Survey on Secured Digital Voting System using Blockchain Technology

Abstract

Blockchain is a shared tamper-proof ledger that eases the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network. Traditional voting system has various disadvantages with respect to its security, fairness and integrity. Digital voting is a form of computer driven voting in which voters can cast their votes on a system over the internet. This paper uses blockchain to serve this purpose. It employs a decentralized blockchain network to monitor the entire election process. SHA- 256 algorithm is used to ensure encryption of the votes and avoid any kind of manifestation of votes during the election. It generates a user- friendly election environment over the internet to allow the users to cast their votes to their candidates of interest and also announces the final results giving information about the winner and also the election statistics.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

In the democratic world, one of the fundamental rights of citizens is to cast a vote to choose their leaders. For many years, paper ballots were used to cast votes during elections all around the world. But this process is extremely time and resource consuming. It was one of the major electoral frauds registered. Currently Electronic Voting Machines is an alternative to the traditional paper ballots and have brought about consistent changes in the voting system. Although this approach is more advantageous, it still lacks in many ways in terms of integrity of votes. With the current advancements in technologies, there is also rise in cyber-crimes which include hacking of EVM’s to alter the results of the election. The lack of transparency is the major loop hole in the overall process of election which leads to tampering of votes by influencing the polling staff and thereby generating a biased result. Sometimes, there can be unsupervised vote counting and lack of audits and appeals which can prove to be disadvantageous.

Blockchain uses peer-to-peer networking which brings in transparency. It is a distributed ledger which uses the SHA-256 algorithm for encryption. Also, the votes casted will be hashed and recorded in blocks. This makes the system immutable and the votes cannot be tampered. All of these features of blockchain helps to reduce the disadvantages in the current system which is one of the reasons for people to be shifting towards blockchain based digital voting system in the present day.

II. LITERATURE SURVEY

Somnath Panja et al., [1] proposed A Secure end-to-end verifiable e-voting system using blockchain and cloud server which gives a cryptographic solution to create an authenticated, end-to-end verifiable secret ballot election. It brings up the disadvantages of the DRE-ip system and suggests a new solution to maintain the voter registration and authentication mechanism by preventing the ballot stuffing attack. It publishes the final tally without specifying the tally from DirectRecording Electronic (DRE) machines with multiparty computation. It has brought forward the new and improved NIZK proof which lifts up the overall efficiency of the system. The protocol has the potential for real-world deployment. The model failed to propose the scheme to decrease the False Rejection Rate of the Fussy Vault algorithm with respect to fingerprint. 

Jen-Ho Hsiao et al., [2] proposed Decentralized EVoting Systems Based on the Blockchain Technology which combines the pros and properties of Pailler’s homomorphic encryption, oblivious transfer and secret sharing scheme to construct a decentralized electronic voting system. The Pailler’s public-key cryptosystem with secret sharing scheme helps to achieve anonymity and security. The major advantage is transparency of smart contract that allow voters to record and verify ballots. This system boosts the votes’ confidence and decreases the election resources wastage.

Kibin Lee et al., [3] proposed Electronic Voting Service Using Block-Chain which focuses on the advantages of blockchain over encrypted transactions. SHA 256 and RIPEMD160 is used to generate public key hash which is of 160 bits and it is Base58Check encoded to produce Bitcoin address. In this paper, consensus attack will not be able to steal coins, consume coins or change ownership records and past transactions. The limitation in this model is that it is susceptible to denial-of-service attacks that can affect the formation of blocks since blockchain network has considerable hashing power. 

Ashish Singh et al., [4] proposed SecEVS : Secure Electronic Voting System Using Blockchain

Technology which provides an online electoral process on blockchain and employs transparency, decentralization, irreversibility and non- repudiation. It is secured with the powerful SHA-256 algorithm. The framework makes use of Zone Blockchain to ensure secured and untampered election process in each zone of a university. This model allows the voter to register himself only once. This is followed by the voting process where encryption of the vote is done to prevent any tampering with the vote during the counting process and it can be verified using the public key. Each voting transaction requires 84 bytes of memory space. Hence, it is difficult to implement on large scale.

Syada Tasmia Alvi et al., [5] proposed Digital Voting: A Blockchain-based E-Voting System using Biohash and Smart Contract which uses Merkle tree and fingerprint has to authenticate voters. The major objective is to design a online electoral system which includes smart contract to overcome the challenges which crop up during blockchain adaption along with voting and provide mobility, transparency and integrity. Scalability will be achieved since the voters’ information will be hashed and  recorded in blockchain. Miners are employed by smart contracts to improve the overall speed of transactions. In this model, the limitation is that the vote counting is not done immediately which increases the consumption of time and decreases the number of voters. There is no encryption technique to boost the system’s security.

Harsha V Patil et al., [6] proposed IRJET – A Study on Decentralized E-Voting System Using Blockchain Technology which allows the voters to register only with the confirmation number that will be provided to them by the concerned authorities. It ensures that no fake identities can be created to attack the model and avoids the occurrence of Sybil attack in future. This model provides the voters with an option to cast a protest vote in case they are not satisfied with the current elections or candidature. SHA one-way hash function which is uni-directional is used to encrypt each and every vote. Technically, the only possible way to retrieve the information is by choosing the seed data, the algorithm used. This has to be hashed to see if the results are going to match. The limitations of the EVoting system proposed in this model is that more energy is required to validate and process the votes, there will be a shift from the central election commission and building the trust factor is also a challenge.

Abhishek Kaudare et al., [7] proposed Implementing Electronic Voting System With Blockchain Technology which compares the various existing blockchain technologies to improve the Voting system. Decentralized approach along with a Secured ecosystem is used for the sake of security of the system. Consensus algorithm is used as the base architecture in this model. Distributed Ledger Technology is used to record and retrieve all the data involved in this model. Since Blockchains are strongly associated with linked lists, every block has a data store that maintains the data regarding a transaction and also previous block is linked on to the same. When compared to Ethereum, Hyperledger is observed to be more efficient taking the performance metrics into consideration. Also, the permissioned blockchain allows the model to maintain the privacy of the voter by not revealing his credentials.  

Md. Razu Ahmed et al., [8] proposed The Future Of Electronic Voting System Using Blockchain which represents secured decentralized database of voter information and casted vote which deposited against private key and digital signature. It has main parameters as authentication, verifiability, anonymity, accuracy and it overcomes the problem when more than one user cast their vote at the same time which will be connected to hash in the previous block using Longest Chain Rule. The blocks created are identified by the SHA-256 generated hash value. The limitation in this framework is that the vote casting machine is susceptible to malicious attackers who install vicious software into the device. Voters can cast their vote only once and it cannot be withdrawn.

Kriti Patidar et al., [9] proposed Decentralized EVoting Portal Using Blockchain provides a model which is suitable for small scale elections that are held within an organization, or a committee. It uses Truffle framework for the development, validation and deployment of the Ethereum smart contracts. Smart contract deployment requires migrations to update the network. For every smart contract, a migration has to be created with a numbered java script file. Meta-mask works as wallet and Ganache is the software to test the client. It uses permissionless public blockchain network so that the database can be checked by the public for any manipulations. The users and candidates have their individual accounts which are secured with RSA algorithms. The limitations of this model are that the voting system needs to be supplied by continuous broadband access and the users require digital skills.  Implementation of this model on large scale requires more analysis.  

Kashif Mehboob Khan et al., [10] proposed Secure Digital Voting System Based on Blockchain Technology which focuses on to examine the key problems such as end-to-end verification, voter anonymity and confidentiality. Multichain is the technology used to develop the system and a strong cryptographic hash is obtained for each vote transaction to protect security and privacy of vote. The limitation of this system is that it does not check for double spending problem which will lead to double voting.

Haibo Yi [11] proposed Securing e-voting based on blockchain in P2P network which provides the voter credentials model i.e., the authentication of the users is done on the basis of Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) model. This model provides the users with an option to modify their vote before the specified time.

When two blocks having same timestamp is to be added to the blockchain, the block which has the highest signature value is selected. Public blockchain is used and hash value of the votes requires the private key signature which is done using the ECDSA signature. The use of ECC model is advantageous but is also susceptible to quantum computer attacks. 

Ketulkumar Govindbhai Chaudhari [12] proposed Evoting system using Proof of Voting (POV) consensus algorithm using Block chain Technology which uses consensus Proof-Of-Voting (POV) algorithm which increases security, low power consumption and cost. Digital electoral process utilizes the smart contract to provides guaranteed voters’ privacy. The malicious nodes are predicted using Proof-Of-Voting (POV) and removed from blockchain using consensus algorithm. This algorithm also removes some failures like security failure, temporal failure, byzantine failure. This system is centralized and the network-type is distributed. So, the disadvantage is that the network is more susceptible to single point of failure.

Camilo Denis Gonzalez et al., [13] proposed Electronic Voting System Using an Enterprise Blockchain which provides another approach for participatory management processes like e-voting, focused on trust, transparency, and immutability. The Hyperledger Fabric framework is used to represent the proof of concept that can be modified to different electing scenario.  This research is proposed to decrease the vote-counting time and provides high traceability capacity without high energy utilization compared to other blockchain technologies and allows the validators to monitor the election procedure without violating privacy. This paper can verify validity of vote, avoid double-counting, guarantee the vote are casted from an authorized device but cannot guarantee the device from which vote has been casted is free of malicious software. The voting in blockchain is similar to Direct recording electronic voting machine due to the easy to use and ability to efficiently case vote. But recently DREs are frequently attacked by cybersecurity experts. Some of these security issues has to be prevented.

Xuechao Yang et al., [14] proposed Decentralized Voting: A Self-tallying Voting System Using a Smart Contract on the Ethereum Blockchain which concentrates on blockchain based digital voting makes use of  smart contract and cryptographic techniques. The existing voting proposals uses public bulletin to store vote data but, in this paper, self-tallying voting system deployed on Ethereum is used which  reduces the burden on election authorities. Score voting helps voters to allocate points to various candidates without any restriction. This system may suffer abortive issue. There is an assumption that all voters have submitted their votes else, any voter can end the tally without casting their vote. In order to perform trials at a larger scale the model is migrated to an Ethereum network. 

Basit Shahzad et al., [15] proposed Trustworthy Electronic Voting Using Adjusted Blockchain Technology which introduces a framework which uses effective hashing techniques to ensure data security. Creation and sealing of blocks is introduced to ensure that the blockchain to meets the requirements of the polling process. Consortium Blockchain is used since it has better mining speed when compared to the private blockchain. Voter authentication is done using hash function generated through MD5 algorithm. This voting process allows the voters to cast multiple votes but only the latest vote is considered and rest of them are cancelled. This is followed by the result phase which displays the votes obtained by each candidate and also the final result of the election. This framework assumes that the election officials are well known of the speculations of blockchain and can help the voters in the election process.

Yousif Abuidris et al., [16] proposed Secure large-scale E-voting system based on blockchain contract using a hybrid consensus model combined with sharding which is a state-of-art electronic voting that uses Hybrid consensus model along with the sharding mechanism to secure the system and also uses Proofof-Stake and Proof-of-Credibility model to make nodes more powerful and create blocks efficiently. Smart Contract provides a trustworthy public bulletin board and secure environment to get accurate balance outcome. Coercion resistance and receipt freeness has to be included which is tamper-resistant source of randomness to establish users’ ballot which can be disadvantageous.

Conclusion

This paper demonstrates the secured blockchain based digital voting system. The framework shows that blockchain overcomes the disadvantages of the present voting model. Ethereum blockchain has been used as a part of the network along with Ganache which acts as the database to store the voters’ accounts, information about the candidates and the votes that has been casted. In this way, blockchain allows us to create a transparent and secured voting model for digital elections.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Bhagya A Koushik, Deekshitha R S, Gowthami S, Haritha Nandhini, Dr. Nagaraja J. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.