Date of Award:

8-2023

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Computer Science

Committee Chair(s)

Vicki Allan

Committee

Vicki Allan

Committee

John Edwards

Committee

Shuhan Yuan

Abstract

Illness, injury, and other impediments are common occurrences of everyday life. Such impediments prevent or deter voters from participating in important parts of the voting process, especially deliberation, bargaining, and the voting itself. Without participation, the results of the vote may change. There is a need to provide a system in which voters are still able to participate in important voting processes to ensure their vote is represented. We explore ‘proxy voting,’ a system in which voters are able to select another individual, or proxy, to vote on their behalf. By choosing a good proxy, a voter can still have their vote represented and cause minimal change to the outcome. We additionally explore different ways a proxy can coordinate with their peers, as well as different ways to count votes, in order to make proxy voting as effective as possible. We show that proxy voting is effective in many scenarios and that it is consistently better than not allowing voters who are unable to fully participate to have their voices heard.

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