Based on a recent scientific article by Tarvo Treier, a researcher at TalTech's School of Information Technologies, the National Electoral Commission is developing a software solution for the 2027 parliament elections that will enable auditors to independently perform all e-vote verification checks that the National Electoral Commission conducts when processing votes on election evening. "Essentially, this means that while currently the auditor verifies that the National Electoral Commission carries out all necessary checks, in the future the auditor will also perform the same checks independently," explained Arne Koitmäe, head of the National Electoral Commission.

The National Electoral Commission uses a vote processing application to verify that e-ballot box data is complete, that only the last vote cast remains for voters who voted electronically multiple times, and that e-votes of those who voted with paper ballots are cancelled.

The new software solution will make auditing more convenient for auditors and easier for the public to follow.

Specifically, as part of his research, Tarvo Treier compiled test data along with descriptions of error scenarios, which auditors can use to verify that their software—the auditor application—is capable of detecting data discrepancies. "With such error scenario descriptions and test data available, it no longer matters whether the audit application was created by the auditor themselves, by the Electoral Commission, or even generated using large language models. What matters is that the auditor is personally convinced of the application's ability to detect error situations," Treier explained. Additionally, based on the error scenario descriptions and test data, anyone with sufficient IT knowledge can verify the auditor application's operation themselves.

According to Koitmäe, making auditing more transparent is important for the National Electoral Commission. "This allows us to reduce disputes about whether the auditor has been sufficiently assured of the correct processing of e-votes," explained the head of the National Electoral Commission.

The National Electoral Commission organizes e-voting auditing for every election, during which a certified information systems auditor conducts both process and data audits as an independent party. During the process audit, the creation of vote opening keys, test voting, handover of the e-ballot box to the National Electoral Commission, and vote counting and destruction are primarily verified. As part of the data audit, input and output data from all e-vote counting stages are verified using the auditor's own software. This ensures that the e-votes that were counted are the same ones that voters sent to the e-ballot box from their computers.

Auditing helps ensure that e-voting is fair, secure and trustworthy. Observers are also present during e-vote counting, and the entire public can follow it via live broadcast.