ElectionRecordJson.md

🗳 Election Record JSON directory and file layout

draft 7/15/2023

Public Election Record files

topdir/
    constants.json
    election_config.json
    election_initialized.json
    encrypted_tally.json
    manifest.json
    tally.json
    encrypted_ballots/
       deviceName1/
          ballot_chain.json
          eballot-ballotId1.json
          eballot-ballotId2.json
          eballot-ballotId3.json
          ...
        deviceName2/
          eballot-ballotId1.json
          eballot-ballotId2.json
          eballot-ballotId3.json
        deviceName3/
        ...
    challenged_ballots/
       dballot-<ballotId>.json
       dballot-<ballotId>.json
       dballot-<ballotId>.json
       ...

One or more of the above files may be present, depending on the output stage.

Name	Type	Workflow stage
constants.json	ElectionConstantsJson	start
manifest.json	ManifestJson	start
election_config.json	ElectionConfigJson	key ceremony input
election_initialized.json	ElectionInitializedJson	key ceremony output
eballot-<ballotId>.json	EncryptedBallotJson	encryption output
encrypted_tally.json	EncryptedTallyJson	tally output
tally.json	DecryptedTallyJson	decryption output
dballot-<ballotId>.json	DecryptedBallotJson	decryption output

• The encrypted_ballots directory contain all ballots, cast or challenged.
• The challenged_ballots directory contain only challenged ballots.
• DecryptedTallyJson and DecryptedBallotJson use the same schema (DecryptedTallyOrBallotJson)

Private files

encrypt

These files are not part of the election record, but are generated for internal use. In production, these must be stored in a secure place.

KeyCeremony

Each trustee maintains their own private copy of their crypto data. They must keep this data secret, to ensure the security of the election.

private_data/trustees/
    decryptingTrustee-{trusteeName}.json

Encryption

During the encryption stage, input plaintext ballots are checked for consistency against the manifest. The ones that fail are not encrypted, and are placed in a private directory for examination by election officials.

private_data/input/
       pballot-<ballotId>.json
       pballot-<ballotId>.json
       ...