What is PAdES-BES?
What is PAdES-BES? PAdES-BES (PDF Advanced Electronic Signatures for Basic Electronic Signatures) is a particular introduction of the PAdES standard, which is meant to guarantee the integrity and the validity of the documents used in digital voting systems. By embedding sophisticated electronic signatures and timestamping into PDFs, PAdES-BES provides a powerful environment for secure electronic voting.
Overview of PAdES-BES
Overview of PAdES-BES PAdES-BES generalizes the underlying PAdES standard to meet the specific needs of digital voting. This includes not only securing the signatures on voting documents but also providing the necessary mechanisms to validate these signatures over time – timestamping, ensuring that the documents remain trustworthy long after they have been signed. The PAdES-BES framework is compliant to the European eIDAS regulation, hence also meets the legal requirements with regards to electronic signatures in Europe which increases its credibility and acceptance in electoral situations.
Again, PAdES-BES, or PDF Advanced Electronic Signatures for Basic Electronic Signatures, is also an advanced framework designed to enhance the integrity and authenticity of digital voting systems through the use of electronic signatures and timestamping. With the continued emergence of digital platforms in the electoral process, timestamping has become a critical element that provides an auditable timestamp of votes cast in terms of both timing and validity. This mechanism is of utmost importance in maintaining transparency and accountability, and hence public confidence in elections, especially in light of increasing concerns with respect to election interference and cyber dangers.
Featured in the integration of PAdES-BES are aspects that are critical to the implementation of digital voting, such as long-term verification of electronic signatures and the ability to preserve the integrity of voting records over time. Capturing an accurate date and time for each cast vote, timestamping facilitates the prevention of any contention on the validity of ballots, and facilitates robust auditing procedures which can increase electoral legitimacy. Since electoral systems all over the world are modernizing, so is the concept of timestamping for guaranteeing electoral legitimacy an important issue needing urgent addressing, especially in the context of maintaining voters’ trust being of significant importance in democratic societies. This approach is reflected in the architecture of some digital platforms, including Eligo, which implement timestamping as a native feature for integrity and verifiability.
Want to see Eligo in action? Get a demo.
Nonetheless, the use of PAdES-BES and adequate timestamping produces various legislative and regulatory issues. Despite increased numbers of jurisdictions, many are still using ‘paper ballot‘ election systems, which, for assurity purposes, require paper ballots and, in turn, the logistical steps to transition to these digital systems can be complicated. Moreover, the legal rights of digital signatures and the possibility of secure audits are of great importance to provide the trust in electronic elections. The successful introduction of timestamping by PAdES-BES is promising in not only improving security, but also providing a base for compliance with international standards, which will strengthen the reliability of electoral process in a digitally evolving society.
Benefits of PAdES-BES in digital voting
Implementing PAdES-BES in digital voting systems offers several advantages:
- Long-Term Validity: PAdES-BES signatures are verifiable even up to one year after their creation, guaranteeing the continuous robustness of the voting documents.
- Enhanced Security: The use of advanced encryption and timestamping reinforces the security of electronic voting, making it more resistant to tampering and fraud.
Seamless Document Workflow: PAdES-BES supports effective document management through a clear and secure digital record, an important functionality in the intricate settings of, for instance, electoral processes.
Background
The trustworthiness of electoral processes is critical in contemporary democracies where the use of digital voting infrastructure has grown in importance. Timestamping is an essential ingredient in the process to improve this integrity by offering a tamper evident history that can establish the validity and order of the voting events. This is particularly important as traditional voting methods have been associated with inefficiencies and security concerns, including manipulation and a lack of transparency.
The role of timestamping in digital voting
Timestamps assist in establishing a reliable record of when votes are cast, which can be critical for verifying the legitimacy of the voting process. Using timestamps, election offices can guarantee that each vote is timestamped at the time of submission which enables checks and confirmation that votes were cast during the permitted voting window. These mechanisms are crucial not only to preserve voter confidence, but also to ensure that the general legitimacy of electoral results is preserved.
Importance of digital security and transparency
However, as digital voting systems are designed, the issue of security and possibility of misuse continues. The advent of high-profile cases of election manipulation and cyberwarfare has fueled distrust in the reliability of online voting systems. For this reason, the implementation of strong timestamping solutions can be used to increase security measures as they help to identify any changes or attempts by somebody to manipulate the information of votes. In addition, the transparency provided by publicly disclosing timestamps can be used as a tool to strengthen public trust in the election itself and thus increase voter turnout.
The importance of timestamping
A critical feature of PAdES-BES is its incorporation of timestamping, which plays a vital role in establishing a clear chronological record of when votes are cast and documents are signed. This is essential in maintaining electoral integrity, as timestamps provide verifiable proof of the signing time, thus preventing any disputes regarding the validity of votes cast. Timestamping ensures that the authenticity of the signatures can be confirmed long after the document has been created, addressing potential challenges posed by technological advancements or changes in cryptographic standards over time. Platforms like Eligo have adopted such timestamping strategies to support compliance with evolving standards in digital electoral systems.
Timestamping in electoral integrity
Timestamping plays a critical role in ensuring the integrity of electoral processes by providing a chronological record of events and transactions associated with voting. This process involves assigning a specific date and time to actions taken during the electoral cycle, which aids in establishing authenticity, accountability, and trust within the system.
Importance of timestamping in elections
At an election context, timestamping has a number of critical functions. It ensures that the votes were cast and counted accurately, and this can reassure voters on the legitimacy of the electoral process. Moreover, it mitigates risks associated with tampering, fraud, and cyber attacks by ensuring that any changes or discrepancies can be traced back to specific points in time. With the growing request for transparency and credibility in the electoral process, timestamping serves as a crucial step in ensuring public trust.
Mechanisms of timestamping
The timestamping mechanism includes capturing not only the time when a vote is cast, but also collecting other metadata which can be important to assure the integrity of the event. Timestamping in digital voting systems guarantees that any activity is recorded and provides a verifiable time reference that can be checked retrospectively as needed. This ability is of particular relevance when electronic voting machines are used, because it can be used to infer the order of events in case there are disputes over the accuracy of the votes count.
Voter confidence and electoral integrity
Research shows that the quality of the voting experience has a strong impact on voter confidence, which in turn strongly relates to election trust. With the incorporation of strong timestamping functions, the quality of the electoral process may be improved and, consequently, there may be a better voter experience. By providing not only reassurance to the voters that their votes are properly counted, but also legitimacy, electoral process, systems as described above prompt higher rates of voter turnout in elections.
The relevance of timestamping
With the advancement of digital voting systems, the use of electronic timestamping will play a key role in ensuring the validity of electoral processes. Timestamping provides a verifiable record of when a document or vote was cast, ensuring the immutability and authenticity of electronic records. This technology is of particular relevance in areas such as legal and compliance contexts, as it facilitates the creation of a chronology of events and mulls over a potential for manipulation, thus sustaining the trustworthiness of the electoral process.
References
Horton, C. (2023, March 29). When democratic trust is low, digital trust provides a way to secure voting | THINK Digital Partners. THINK Digital Partners. https://www.thinkdigitalpartners.com/news/2023/03/30/when-democratic-trust-is-low-digital-trust-provides-a-way-to-secure-voting/
Mary_Flor. (2025, January 27). Understanding the disadvantages of online voting systems – inside political science. Inside Political Science. https://insidepoliticalscience.com/disadvantages-of-online-voting-system/
Kisters, S. (n.d.). What is Blockchain-Based Timestamping and who needs it? OriginStamp. https://originstamp.com/blog/what-is-blockchain-based-timestamping/
Ijraset. (n.d.). Catalysing Democracy: Exploring security and performance in Blockchain-Based Electronic Voting systems and centralized solutions. IJRASET. https://www.ijraset.com/research-paper/catalysing-democracy-exploring-security-and-performance
Ijraset. (n.d.-b). Public Perception of Voting Systems Evaluating Trust in Traditional vs. E-Voting. IJRASET. https://www.ijraset.com/research-paper/public-perception-of-voting-systems-evaluating-trust
Journal, I. (2013). SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM. www.academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/3488177/SCOPE_AND_LIMITATION_OF_ELECTRONIC_VOTING_SYSTEM
Santos, G. (2024, October 30). What is PAdES and how does this digital signature standard work? ZapSign Blog. https://blog.zapsign.com.br/en/pades/
Agrello. (n.d.). What is a PAdES signature? https://www.agrello.io/digital-signing/what-is-pades-signature
Ahmed, A. (n.d.). Understanding PADES: A complete guide to secure digital signatures. UniDoc. https://unidoc.io/post/understanding-pades/
Illing, D. (2024, March 28). Electronic Timestamp: Safeguarding the integrity of digital records. Utimaco. https://utimaco.com/news/blog-posts/electronic-timestamp-safeguarding-integrity-digital-records
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, July 31). PADES. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAdES
Kooh, R. (2023, November 30). PADES | Understanding Digital Signatures. Apryse. https://apryse.com/blog/digital-signature/secure-digital-signatures-with-pades-cades
Neotrust. (2024, December 4). What is Time Stamping and Why it’s Important? – Neotrust – Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/@MyNeotrust/what-is-time-stamping-and-why-its-important-4370c7578f0d
Tadepalli, H. (2024, October 9). Mandating End-to-End Verifiable Voting Systems in U.S. Elections. Abnormal. https://www.secureworld.io/industry-news/end-to-end-verifiable-voting-systems-usa-elections
Measuring election confidence in 2020 | MIT Election Lab. (2021, November 16). https://electionlab.mit.edu/articles/measuring-election-confidence-2020
Voter confidence | MIT Election Lab. (n.d.). https://electionlab.mit.edu/research/voter-confidence
Global Report 2023 — The Electoral Integrity Project EIP. (n.d.). The Electoral Integrity Project. https://www.electoralintegrityproject.com/global-report-2023
James, T. (2024, September 14). The Global Electoral Integrity Report 2024 — The Electoral Integrity Project EIP. The Electoral Integrity Project. https://www.electoralintegrityproject.com/eip-blog/2024/7/24/the-global-electoral-integrity-report-2024
Tambanis, D. (2021, December 7). Blockchain Applications: Election voting – Blockchain Philanthropy Foundation – Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/bpfoundation/blockchain-applications-election-voting-a1436e7d10cb
Limited, E. (2024, December 18). What is Trusted Timestamping? How It Works & Use Cases. eMudhra. https://emudhra.com/blog/what-is-timestamping
About the author: Maria Luísa Lopes De Faria
Received her Ph.D. in Computing Engineering from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. From 2013 to 2015, she was a visiting student at the Centre for Vision, Speech, and Signal Processing, at the University of Surrey in the UK. She completed her Master’s degree in Computer Science at the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica and her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at the Universidade Federal de São Carlos. She has international experience working at the following companies: AB InBev, located in Leuven, Belgium; Urbiótica, located in Barcelona, Spain; at the University of Surrey, located in Guildford, United Kingdom and at OverIT in Milan, Italy.