cast over the Internet through Scytl’ secure Internet voting platform. Total participation has increased by 2.2% over the previous election. Voters have also benefited from an online voter registration system that has remained open during the election. The objective of 24/7 availability for the electronic voting system has been 100% met by Scytl and its partner Atos Origin during the 15 days that the online election has remained open.
15 th June 2009
Scytl’s Internet voting technology successfully used in CETIB elections
Scytl’s Internet voting solution has been successfully used by the Association of Industrial Technical Engineers of Barcelona (CETIB) in their governing body elections. This was the second time CETIB had used Scytl’s technology, the first being in 2005 when they were the first entity in Spain to use Internet voting in a binding election. The election saw more than 70% of the total votes cast remotely from outside the polling stations, in addition to over a 20% increase in the use of the electronic voting channel compared to the previous election.
08 th June 2009
Scytl participates in the international workshop “e-voting from abroad” in Vienna
Upon invitation by the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Scytl participated in the international workshop “e-voting from abroad” in Vienna on the 18th and 19th of May. The purpose of the workshop was to allow governments from different countries to share their experiences on e-voting projects that involved citizens living abroad. Scytl was the only electronic voting software provider that was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Besides international organizations such as the Council of Europe, the event was attended by governments from countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Spain, in which Scytl’s secure electronic voting solutions have been used in public elections.
01 st June 2009
New electronic voting patent granted to Scytl in Mexico
The Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) has granted Scytl a patent that protects the proprietary cryptographic protocols developed by Scytl to guarantee vote integrity, voters’ privacy and election auditability in Internet voting. The patent also protects the generation of voting receipts to allow voters to individually verify the inclusion of their votes in the final tally. As a leading research company in application-level cryptography and e-voting security, Scytl holds the largest portfolio of patents and patent applications on e-voting worldwide.
25 th May 2009
Scytl gives a lecture on e-voting applied cryptography at the UPM
Jordi Puiggali, Scytl’s VP Research & Development, gave a lecture at the seminar "Electronic Voting in the Digital Democracy" for the Master on IT Systems organized by Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) on April 24. The lecture was on security techniques applied to in-person and remote voting and on e-voting cryptographic protocols.
18 th May 2009
Scytl successfully passes the audit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in France
Scytl’s Internet voting platform Pnyx, which will be implemented in the election to the Assembly of the French living Overseas (AFE) in partnership with Atos Origin, has successfully passed the security audit, showing its compliance with the electronic voting requirements of the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL). To conduct this audit, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has appointed an independent expertise agency which has been officially authorized as Centre d’Evaluation de la Sécurité des Technologies de l’Information (CESTI) by the Central Information Systems Security Division. This audit has consisted in a thorough analysis of the Pnyx security architecture, cryptographic protocols and source code and of the organizational procedures that will be put in place. Based on the audit report, CNIL has issued a favorable recommendation and the Council of State has approved the decree 2009-525 which authorizes electronic voting in the AFE election. From May 20 to June 4, the French living in Africa and America will be able to cast votes through the Internet from the following site: www.afe2009.fr.
11 th May 2009
Scytl becomes the first Internet voting vendor to register with the U.S. EAC
Scytl has formally registered with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) as the first Internet voting manufacturer in the United States under the EAC Voting System Testing and Certification Program. This represents a significant milestone in Internet voting in the United States. Scytl is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company and has over the years proven its commitment to meeting and exceeding standards, testing and certifications throughout the world, including the United States.
04 th May 2009
Scytl participates in a campaign to foster participation in the European elections
Scytl, and it partner Gov2u, are actively participating in the ‘Ucount4EU’ initiative which intends to foster participation in the upcoming European Parliament elections among European citizens from all the member states of the European Union. The objective of the campaign is to raise the awareness of the importance of the European electoral process among European citizens. This initiative will promote citizen discussion forums through the Internet at www.gov2u.org and will then allow the sending of petitions to the European Parliament.
27 th April 2009
Scytl invited to the conference on Uniform States Laws for absentee voters in the U.S.
Scytl has been invited to participate as an Observer Member in the U.S. National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws drafting Committee on Military Services and Overseas Civilian Absentee Voters. Scytl has been invited due to its ability to provide specialized expertise and knowledge in Internet Voting, associated security technologies and commitment to formal testing and certification. The purpose of the Uniform Law Commission Committee is to promote uniformity in state laws on the subject of Overseas Military and Civilian absentee voters where uniformity is desirable and practicable – it will allow State legislature’s to promote enabling legislation to ensure the franchise is fully extended to this group of voters.
20 th April 2009
Scytl carries out the first e-participation initiative in Slovakia
Scytl’s Internet voting solution will be used to carry out the first e-participation project in Slovakia. The municipality of Dunajska Streda, located in the southern part of Slovakia, has chosen Scytl to allow over 10,000 citizens to express their opinion on significant issues affecting the city‘s development over the Internet in a completely secure and user-friendly manner. This pioneering e-democracy experience is being carried out during the month of April.
14 th April 2009
New PhD Thesis on electronic voting security developed at Scytl
Dr. Victor Morales, one of Scytl’s scientific researchers, has recently received an Excellent Cum Laude on his PhD Thesis on secure electronic elections. Dr. Morales joined Scytl in 2007 to develop his PhD Thesis in the field of security and cryptography applied to electronic voting and elections. His PhD Thesis is directly related to the research that he conducted at Scytl’s R&D department. This is the third PhD Thesis in the area of election security developed by staff and academics related to Scytl, consolidating Scytl at the forefront of research in this field.
06 th April 2009
Scytl’s Internet voting solution (Pnyx) has been certified in Austria
Scytl’s Internet voting software was successfully certified by the Austrian Centre for Secure Information Technology (A-Sit) - an independent certification authority appointed by the Federal Ministry of Science and Research to certify the security of the software. After overcoming this rigorous certification process, Scytl is now able to carry out Austria’s first binding Internet elections which will take place in May 2009. The audit took place between December 2008 and March 2009 and consisted in a thorough analysis of the security architecture and source code of the e-voting software, applying the Council of Europe’s e-voting standards and the Austrian laws. The audit also included an evaluation of the software development process based on the common criteria ISO/IEC 15408.
30 th March 2009
Scytl carries out the first binding Internet voting election for a University in Spain
Rovira i Virgili University used Scytl’s Internet voting platform to carry out by electronic means its election to the Board of the School of Technical Engineering (ETSE) which is comprised of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Engineering (DEIM) and the Department of Electrical Engineering, Robotics and Electronics (DEEEA) . With this project, Rovira i Virgili University continues to be at the forefront of technological innovation, becoming the first University in Spain (and one of the first in Europe) to carry out a binding election over the Internet.
23 th March 2009
Scytl participates in the first Internet voting election for a U.S. public sector entity
Scytl’s Internet voting solution Pnyx has been successfully used to execute elections for the Board of Supervisors of the King Conservation District (KCD) in the State of Washington. During the election over 1,200,000 voters were able to cast their ballots over the internet, in a secure and user-friendly manner, from voting kiosks distributed across the County. The turnout of the election significantly increased compared to the previous year and voter feedback was extremely positive. This project was carried out in cooperation with Election Trust and was the first public sector entity election to use Internet voting kiosks in the U.S.
16 th March 2009
Scytl participates at the CeBIT tradeshow in Hannover (Germany)
Scytl has recently participated in the CeBIT tradeshow, the world's largest trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions for work environments. The key target groups are users from industry, the services sector, government agencies, science, etc. Scytl has promoted its secure e-voting and e-democracy solutions. This year’s edition of CeBIT has taken place from March 3 through 8 in Hannover, Germany.
09 th March 2009
Scytl will carry out the first binding Internet election for a Credit Union in Spain
Caja España has selected Scytl’s Internet voting platform to carry out the election of the members of the Supervisory Board of its Pension Fund by electronic means in a completely secure manner. With this project, Caja España will be at the forefront of technological innovation in the financial sector, becoming the first Credit Union to carry out a binding election over the Internet in Spain.
02 nd March 2009
Scytl appoints a new Manager for Central and Eastern Europe
Lenka Kmetova has recently joined Scytl as the new Business Development Manager for Central and Eastern Europe. Lenka Kmetova has extensive sales, marketing and public relations experience in the region. Prior to joining Scytl, Lenka Kmetova was the owner and manager of TOP Events, an international public relations agency, and was responsible for the international business development of Ardaco, a technology company in the mobile communications security and electronic signature markets. Lenka Kmetova will be based in Slovakia.
23 th February 2009
Scytl gives lecture on cryptography in Master on Advanced Security Computing
Jordi Puiggali, Scytl’s VP of Research and Development, has been invited to give a lecture in the Master on Advanced Security Computing organized by the Autonomous University of Barcelona. The lecture is on applied cryptographic techniques to protect intellectual property (e.g., watermarking, fingerprinting, etc.), e-cash and especially e-voting.
16 th February 2009
Scytl wins the City of Barcelona R&D award
Scytl has been selected as the winner of the Premio Ciudad de Barcelona, a prize awarded by the Barcelona City Hall, in the category of technology research, due to its remarkable R+D effort with Pnyx - a secure Internet voting solution - and its successful implementation in public elections worldwide during 2008. Scytl was declared the winner during the award ceremony that took place on February 12th. The award was given by Barcelona City's Mayor Jordi Hereu.
09 th February 2009
Scytl participates in the NASS Winter Conference in Washington DC
Scytl participated in the NASS Winter Conference which was held in Washington DC from February 5th through 9th. During the conference, the Operation Bravo Foundation presented the Internet voting project carried out in Florida with Scytl’s technology during the last U.S. Presidential election and announced a second phase of the project which will involve multiple States in the 2010 general election. The conference was attended by state officials from across the United States. Founded in 1904, the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) is the United States’ oldest, non-partisan professional organization for state officials.
02 nd February 2009
France awards a contract to Scytl to offer Internet voting to its overseas citizens
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has selected Scytl, in partnership with Atos Origin, to offer a secure Internet voting platform to the French citizens living overseas. 310,000 French voters residing in Africa and America will be able to cast votes over the Internet to elect their representatives to the Assemblée des Français de l’Etranger (AFE) from May 20 to June 4, 2009. Poll-site voting will be held on June 7, 2009. The AFE will directly elect 12 Senators who will represent the French living overseas. This is a high-profile project in France in which Scytl has been selected because of the security, reliability, auditability and trust. The Internet voting platform will be available 24/7 to cover the jet lag between the continents. In a second phase of the project, the platform will be used by over 1 million French voters living overseas.
26 th January 2009
Scytl showcased as a success case at a University seminar for entrepreneurs
Scytl has been invited to present at the seminar "Success cases and networking for entrepreneurs" organized by the Technological Park of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (PRUAB) on January 20. Scytl was selected to participate at this seminar as a success case of a ‘spin-off’ from the Autonomous University of Barcelona . In this seminar, Jordi Puiggali, Scytl’s VP of R&D, explained Scytl’s evolution from its origins as a leading academic research group to its current international leadership position in the electoral management and e-voting technologies market.
19 th January 2009
Scytl’s subsidiary PressVote is awarded an e-voting contract in Atlanta
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has awarded a contract to Scytl’s subsidiary PressVote in partnership with Election Trust. PressVote specializes in developing and commercializing secure user-friendly electronic voting platforms for parliaments and assemblies worldwide. PressVote’s technology is currently integrated in multiple legislative chambers in Europe, Latin America and the United States.
12 th January 2009
Scytl on the Advisory Board of a project for the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission
Scytl has been invited to join the Advisory Board of a leading voting security research project for the U. S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC). The objective of the project is to develop a risk assessment framework to evaluate voting systems security in the United States. This project is led by Prof. Alec Yasinsac from the University of South Alabama and its Advisory Board is formed by voting experts, academia and election officials from across the United States.
05 th January 2009
Scytl successfully completes the EU-funded eRepresentative project
Scytl has recently completed eRepresentative, a FP6 Framework EU-funded project to develop a “virtual platform” to facilitate the remote collaborative work of members of parliaments. This project has been executed by a consortium formed by two technological partners (Scytl and Hewlett Packard), a University (Napier University), an NGO (Gov2U) and five European parliaments and assemblies (The Netherlands, Hungary, Catalonia, Lithuania and Westmeath in Ireland). Scytl was primarily responsible for the security and mobility aspects of the project as well as for the remote e-voting platform for the plenary sessions of the parliaments.
29 th December 2008
The European Patent Office grants Scytl a new patent in the electronic voting field
The European Patent Office (EPO) has granted Scytl a patent that protects the proprietary cryptographic protocols developed by Scytl to guarantee vote integrity, voters’ privacy and election auditability in Internet voting. The patent also protects the generation of voting receipts to allow voters to individually verify the inclusion of their votes in the final tally. This same patent had already been granted last year in the United States by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Scytl currently holds the largest portfolio of patents and patent applications worldwide in the e-voting security field.
22 th December 2008
Peter Holmes joins Scytl’s Board of Directors
Peter Holmes has joined Scytl’s Board of Directors as an independent director after recently retiring from a successful career with Accenture. He spent the last 12 years with Accenture where he was Managing Director for Public Service – Europe, Africa & Latin America in which he was responsible for overseeing 17 countries with revenues in excess of $1 billion and over 5,000 professionals. Prior to Accenture, Mr. Holmes spent 19 years with Sema Group (now Atos) in which he became Managing Director of their UK systems integration and consulting business and a board director of their global outsourcing business. Mr. Holmes currently Chairs the Operations Committee of Intellect, a trade association representing the UK information technology, telecommunications and electronic industry, and he is also a Non-Executive Member of the Insolvency Service Executive Agency Board in the United Kingdom.
15 th December 2008
Scytl participates at the “Voting in America Summit” in Washington DC
Scytl has participated at the "Voting in America Summit" organized by Make Voting Work, a project sponsored by The Pew Center on the States in partnership with the JEHT Foundation, which took place in Washington DC from December 8 through 10. The summit was attended by over 250 representatives from almost every State and included Secretaries of State, legislators, election officials, NGOs, academics, media and corporations in the electoral field. During the summit, the two sessions dedicated to UOCAVA voters showed the strong support from all the stakeholders to enfranchising this community of over 6 million Americans living overseas. This strong support shall translate into more pilot programs to test new ways and technologies to enfranchise this group of voters. Operation BRAVO Foundation's Okaloosa remote voting project in co-operation with Scytl was extensively discussed as a very good initiative in this direction.
08 th December 2008
Scytl wins Internet voting project for the government in Austria
The Ministry of Science and Research of Austria has selected Scytl, together with the Federal Computing Center (Bundesrechenzentrum GmbH), to provide Scytl’s secure electronic voting software to carry out the first binding Internet voting election in Austria. This is a high profile reference project for both the Ministry and Scytl where 240,000 students from 21 different Universities will be able to securely cast votes over the Internet in over 400 simultaneous elections for the Hochschülerinnen- und Hochschülerschaftswahlen between April and June 2009.
01 st December 2008
Scytl’s EDMP solution successful used in the U.S. Presidential Election
Scytl’s Election Day Management Platform (EDMP) has been successfully used to support multiple counties in the State of Virginia, including the City of Richmond, during the last U.S. Presidential election. The technology supported election administrators in processing voters with special situations, without requiring staff to query the State’s voter registration system, and managed effectively the 20% increase in new voter applications. Using local computer resources, election administrators were able to quickly, accurately, and uniformly find resolution to voters with special situations and ensure that voter lines did not cause significant wait times.
24 th November 2008
Scytl presents its solutions at the IFES conference in the Philippines
Scytl has presented its electoral modernization solutions at a conference organized by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Manila. The electoral solutions that Scytl exhibited at the conference ranged from a cost-effective touch-screen electronic voting terminal to a secure results consolidation system. The IFES conference was held from November 17 through 19 and was attended by election officials from multiple Asian countries.
17 th November 2008
Scytl successfully carries out an Internet voting pilot in Catalonia
The City of Sant Andreu of Llavaneres in Catalonia has successfully carried out an election with Scytl’s secure Internet voting technology. This election has received the support from the Department of Public Administration of the Government of Catalonia which has regarded this project as a pilot for the future implementation of Internet voting in parliamentary elections in Catalonia. The election remained open from November 12 through 15 and its closing has been chaired by the Hon. Jordi Ausàs, Head of the Department of Public Administration of the Catalan Government.
10 th November 2008
Scytl’s Internet voting system successfully used in U.S. Presidential election
Scytl’s Internet voting solution Pnyx has been successfully used to execute the first end-to-end Internet voting election in the United States during the last Presidential election. The first county to use it has been Okaloosa County in the State of Florida with the support of the
