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Open Source

What Is Open Source?​

Open source software follows the Open Source Definition maintained by the Open Source Initiative (OSI), which guarantees key software freedoms: access to source code, free redistribution, and the ability to create derivative works.

The OSI curates the official list of approved licenses that comply with this definition.

For the Sequent Voting Platform this means we:

Only two organizations maintain official lists of open source licenses: the Open Source Initiative and the Free Software Foundation; both recognize AGPL-3.0-only as a license that satisfies the Open Source and Free Software definitions.

We keep the entire repository publicly open so anyone can inspect, audit, and contribute to the codebase.

Why Open Source Matters for Secure E-Voting​

  • Election infrastructure is formally recognized as critical infrastructure in multiple jurisdictions, underscoring the need for transparency, resilience, and public oversight.

  • The Council of Europe recommends the use of open source for e-voting systems, emphasizing auditability, accountability, and verifiability.

  • Openness strengthens sovereignty and software independence, aligning with the European recommendations on digital sovereignty and open source.

  • Transparent code builds trust in election outcomes by allowing stakeholders to verify security controls, cryptographic protocols, and procedural safeguards end-to-end.

  • Open development lets us collaborate seamlessly with academics, regulators, certification bodies, and civil society, reducing friction in reviews, audits, and joint research.

  • Operating in the open differentiates us in the market: we can prove the quality of our solution, welcome scrutiny, and foster a healthier competitive ecosystem where interoperability and shared improvements are the norm.

    This approach mirrors successful projects like Linux, which powers everything from smartphones to supercomputers, and Android, which became the world's most widely adopted mobile operating system—both demonstrating how open source can drive innovation and market leadership.

  • We believe openness is a sound business strategy—community contributions accelerate innovation, while customers value the assurance that the platform remains accessible, auditable, and adaptable.

What Is Not Open Source​

  • A visible license alone does not guarantee openness; beware of “source-available” licenses that are not approved by the OSI or the Free Software Foundation (FSF), as they may restrict redistribution, modification, or commercial use.

  • Some vendors publish as open source only isolated components — such as a ballot verifier, client widget, or library — while keeping the rest proprietary. While this is certainly a welcomed improvement compared to a completely proprietary solution, presenting the entire solution as open source would be misleading and simply inaccurate.

  • Closed development models that require NDAs, paid access, or individually negotiated terms contradict the spirit and practice of open source, even if snippets of code are published elsewhere.

  • Claims of “open standards” without access to the implementation or build tooling also fall short; real openness includes the full stack, from infrastructure as code to client applications.

Questions to Ask Providers Claiming to Be Open Source​

  1. Is the complete code repository publicly available? What is the direct link to access it? If there are multiple repositories, please include the complete list of links to them.
  2. Which specific OSI-approved license do you use for your voting platform? If there are multiple licenses, please include the complete list of licenses used on the platform.
  3. Is the full set of advertised product features available under the OSI-approved license? Are there any features that are not available under an OSI-approved license?
  4. Does the code published under the OSI-approved license include instructions for running the voting platform, incorporating the full set of advertised product features?
  5. Can third-party audits, certifications, or regulator reviews be conducted on the publicly available code under an OSI-approved license?
  6. Do you provide a third-party dependency catalog that lists the OSI-approved open source licenses for every bundled library, confirming that those libraries and their licenses are fully compatible with your product OSI-approved license?