Papers for

software auditors

Papers whose findings have a practical use for this group, as judged from the abstract. Open a paper to read what it means in practice.

Verifying Alaska’s ranked-choice elections with formal proofs

Counting by the Book: Verifying Alaska's Ranked-Choice Elections

Abstract: We present Alaska's ranked-choice elections as a case study in Formally Verified Democracy, a program to establish election results through formally checked proofs. We formalize an interpretation of Alaska's tabulation rules in Lean, verify its implementation, and prove election-specific results. Across 115 ranked-choice contests in Alaska since 2022, we identify 75 ballot records across 10 contests that were counted differently from this interpretation by a program reproducing the published results, without changing any winners. We trace these differences to overvotes and duplicate rankings and examine their legal justification, showing how formal verification can expose consequential choices in translating election law into software.

Tue 27 OctLogic in Computer ScienceComputers and Society
The gist
Figuring out who wins in ranked-choice elections can be complicated, especially when rules and software have to match exactly. The authors created a formal, computer-checked version of Alaska’s election counting rules to make sure the results were accurate and trustworthy. They found some small differences in how ballots were counted, related to extra votes or repeated rankings, but these didn't change who won. This work shows how math and logic can clarify election rules and help spot hidden choices in election software.
Open → 2610.36494v1