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Quantum Voting Protocol for Centralized and Distributed Voting Based on Phase-Flip Counting

Ali Emre Aydin, Ammar Daskin

TL;DR

This work addresses secure, anonymous voting by introducing a quantum protocol that operates in both centralized and distributed settings. It leverages quantum superposition and entanglement to encode votes as discrete phase flips on entangled candidate states, enabling direct tallying through simple measurements using a minimal gate set of Hadamard and CZ gates. Key contributions include the phase-flip encoding mechanism, the integration of a control register to facilitate tallying, and a distributed variant with gate-decomposition strategies that preserve security via entanglement verification. The approach shows exact tallying in prototype scenarios and offers potential speedups and enhanced security for large-scale elections, while acknowledging practical challenges such as decoherence and channel reliability. Overall, the paper provides a concrete, hardware-friendly framework for quantum voting with both centralized and distributed implementations and connects to existing quantum-security paradigms.

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a novel quantum voting protocol that leverages quantum superposition and entanglement to achieve secure, anonymous voting in both centralized and distributed settings. Our approach utilizes phase-flip encoding on entangled candidate states, where votes are recorded as controlled phase operations conditioned on voter identity registers. The protocol employs a simplified tallying mechanism based on candidate register measurements. We provide comprehensive mathematical formulations for a centralized single-machine model suitable for local voting systems, and a distributed quantum channel model enabling remote voting with enhanced security through entanglement verification. The efficiency of the protocol stems from its use of basic quantum gates (Hadamard and controlled-Z) and its ability to count votes through quantum measurements rather than iterative classical counting. We demonstrate the practicality of the protocol through examples with 4 voters (2 candidates) and 8 voters (3 candidates), showing exact probability preservation and correct vote tallying. The protocol ensures voter anonymity through quantum superposition, prevents double-voting through entanglement mechanisms, and can offer speedup potential for large-scale elections.

Quantum Voting Protocol for Centralized and Distributed Voting Based on Phase-Flip Counting

TL;DR

This work addresses secure, anonymous voting by introducing a quantum protocol that operates in both centralized and distributed settings. It leverages quantum superposition and entanglement to encode votes as discrete phase flips on entangled candidate states, enabling direct tallying through simple measurements using a minimal gate set of Hadamard and CZ gates. Key contributions include the phase-flip encoding mechanism, the integration of a control register to facilitate tallying, and a distributed variant with gate-decomposition strategies that preserve security via entanglement verification. The approach shows exact tallying in prototype scenarios and offers potential speedups and enhanced security for large-scale elections, while acknowledging practical challenges such as decoherence and channel reliability. Overall, the paper provides a concrete, hardware-friendly framework for quantum voting with both centralized and distributed implementations and connects to existing quantum-security paradigms.

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a novel quantum voting protocol that leverages quantum superposition and entanglement to achieve secure, anonymous voting in both centralized and distributed settings. Our approach utilizes phase-flip encoding on entangled candidate states, where votes are recorded as controlled phase operations conditioned on voter identity registers. The protocol employs a simplified tallying mechanism based on candidate register measurements. We provide comprehensive mathematical formulations for a centralized single-machine model suitable for local voting systems, and a distributed quantum channel model enabling remote voting with enhanced security through entanglement verification. The efficiency of the protocol stems from its use of basic quantum gates (Hadamard and controlled-Z) and its ability to count votes through quantum measurements rather than iterative classical counting. We demonstrate the practicality of the protocol through examples with 4 voters (2 candidates) and 8 voters (3 candidates), showing exact probability preservation and correct vote tallying. The protocol ensures voter anonymity through quantum superposition, prevents double-voting through entanglement mechanisms, and can offer speedup potential for large-scale elections.
Paper Structure (23 sections, 21 equations, 1 figure)

This paper contains 23 sections, 21 equations, 1 figure.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Centralized Voting on a Single Machine
  3. Encoding of Voter Identities
  4. Preparation of Candidate State
  5. Voting Protocol
  6. Control Register Integration
  7. Distributed Voting through Quantum Channels
  8. Gate Decomposition for Distributed Implementation nielsen2010quantum
  9. Distributed Voting Protocol
  10. Tallying Votes
  11. Voting Protocol Examples
  12. Example-1: 4 Voters, 2 Candidates (Blue vs Red )
  13. Example-2: 8 Voters, 3 Candidates
  14. Discussion
  15. Security and Anonymity Properties
  16. ...and 8 more sections

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: Voting circuit illustrated for the example-1 where there are 4 voters and 2 candidates.