By bizn_fun 
The IACR said in a statement that the lack of results was due to one of the trustees “irretrievably” losing their private key, leaving it “technically impossible” for the firm to know the final verdict.
It said it was therefore left with no choice but to cancel the election.
The association added it was “deeply sorry” for the mistake, which it took “very seriously”.
American cryptographer Bruce Schneier told the BBC that failures in cryptographic systems often lie in the fact that “to provide any actual security” they have to be “operated by humans”.
“Whether it’s forgetting keys, improperly sharing keys, or making some other mistake,” he said, “cryptographic systems often fail for very human reasons”.
Voting for the IACR positions has been renewed and will run until 20 December.
The association said that it had replaced the initial trustee who lost the encrypted information and will now adopt a “2-out-of-3” threshold mechanism for the management of private keys, with a clear written procedure for trustees to follow.