YourVoice

Anonymous eVoting & Feedback Platform

YourVoice is a cryptographically secure anonymous voting platform that uses RSA blind signatures to ensure voter privacy while preventing double-voting. Built with Go, PostgreSQL, and modern web technologies. Youths for Digital Governance Discord: https://discord.gg/5fuFchDAyG

🔐 Features

• Anonymous Voting: RSA blind signatures ensure votes cannot be traced to voters
• Double-Vote Prevention: Storage of both anonymous secrets as well as identifiable spent events prevent multiple votes per person
• Network Privacy: Tor network support for complete anonymity
• Secure Architecture: Mathematical privacy guarantees through cryptography
• Open Source: Fully auditable implementation

🏗️ Architecture

Cryptographic Protocol

YourVoice implements a 4-step RSA blind signature protocol:

1. AUTH: Voter proves identity without revealing their vote
2. BLIND: Voter blinds their randomly generated secret using cryptographic blinding factor
3. SIGN: Authority signs the blinded secret without knowing its content
4. VOTE: Voter unblinds the signature and submits anonymously via Tor

unblind(sign(blind(message))) = sign(message)

The authority never sees the original secret or the voters decision, and the server cannot link secrets to voter identity.

🛠️ Tech Stack

• Go - Backend server with stdlib HTTP routing
• PostgreSQL - Database with GORM ORM
• Tailwind CSS - Utility-first CSS framework
• Templ - HTML UI framework with Go-native syntax

📁 Project Structure

├── internal/
│   ├── database/           # Database configuration and models
│   │   ├── models/
│   │   │   ├── Candidate.go
│   │   │   ├── Message.go
│   │   │   ├── MessageEvent.go
│   │   │   ├── Party.go
│   │   │   ├── Vote.go
│   │   │   └── VoteEvent.go
│   │   └── database.go
│   ├── handlers/           # HTTP handlers and routing
│   │   ├── routes/
│   │   │   ├── expression/ # Vote and message submission
│   │   │   │   ├── message.go
│   │   │   │   └── vote.go
│   │   │   └── identity/   # Cryptographic verification
│   │   │       └── verify.go
│   │   └── handlers.go
│   ├── middleware/         # HTTP middleware
│   │   ├── contentTypeJson.go
│   │   ├── logging.go
│   │   └── middleware.go
│   └── utils/              # Cryptographic utilities
│       ├── rss.go
│       └── types.go
├── web/
│   ├── static/             # CSS and assets
│   │   └── main.css
│   └── templates/          # HTML templates
│       └── index.html      # Landing page with API docs
├── docker-compose.yml      # PostgreSQL database
├── .env                    # Environment configuration
├── go.mod                  # Go dependencies
└── main.go                 # Application entrypoint

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Go
• Docker & Docker Compose
• Node.js (for Tailwind CSS)
• Optional: Nix (for reproducible development environment)

0. Nix Development Environment (Optional)

nix-shell
# Now you have Go and Node.js available

1. Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/ananyatimalsina/yourvoice
cd yourvoice

2. Install Dependencies

# Go dependencies
go mod tidy

# Node.js dependencies (for Tailwind CSS)
npm install

3. Environment Configuration

The .env file is pre-configured for development:

SERVER_PORT=3000
TZ=Europe/Berlin

# PostgreSQL configuration
POSTGRES_HOST=localhost
POSTGRES_USER=postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
POSTGRES_DB=postgres
POSTGRES_PORT=5432

4. Run Development Server

air

Visit http://localhost:3000 to see the platform.

📡 API Endpoints

Identity Verification

Get blind signatures for voting or messaging:

POST /api/identity/verifyVote

// Request
{
  "digest": "blinded_secret",
  "event_id": 1
}

// Response
{
  "signature": "signed_digest"
}

POST /api/identity/verifyMessage

// Request
{
  "digest": "blinded_secret", 
  "event_id": 1
}

// Response
{
  "signature": "signed_digest"
}

Expression Submission

Submit anonymous votes and messages:

POST /api/expression/vote

// Request
{
  "data": "signed_data",
  "digest": "unsigned_data",
  "vote_event_id": 1,
  "candidate_id": 2
}

// Response
"Vote received successfully"

POST /api/expression/message

// Request
{
  "data": "signed_data",
  "digest": "unsigned_data", 
  "message_event_id": 1,
  "message": "Your feedback text"
}

// Response
"Vote received successfully"

🔧 Development

Adding New Models

Create models in internal/database/models/:

// internal/database/models/NewModel.go
package models

import "yourvoice/internal/utils"

type NewModel struct {
    utils.Expression
    // Add your fields
}

Adding New Routes

1. Create handler in internal/handlers/routes/
2. Register route in internal/handlers/handlers.go

Database Migrations

GORM auto-migration runs on startup. Models are automatically migrated when the server starts.

Production Deployment

Manual Build

# Build CSS for production
npx @tailwindcss/cli -i "./web/static/main.css" -o "./web/static/output.css" --minify

# Build Go binary
go build -o yourvoice main.go

# Deploy binary + web/ directory + .env

Environment Variables

Configure production environment in .env:

SERVER_PORT=8080
POSTGRES_HOST=your-db-host
POSTGRES_USER=your-db-user
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your-secure-password
POSTGRES_DB=yourvoice_prod
POSTGRES_PORT=5432

Security Considerations

• HTTPS: Always use HTTPS in production
• Database: Use secure PostgreSQL credentials
• Tor Integration: Consider Tor hidden service deployment
• Rate Limiting: Implement API rate limiting
• Logging: Monitor for suspicious voting patterns

🔒 Cryptographic Security

RSA Blind Signatures

The platform implements David Chaum's blind signature protocol:

1. Blinding Factor: Random value r is used to blind the message
2. Blind Message: blind = message * r^e mod n
3. Sign Blind: Authority signs without seeing original: sig = blind^d mod n
4. Unblind: Voter recovers signature: real_sig = sig / r mod n

Security Properties

• Anonymity: Authority cannot link signatures to voters
• Unforgeability: Only authority can create valid signatures
• Single-Use: Secrets are stored to prevent double-voting
• Unlinkability: Submitted votes cannot be traced to sign requests

🧪 Testing

# Run tests
go test ./...

# Test with verbose output
go test -v ./...

# Test specific package
go test ./internal/utils

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

🔗 Links

• GitHub: https://github.com/ananyatimalsina/yourvoice
• Live Demo: [Coming Soon]
• Documentation: [This README]

⚠️ Disclaimer

This is experimental software. While implementing well-established cryptographic protocols, it should be thoroughly audited before use in production voting systems. The authors are not responsible for any security vulnerabilities or election integrity issues.

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Built with privacy in mind. Express your voice, protect your identity.