User study of the improved Helios voting system interfaces

Abstract

There is increasing interest in cryptographic verifiability in remote electronic voting schemes. Helios is one example of an open-source implementation. In previous work, we proposed an improved version of the original Helios interface in version 3.1 for vote casting and individual verifiability. We now test this interface in a mock mayoral election set up with 34 users. Users are given instructions and fill out questionnaires before and after the vote casting process. Data on mouse movements and time is collected and a modified helmet with eye tracking lenses is used to capture eye movement data. The study shows that the interface is easy to use while people have difficulty understanding the motivation for and the concept of verifiability.