Open Source Voting Fact Sheet

Why Open Source Voting Matters

Open source voting systems represent a fundamental shift in how communities approach election technology. Rather than relying on proprietary software controlled by private vendors, open source voting makes the code that counts ballots available for public inspection, audit, and improvement. This transparency is the cornerstone of election integrity in the digital age.

Key Benefits

Transparency and Trust: When the software that tallies votes is publicly available, every citizen, researcher, and election official can verify that it works correctly. This eliminates the need to blindly trust a vendor's claims and replaces opacity with verifiable accountability. Open source code has been peer-reviewed by the global security community, resulting in more robust and reliable software.

Security Through Openness: The cybersecurity community has long recognized that open review produces stronger security than secrecy. Open source voting software benefits from the scrutiny of thousands of independent experts who can identify and report vulnerabilities before they are exploited. Proprietary systems, by contrast, rely on a small internal team and have repeatedly been found to contain serious unpatched flaws.

Cost Savings: Proprietary voting systems require expensive licensing fees, maintenance contracts, and vendor lock-in. An open source system can be shared freely across jurisdictions, dramatically reducing per-community costs. The collaborative development model also distributes the cost of ongoing improvements among all participating jurisdictions rather than concentrating it in a single municipality.

Paper Ballot Verification: Open source voting systems are designed to work with paper ballots, providing a physical record of every vote that can be independently audited. This combination of transparent software and a verifiable paper trail creates the strongest possible foundation for election integrity.

The Path Forward

San Francisco has been a leader in exploring open source voting technology, with support from the Board of Supervisors, the Elections Commission, and a broad coalition of civic organizations. As more jurisdictions recognize the benefits of transparent election technology, the open source voting movement continues to grow. Citizens, technologists, and election officials all have a role to play in advancing this critical democratic infrastructure.