  We present Phrase-Verified Voting, a voter-verifiable remote voting system
assembled from commercial off-the-shelf software for small private elections.
The system is transparent and enables each voter to verify that the tally
includes their ballot selection without requiring any understanding of
cryptography. This paper describes the system and its use in fall 2020, to vote
remotely in promotion committees in a university. Each voter fills out a form
in the cloud with their vote V (YES, NO, ABSTAIN) and a passphrase P-two words
entered by the voter. The system generates a verification prompt of the (P,V)
pairs and a tally of the votes, organized to help visualize how the votes add
up. After the polls close, each voter verifies that this table lists their
(P,V) pair and that the tally is computed correctly. The system is especially
appropriate for any small group making sensitive decisions. Because the system
would not prevent a coercer from demanding that their victim use a specified
passphrase, it is not designed for applications where such malfeasance would be
likely or go undetected. Results from 43 voters show that the system was
well-accepted, performed effectively for its intended purpose, and introduced
users to the concept of voter-verified elections. Compared to the commonly-used
alternatives of paper ballots or voting by email, voters found the system
easier to use, and that it provided greater privacy and outcome integrity.
