# **1.0 What is Helios voting?**
Helios voting is a secure, private, and verifiable open-source election system created by Ben Adida. Anyone can create an election, which can be voted on by either everyone or a supplied list of voters. This document will take you through setting up your very own election through Helios.

### **1.1 Creating an election**
Currently, Helios on NOVA Web Development supports Google logins. To create an election, a Google account is required, however, one is not required when voting in private elections. After logging in through either the log in button at the bottom of the page or by clicking on “log in through Google”, you should see a new “create election” button appear, which will take you directly into the configuration.

### **1.2 Configuring an election**
Helios allows you to tailor your election in many different ways. <br>
**Short name:** This option will be the URL of your election, and therefore must be something unique that no one else has used before. <br>
**Name:** This will appear on your election’s homepage. Think of it as a newspaper headline so your voters immediately know what they are voting for. <br>
**Description:** This will also appear on your election’s homepage, and serves as additional information for voters to read. <br>
**Type:** Choose based on whether your voters are voting to elect a person (election) or change or pass a law. (referendum) <br>
**Use voter aliases:** Checking the box here will hide the identity of your voters after they have voted, meaning that no one knows who else has voted, for privacy purposes. If unsure, leave unchecked. <br>
**Randomize answer order:** Checking this box will mean that voters will see potential answers in varying orders. If unsure, leave unchecked. <br>
**Private?:** Leaving this box unchecked means that anyone with a Google account will be able to vote in your election, however, they will have to have a Google account to vote. Checking this box means that you must supply a list of voters that will be emailed with a password that they can use to vote in your election. Choose public or private wisely based on the context of your election. <br>
**Help email address:** Voters will be directed to the supplied email if they need help. Input your email address or the email address of the person responsible for running the election, if not you. <br>
**Voting starts/ends at:** Choose the date and time at which voters will first be allowed to vote, and the date and time of the deadline. Be aware that the options are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) which may be different than your time zone.

### **1.3 Creating questions**
Creating questions with Helios is simple. On your election’s homepage, click on “questions.” For each question, there are multiple configurations that can be made as well. <br>
**Select between/and:** How many answers voters will be allowed to select for this particular question. The first box is the minimum of answers that can be chosen, and the second box is the maximum. If the minimum is 0, voters will be allowed to skip this question. <br>
**Result type:** Choose based on whether a certain number of votes are required to win (absolute) or a certain percentage of the votes is required to win. (relative) <br>
**Question:** This is what your voters will see in the voting booth. Make sure each question is phrased correctly and objectively. <br>
**Answer:** Each answer will be an option for the current question. Adding a link to an answer will provide a reference for voters who want more information on an answer. If you want a question to have more than 5 answers, click on “add 5 more answers.” Answers left blank will not show up to voters. <br>
When you are finished with a question, click on the “add question” button, found at the bottom of the page. All of your questions are listed at the top of the page, and from there, you can delete, edit, and order questions. Clicking the ^ next to a question will bring that question to the top of the list. Questions during the election will appear in the same order as this list.

### **1.4 Adding trustees**
Helios’s trustee functionality gives election an extra step of security. The results cannot be revealed unless all trustees actively do so after the election, so one trustee will not be able to view any votes, individual or collective. Technically, the trustees could get together and decipher votes, so they must be a group of people that you can trust, hence the name. However, if this might be difficult or impossible for you, there is an option to add Helios as a trustee. Helios is reliable and automatic, so we highly recommend adding it as a trustee, however choosing not to do so is perfectly acceptable. <br>
**Add a trustee:** This will set you up to add a human trustee. Read the message. If you are comfortable with it, click on OK. Enter the trustee’s name and email address. On the next screen, review that trustee’s details and either remove or send a login to the trustee. Without every single trustee’s ability to receive emails and follow instructions in order to generate keypairs, it will be impossible to compute the election’s results. If a trustee is not equipped to complete these tasks, it would be best to remove them. In addition, it's possible to add yourself as a trustee.<br>
**Add Helios as a trustee:** This will automatically set up Helios as a trustee. If you are unable to find or add trustees, having Helios as the only trustee is allowed and works perfectly. In addition, if you do not trust Helios, you have the option to remove it.<br>
You will not be able to begin the election until each trustee has generated a keypair. If a trustees have trouble doing so, refer them to Section 2 of this documentation.

### **1.5 Uploading voters**
Navigate to the “voters & ballots” page. If your election is private, you should see the option to bulk upload voters. If it is public, you will be able to update the settings so that anyone with a Google account will be able to vote in your election. However, if you want to set a specific list of voters, you must bulk upload them. Doing this requires a spreadsheet program- Microsoft Excel and LibreOffice Calc are some examples. However, if your computer does not have a spreadsheet program, Google Sheets is a good alternative that is online and free for anyone with a Google account. For each row, input a unique ID in column A (example: benadida), that voter’s email address in column B (example: ben@adida.net), and the voter’s full name. (example: Ben Adida) After you have done this for each voter, save the document as “voterlist.csv,” and make sure file format is set to “all files.” After that, click on “browse” and select the voterlist, and then click on “go.”

### **1.6 Freezing the ballot**
Freezing the ballot will no longer allow you to edit anything about your election, so make sure that everything is in order before you do this. If you want to simulate what your voters will see when voting, navigate to "preview booth" from the eletion homepage. After the election is frozen, voting will start when the set date and time have been reached. On the election’s home page, click on “freeze ballot and open election,” and read and make a selection based on the next message.

### **1.7 Alerting voters**
Now that the election is open, all you need is to get your voters to vote. Through the voters & ballots page, you can email all the voters at once or email those who haven’t voted yet individually. When emailing your voters, changing the template will customise what your voters see. The best template to use when asking people to vote is either “Time to Vote” or “Simple.” These two templates will include the ID and password that is required for each voter in order to cast a ballot.

### **1.8 Computing the encrypted tally**
Once everyone has voted, it’s time to decrypt the final votes. It's possible to both compute the tally before the voting deadline has been reached, and if the deadline has been reached already, it's possible to extend it. From your election’s page, simply click on “compute encrypted tally,” then read the following message and make a decision. Be aware of the fact that voting will be officially closed when the tally is computed. When the tally is finished, you should receive an email from Helios. However, in order for the results to be released, all of the trustees must next provide their secret key.

### **1.9 Computing and viewing results**
After the trustees have done their jobs, you can easily view the results. Click on "compute results" from the election homepage, then "compute tally," and now they're available to anyone who voted. By going to the voters & ballots page, you can email the voters to alert them of the results. Congratulations! You just finished an election through Helios!
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# **2.0 What is a trustee?**
A trustee is a person that has been entrusted by the election administrator and is vital to the election. Without each trustee doing their part, elections tallies cannot be decrypted and thus cannot be completed.

### **2.1 Accessing the trustee homepage**
Before the election starts, you will be emailed a link to your trustee homepage by Helios. If you are concerned about not having received said email, contact the election administrator. Once you have received said email, click on the link, and make sure to save the email.

### **2.2 Generating keypairs**
Read the message on the homepage, and click on “setup your key.” Then, click on the “Save your secret key” button. You will be redirected to a page with some JSON code. Click on “copy,” to the top left, and return to the key setup page. We strongly reccommend that you keep the page with the secret key open, as if one trustee loses his secret key, it is impossible to complete the election. If you are concerned about the security of your secret key, click on “clear it from memory and start from scratch” to generate a new one. If you are have copied the key and are ready to move on, click on ”ok, I've saved the key, let's move on.” Next, you should see your public key. While secret keys are used to compute an election’s encrypted tally, public keys are used to begin the election. You don’t need to save your public key, so just click on the upload button. On the next screen, if you want to make sure your secret key is correct, simply click on “verify” and paste your code into the box. You’re done for now, but you will be needed again after the election has concluded.

### **2.3 Decrypting with your secret key**
Now that the main part of the election is concluded, it's time, again, for the trustees to step up. Return to your trustee homepage (the election administrator can send you another email if you deleted the first one) and click on "decrypt with your key." Understand the information on the next page, and then paste your secret key into the box. Click on "generate partial decryption" and then the "upload decryption factors to server" button. That's it!
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# **3.0 Voting with Helios**
If you're reading this, that means that you are taking place in an election through Helios. Helios not only provides secure and private votes, but voting through Helios is easy as well.

### **3.1 Entering the voting booth**
Two types of elections are possible through Helios- public and private. If the election that you're voting in is public, you must have a Google account in order to vote. If the election is private, you will be emailed with a unique ID and password that you will be able to use to cast your ballot. If you have not received an email or a set of credentials, contact your voting administrator. To enter the booth, simply click on the link that you were sent by Helios. You can also access the booth though the election's homepage.

### **3.2 Voting**
Once you're in the booth, voting is simple. The information about each question is listed at the top of the page, so use it and select the option that you want to vote for. Some questions allow you to select multiple answers, so make sure to choose the appropriate amount of answers. Once you complete each question, you will receive your ballot tracker. This footprint will allow you to reassure you that your vote has been counted. If you're interested in doing this, print it. After you submit your vote, you will be prompted to either log in via Google or the ID and password that was emailed to you. If you want to confirm that your ballot was cast, return to the election homepage and navigate to the "voters & ballots" page. Your ballot tracker should be listed next to your name. (or alias if the election administrator configured the election to hide names) This is proof that you have voted.
### **3.3 Viewing results**
Once the election administrator has released the results, you should receive an email alerting you of this. Following the link in the email will allow you to review the tally, however, another login with your unique ID and password may be required. The winners of each question are determined based on the configurations that were made by the election administrator, and are highlighted in bold.