The International Association of Cryptologic Research (IACR) announced on Friday that it could not access the results of its annual committee elections.

Three independent trustees were each issued with part of the key necessary to access the results — but one of the three subsequently lost theirs.

Due to the “honest but unfortunate human mistake”, it is “technically impossible for us to obtain or verify the final outcome of this election,” the IACR said.

“After careful consideration, we have decided that the only responsible course of action is to void this election and start a new election from scratch,” it added.

The election process has been changed and the trustee who lost their key has been replaced, the association said.

The IACR is a non-profit scientific organisation whose purpose is to further research in cryptology and related fields.

Cryptology is the science and practice of designing computation and communication systems which are secure in the presence of adversaries.