Helios Voting

Paid Web

What Helios Voting is

Helios Voting is a free, open-source web service for verifiable online elections. It is presented for settings ranging from book clubs and parent-teacher associations to student governments, workers’ unions, and states. Voters receive a ballot tracker they can check against the Ballot Tracking Center to see whether their ballot was received and tallied. Votes are encrypted in the voter’s browser before transmission and remain encrypted in the database; individual votes are not decrypted in the normal tally. Administrators can set voter eligibility and election timing, control when results are released, and appoint multiple trustees, all of whom must participate in decrypting the tally. Depending on the setup, voters can authenticate with election credentials or Facebook, Google, Yahoo, or Twitter. Helios supports approval ballots, anonymous ballots, and an audit trail. Auditing information includes voter names, email addresses, eligibility details, and vote metadata. The site advises against collecting votes online for high-stakes U.S. federal or state elections because home computers may not withstand significant attacks. Helios is free.

Who it suits

Helios may suit groups such as book clubs, parent-teacher associations, student governments, and workers’ unions that need an online election. Its stated security limitation makes it unsuitable for capturing votes online in high-stakes U.S. federal and state elections.

What it does well

Ballot trackers let voters check receipt and tally status.
Votes are encrypted before they reach the server.
Multiple trustees must participate in tally decryption.
Administrators control eligibility, timing, and result release.
Free and open-source.

What to know first

The site advises against online voting for high-stakes U.S. elections.
Audit data includes voter names, emails, eligibility, and vote metadata.
Administrators log in using Facebook, Google, Yahoo, or Twitter.

Getting started

Open https://www.heliosvoting.org/.
Set up an election and determine voter eligibility and its start and stop times.
Choose an authentication method for voters, depending on the election setup.
Invite eligible voters to cast ballots and use their tracking numbers to check ballot receipt.

Verdict

Helios provides ballot tracking, encrypted votes, and a trustee-based tally process for online elections. Consider its stated home-computer security limitation before using it for high-stakes elections.

Questions

Is Helios Voting free?

Yes. Helios is free and open source.

Which platforms does it support?

Helios is a web platform.

How can voters verify their ballots?

Each voter receives a tracking number they can check against the Ballot Tracking Center to confirm receipt and tallying.

How are votes protected during tallying?

Votes are encrypted in the browser before transmission and remain encrypted in the database. Individual votes are not decrypted in the normal tallying process.

What voter login methods are available?

Depending on election setup, voters may use election credentials or Facebook, Google, Yahoo or Twitter.

Is Helios suitable for high-stakes U.S. elections?

Helios recommends against using it to capture votes online in high-stakes U.S. federal and state elections because of security concerns about voters’ home computers.

Facts from Helios Voting's own pages

Administration: Administrators can designate who may vote, set when an election starts and stops, and decide when results are released. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Audit data: For election auditing, Helios stores voter names, email addresses, eligibility information, and vote metadata such as where and when a voter voted. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Authentication: The privacy page says voters may authenticate with election credentials or, depending on election setup, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, or Twitter; administrators log in using one of those four services. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Ballot tracking: Each voter gets a ballot tracker that can be checked to confirm the ballot was received and tallied appropriately. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Browser security limit: The FAQ recommends against using Helios to capture votes over the Internet for high-stakes elections such as U.S. federal and state elections because voters’ home computers may not withstand significant attacks. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Cryptographic basis: The documentation page says Helios uses advanced peer-reviewed cryptographic techniques and links to its original USENIX Security 2008 paper. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Encryption: The FAQ says a vote is encrypted in the browser before being sent and remains encrypted in the database. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Intended users: The site names book clubs, parent-teacher associations, student governments, workers’ unions, and states as possible users. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Login options: The privacy page lists username and password credentials or Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Twitter logins as possible voter authentication methods, depending on election setup. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Open source: The homepage says Helios is open-source and has been vetted by top-tier experts. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Organization: Helios describes itself as a non-partisan organization led by Ben Adida. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Privacy: The site describes Helios elections as private and says each voter gets a tracking number. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Privacy practices: Helios says it does not sell collected information and does not use external trackers or advertising, except for sandboxed Facebook and Twitter share buttons on election information pages. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Public election data: For public elections, the site says the fact that a voter voted, the vote time, and the tracking number may be published for auditing; names can be replaced with aliases. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Purpose: Helios offers verifiable online elections. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Scale: The homepage says more than 2,000,000 votes have been cast using Helios. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Support: The site lists [email protected] for questions or concerns about privacy. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Trustees: Election administrators can designate multiple trustees, and all trustees must be involved in decrypting the tally. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Use cases: The site names book clubs, parent-teacher associations, student governments, workers’ unions, and states as possible election settings. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Use limitation: The FAQ recommends against capturing votes over the internet for high-stakes US federal and state elections, citing concerns about the security of voters’ home computers. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Verifiability: The FAQ says voters can check their ballot tracker against the Ballot Tracking Center to confirm the ballot was received and tallied appropriately. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Verification tools: The documentation page lists Pyrios, a Go library that verifies Helios elections, and the Helios Election Monitor produced by Université catholique de Louvain. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026
Vote privacy: Votes are encrypted in the voter’s browser before being sent to the server, and individual votes are not decrypted in the normal tallying process. · heliosvoting.org, 11 Oct 2026

Where Helios Voting stands on Freedom251

Online Voting Software#28 of 31