Announced at DEF CON

Open Source the Vote

Trust. Verify. Empower.

A coordinated effort to find and fix known vulnerabilities in electronic voting systems — before certification, not after an election.

Coordinated research

We convene researchers and AI tooling to find and report vulnerabilities in participating systems.

Vendor remediation

We help vendors fix findings and harden systems ahead of EAC and lab certification.

Independent assurance

MAI issues its own certification to signal a system has completed our review.

Nonpartisan by construction. We work with any willing vendor or jurisdiction, regardless of geography or political context. This is an engineering program, not a political one.

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Our Code of Conduct

Everyone who works on this initiative is expected to meet a high standard, and we would rather be explicit about it now than surprise anyone later. In summary:

Coordinated disclosure. Findings go to the affected vendor and to MAI first, on an agreed timeline.
No testing of live election systems, ever, without written authorization from the system owner.
No classified, export-controlled, or unlawfully obtained material, in any form.
Nonpartisan conduct. No use of this work to advantage or disadvantage any party, candidate, or campaign.
Respect for colleagues and for election officials, who are usually under-resourced and acting in good faith.
Honest reporting. No overstated findings, no undisclosed conflicts of interest.

Read the full Code of Conduct. You are not being asked to agree to it here — this is an interest form. Agreement comes later, if and when you join a working group.

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Thank you. We review every submission and will contact you about the areas you selected. We are not promising a timeline.

Keep this reference if you later want your information corrected or deleted. We delete your submission automatically two years after you send it, whether or not you ask.

Questions

Is my data safe?

Your application is sealed on arrival, before anything is written to storage. It is encrypted to a public key whose private half is never deployed and is held offline, so the server that stores your application cannot read it back, and whoever compromises that storage gets ciphertext. The sealing itself happens on our server, which therefore handles your submission in the clear for the moment it takes to encrypt it — we say so plainly here and in the specification rather than implying otherwise. The time and reference of a submission are stored unencrypted so the record can be located and audited; the contents never are. We do not sell personal information and there are no third-party trackers on this page.

Do I need to be an expert?

No. Core research roles need demonstrated experience in security analysis or reverse engineering, but the program also needs writers, translators, organizers, legal help, equipment, and funding.

Is this partisan?

No. MAI is nonpartisan and works with any willing vendor or jurisdiction. We do not take positions on candidates, parties or election outcomes.

Why is my browser doing work before I can submit?

A small proof-of-work runs while you fill in the form. It costs you about a second and costs an automated mass-submitter a great deal more. It is one of several controls on this form; the source is on the page and you are welcome to read it.