VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

JNANA SANGAMA, BELAGAVI-590 018

Project Phase-I Report

On

“BLOCKCHAIN BASED VOTING SYSTEM”

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
IN
INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Submitted by:

Team Members

Mr. Anish Chavan USN: 2KA22IS004

Mr. Mohammad Shaikh USN: 2KA22IS029
Mr. MohmedHuzefa USN: 2KA23IS402

Under the Guidance of:

Prof. Shambulingappa H. S.
Assistant Professor
Dept. of ISE, SKSVMACET
LAKSHMESHWAR

Smt Kamala & Sri Venkappa M Agadi College of Engineering & Technology

Department of Information Science & Engineering

Lakshmeshwar-582116

2024-2025
 Certificate
This is to certify that the Project Phase I work entitled “BLOCKCHAIN
BASED VOTING SYSTEM” is bonafide work carried out by Anish Chavan
(2KA22IS004), Mohammad Shaikh(2KA22IS029), MohmedHuzefa
(2KA23IS402) in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the
degree of Bachelor of Engineering in Information Science and Engineering
of Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, during the year 2024-
2025. It is certified that all the corrections/suggestions indicated for internal
assessment have been incorporated in the report. This report has been approved
as it satisfies the academic requirements in respect of project phase I work
prescribed for the Bachelor of Engineering degree.

Signature of HOD Principal

Signature of the Guide
Dr. Rajashekhar Kunabeva Dr. Parashuram Baraki
Prof. Shambulingappa H. S.
Professor & Head, Dept. of ISE, SKSVMACET, Lakshmeshwar
Assistant Professor, Dept. of ISE,
SKSVMACET, Lakshmeshwar
SKSVMACET, Lakshmeshwar
 ABSTRACT:

In recent years, the integrity, transparency, and security of traditional voting systems have
come under scrutiny due to vulnerabilities such as fraud, tampering, and lack of verifiability.
This paper presents a blockchain-based voting system designed to address these challenges by
leveraging the decentralized, immutable, and transparent nature of blockchain technology. The
proposed system ensures secure voter authentication, prevents double voting, and provides a
verifiable and auditable election process without compromising voter anonymity. Utilizing
smart contracts, the system automates vote counting and results publication, reducing human
error and enhancing efficiency. This research highlights the potential of blockchain to
revolutionize electoral processes, fostering greater trust and participation in democratic
systems.The proposed system addresses key issues such as double voting, vote manipulation,
and lack of auditability by creating a publicly verifiable ledger of all voting transactions. Voter
identity is verified through secure cryptographic methods, while anonymity is maintained
using privacy-preserving protocols. Smart contracts are employed to automate election rules,
ensuring transparency and eliminating the need for trusted third parties.Furthermore, the
system is designed to be scalable and accessible, potentially allowing remote voting via secure
devices, which can increase voter turnout and engagement.Experimental results and
simulations demonstrate the feasibility, security, and efficiency of the blockchain-based
approach in comparison to traditional voting mechanisms.This research contributes to the
growing body of work exploring the use of blockchain in e-governance and digital democracy.
It highlights the potential for blockchain to revolutionize voting systems by providing a
trustworthy, decentralized, and tamper- resistant platform for conducting fair and
transparent elections.

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 Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION:

Voting is a fundamental aspect of democratic societies, serving as a mechanism for citizens

to express their will and influence the decision-making process. However, traditional voting
systems—whether paper-based or electronic—are often criticized for their susceptibility to
fraud, lack of transparency, centralization of authority, and logistical inefficiencies. Issues
such as voter impersonation, ballot tampering, coercion, and vote miscounting can undermine
public trust in the electoral process and ultimately threaten democratic integrity.
With the advancement of digital technologies, electronic voting systems have emerged to
improve accessibility and reduce administrative overhead. Yet, these systems often remain
vulnerable to cyberattacks, software bugs, and data breaches, and they generally rely on
centralized infrastructure, which poses a single point of failure.
Blockchain technology, originally introduced as the foundation of cryptocurrencies like
Bitcoin, offers a transformative solution to these challenges. A blockchain is a distributed
ledger maintained by a decentralized network of nodes, where each transaction is securely
recorded, time-stamped, and cryptographically linked to previous transactions. This structure
ensures immutability, transparency, and resistance to tampering—qualities that make it an
ideal foundation for a secure voting system.
A blockchain-based voting system leverages these properties to enable transparent, tamper-
proof, and verifiable elections. Votes are recorded as transactions on a public or permissioned
blockchain, ensuring that they cannot be altered or deleted. Smart contracts—self-executing
code running on the blockchain—can be used to automate vote validation, counting, and
result declaration without requiring a trusted central authority.
Additionally, blockchain voting systems can enhance voter privacy through cryptographic
techniques, prevent double voting, and enable end-to-end verifiability, where voters can
confirm that their votes were counted as cast. These systems also hold the potential to support
remote and online voting securely, thus increasing accessibility and participation, especially
among citizens living abroad or those with limited mobility.
This paper explores the design, implementation, and potential impact of blockchain-based
voting systems. It discusses their benefits, challenges, and practical considerations, aiming to
evaluate their feasibility in real-world electoral processes and their capacity to strengthen
democratic governance in the digital age.

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 Fig1:

Voting is essential to democratic governance, yet traditional systems face issues like fraud
and lack of transparency.Electronic voting has improved accessibility, but it still suffers from
centralization and security concerns.Blockchain technology offers a decentralized and
tamper-proof solution for secure digital voting.It records each vote as an immutable
transaction on a distributed ledger.Smart contracts can automate vote counting and ensure
fairness without human intervention. Voter identities are protected using cryptographic
methods while ensuring transparency.The system prevents double voting and enables real-
time, verifiable audit trails. Blockchain voting can enhance trust, accessibility, and
participation in modern elections.

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 Chapter 2
LITERATURE SURVEY:

Blockchain technology has gained significant attention in the development of secure and
transparent voting systems. Numerous researchers and institutions have explored its
potential to address the challenges inherent in traditional and electronic voting systems.

1. Zyskind et al. (2015) proposed a decentralized personal data management system

using blockchain, laying the groundwork for secure digital identity systems. This
concept is crucial for blockchain-based voting, as voter authentication is a primary
concern.
2. Swan (2015) in Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy discussed the broader
implications of blockchain for governance, suggesting that blockchain could
revolutionize voting by ensuring transparency, immutability, and decentralized
verification.
3. Hardwick et al. (2018) developed a blockchain voting system using Ethereum smart
contracts. Their system provided end-to-end verifiability and emphasized the benefits
of automation in result tallying. However, it faced scalability and cost issues due to
Ethereum’s gas fees.
4. McCorry et al. (2017) proposed a smart contract-based voting protocol that preserves
voter privacy while enabling public auditability. Their research focused on
cryptographic techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs to protect voter identity.
5. FollowMyVote and Voatz are two real-world initiatives that tested blockchain-based
mobile voting. FollowMyVote emphasized transparency and open-source auditing,
while Voatz conducted pilot projects in U.S. states but received criticism for potential
security flaws in mobile platforms.
6. Kshetri and Voas (2018) analyzed blockchain's potential and limitations in electoral
systems. They concluded that while blockchain could significantly reduce fraud and
improve trust, its success depends on overcoming legal, infrastructural, and usability
hurdles.
7. Ayed (2017) presented a conceptual architecture for a blockchain voting system using
a consortium model, where only authorized nodes participate in the consensus
process. This model improves performance while maintaining security.

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The literature shows a strong consensus on blockchain’s potential to enhance electoral
transparency, security, and trust. However, several challenges remain:

• Scalability and Performance: Public blockchains like Ethereum face latency and
transaction cost issues.

• Voter Privacy: Balancing transparency with anonymity remains a complex issue.

• Regulatory and Legal Acceptance: Legal frameworks for blockchain voting are still
underdeveloped.

• User Accessibility: Ensuring ease of use for non-technical voters, especially in

remote areas, is still a challenge.

• Security of Endpoints: While blockchain is secure, user devices and interfaces can
be compromised.

While significant progress has been made, more research is needed to develop scalable, user-
friendly, and legally compliant blockchain voting systems. The integration of advanced
cryptographic techniques, hybrid consensus models, and robust identity verification
mechanisms are areas with promising potential for future work.

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 Chapter 3
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION:
Despite the promising potential of blockchain technology to revolutionize voting
systems, several key challenges and limitations hinder its widespread adoption.
Identifying these problems is crucial for the development of a secure, transparent, and
efficient blockchain-based voting system. The major issues are outlined below:
1. Scalability and Performance Issues
Public blockchain networks like Ethereum struggle with transaction throughput and
latency, especially during large-scale elections. Slow processing times and high
transaction costs (gas fees) can significantly impact the usability of such systems.
2. Voter Authentication and Identity Verification
Secure and tamper-proof voter authentication is essential to prevent impersonation
and ensure that only eligible voters participate. Integrating a decentralized identity
system while maintaining privacy is a major technical challenge.
3. Privacy vs. Transparency Trade-off
While blockchain offers transparency through an immutable ledger, it conflicts with
the requirement for voter anonymity. Preserving vote secrecy while enabling public
verifiability requires complex cryptographic techniques that are not yet widely tested
at scale.
4. Security of Endpoints
Although blockchain is secure by design, the devices used by voters (e.g., mobile
phones or computers) can be vulnerable to malware, phishing, or man-in-the-middle
attacks, jeopardizing vote integrity.
5. Legal and Regulatory Uncertainty
Many countries lack clear legal frameworks for blockchain-based voting. Questions
about data jurisdiction, electoral compliance, and auditability pose major regulatory
hurdles to real-world implementation.
6. Usability and Accessibility
Blockchain systems are often complex for non-technical users. Designing intuitive
interfaces and ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities or those in remote
areas is still an unresolved issue.
7. Lack of Standardization
The absence of universal standards and best practices for blockchain voting ystems
leads to fragmented implementations with varying levels of security and reliability.

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 Fig2:

These challenges underscore the need for interdisciplinary research combining blockchain
engineering, cryptography, cybersecurity, legal studies, and human-centered design. Solving
these issues is essential to building a trustworthy, scalable, and legally compliant blockchain-
based voting system that can be adopted in real-world electoral processes.

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 Chapter 4
OBJECTIVES OF BLOCKCHAIN BASED VOTING SYSTEM:
The objectives of a blockchain-based voting system are designed to enhance election
integrity, security, transparency, and accessibility. Here are the key objectives:
1. Ensure Transparency & Trust
• Objective: Provide a publicly verifiable ledger where votes are recorded immutably.
• Why? Prevents tampering and builds voter confidence in election results.
2. Eliminate Vote Tampering & Fraud
• Objective: Use cryptographic security to make votes immutable once recorded.
• Why? Prevents hacking, ballot stuffing, or altering votes after casting.
3. Enable Decentralized & Tamper-Proof Voting
• Objective: Remove reliance on a central authority (election commission) to count
votes.
• Why? Reduces risks of manipulation by any single entity.
4. Guarantee Voter Anonymity
• Objective : Ensure votes are anonymous yet verifiable.
• Why? Protects voter privacy while allowing auditability.
5. Prevent Double Voting
• Objective: Use blockchain’s consensus mechanism to allow only one vote per
eligible voter.
• Why? Ensures "one person, one vote" without centralized checks.
6. Enhance Accessibility & Convenience
• Objective: Enable remote voting via smartphones/computers while maintaining
security.
• Why? Increases voter turnout, especially for remote/disabled voters.
7. Reduce Election Costs & Time
• Objective: Automate vote counting via smart contracts, eliminating manual
processes.

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8. Provide Real-Time Results & Auditability
• Objective: Allow instant vote tallying and public verification.
• Why? Eliminates delays and disputes in result declaration.
9. Ensure High Availability & Fault Tolerance
• Objective: Use a distributed ledger to prevent single-point failures.
• Why? Even if some nodes fail, the system remains operational.
10. Comply with Legal & Regulatory Standards
• Objective: Ensure the system meets electoral laws (e.g., voter ID checks, audit trails).
• Why? Prevents legal challenges and ensures legitimacy.
11. Mitigate Cyber Attacks
• Objective: Use encryption and decentralization to resist DDoS, Sybil, or 51% attacks.
• Why? Traditional e-voting systems are vulnerable to hacking.
12. Support Voter Verification Without Compromising Secrecy
• Objective: Allow voters to confirm their vote was counted without revealing their
choice.
• Why? Balances transparency and ballot secrecy.
13. Promote Global Voting Feasibility
• Objective: Enable secure cross-border voting (e.g., for expatriates).
• Why? Expands democratic participation beyond geographical limits.
14. Encourage Innovation in Democratic Processes
• Objective: Pilot new voting models (e.g., liquid democracy, quadratic voting).
• Why? Modernizes governance with secure digital solutions.
15. Reduce Election Costs
• Minimize costs associated with physical infrastructure (e.g., polling stations, printed
ballots, personnel).
• Lower administrative overhead by automating processes.

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 Chapter 5
METHODOLOGY
1. Requirement Analysis
Objectives:
• Understand the scope, type, and scale of the election.
• Identify stakeholders (election commission, voters, auditors, developers, etc.).
• Define security, privacy, transparency, and scalability requirements.
Activities:
• Conduct stakeholder interviews.
• Gather legal and regulatory compliance requirements.

• Determine technical and operational constraints.

2. System Design
Objectives:
• Design the architecture of the voting system using blockchain technology.
Key Decisions:
• Blockchain Type: Public, private, or consortium blockchain.
• Consensus Mechanism: Proof of Stake, Proof of Authority, etc.
• Smart Contracts: To automate vote casting, counting, and result publishing.
• Voter Authentication: Integration with digital ID systems, biometric verification,
etc.
Outputs:
• System architecture diagram.
• Data flow and security design.
• Smart contract specifications.
3. Development
Objectives:
• Build the components of the blockchain-based voting system.
Components:
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 • Backend: APIs and logic to connect frontend to blockchain.
• Blockchain Layer: Smart contracts for vote submission and counting.
• Admin Dashboard: For election authorities to manage and monitor the process.
Tools/Technologies:
• Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, Polygon, or other blockchain platforms.
• Smart contract languages (Solidity, Vyper).
• Web3.js, MetaMask, React/Flutter.
4. Voter Registration & Authentication Setup
Objectives:
• Ensure that only eligible voters can cast one vote each.
Techniques:
• Integration with national ID databases.
• Biometric or 2FA verification.
• Issuance of one-time blockchain voting credentials.
5. Testing and Simulation
Objectives:
• Ensure functionality, security, and reliability before deployment.
Testing Types:
• Unit Testing: Smart contracts, frontend logic.
• Integration Testing: Blockchain interaction with frontend/backend.
• Security Testing: Penetration testing, cryptographic audits.
• Simulation: Conduct mock elections with dummy data.
6. Deployment
Objectives:
• Launch the system for actual voting.
Activities:
• Deploy smart contracts on the selected blockchain network.
• Set up voter interfaces.

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 • Notify voters and stakeholders.
7. Voting Process Execution
Steps:
1. Voter logs in securely.
2. Voter is verified and granted access.
3. Vote is cast and recorded on the blockchain.
4. Smart contract prevents double voting.
5. Vote is encrypted and anonymized.
8. Vote Counting and Result Announcement
Objectives:
• Ensure transparent and tamper-proof result computation.
Features:
• Automatic tallying via smart contracts.
• Instant result generation after polls close.,l;
• Public visibility of the tally while maintaining anonymity.
9. Auditing and Verification
Objectives:
• Verify that all votes were correctly counted and stored.
Techniques:
• Zero-knowledge proofs, Merkle trees, cryptographic auditing.
• Third-party verification and public access to anonymized ledger data.
10. Evaluation and Feedback
Objectives:
• Assess performance and gather user feedback.
Activities:
• Post-election surveys.
• Analysis of system logs.
• Review by election observers and auditors.

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Optional Enhancements (Post-Implementation)
• Interoperability with other government systems.
• AI Integration for voter behavior analysis (while respecting privacy).
• Upgrades for scalability and advanced voting models (e.g., ranked choice).

Fig3 :

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 Chapter 6
REFERENCES :
Academic References
1. Zhao, Z., Chan, W. K., & Lo, D. (2019)
“A survey of research on blockchain-based voting”
o Source: IEEE Access
o Summary: Surveys blockchain voting approaches, highlighting challenges
like voter privacy, scalability, and verifiability.
o DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2948477
2. Swan, M. (2015)
“Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy”
o Summary: Explores the foundational concepts of blockchain and its
applications beyond cryptocurrency, including governance and voting.
o Publisher: O'Reilly Media
3. Hjalmarsson, F., et al. (2018)
“Blockchain-based e-voting system”
o Source: IEEE 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
(HICSS)
o Summary: Presents a proof-of-concept for a blockchain-based e-voting
system and its design principles.
4. McCorry, P., Shahandashti, S. F., & Hao, F. (2017)
“A Smart Contract for Boardroom Voting with Maximum Voter Privacy”
o Source: International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data
Security
o Summary: Discusses Ethereum smart contracts for secure and private voting.
o Link to Paper (Springer)
5. Ayed, A. B. (2017)
“A Conceptual Secure Blockchain-Based Electronic Voting System”
o Source: International Journal of Network Security & Its Applications

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 o Summary: Proposes a conceptual blockchain model for secure electronic
voting.
Technical Reports and Whitepapers
1. Follow My Vote Whitepaper
o https://followmyvote.com
o A commercial project exploring blockchain voting with transparency and
voter anonymity.
2. MIT’s “Voatz” App Evaluation
o https://internetpolicy.mit.edu/voatz
o Security analysis of the Voatz blockchain-based mobile voting system used in
o US elections.
3. Ethereum-based Voting Smart Contracts
o Look into GitHub repositories and papers implementing Solidity-based voting
dApps.
Tools and Frameworks for Practice
• Ethereum / Solidity – Smart contract development
• Hyperledger Fabric – Permissioned blockchain for secure and private voting networks
• IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) – For decentralized storage of voting data
• ZKP (Zero-Knowledge Proofs) – Enhancing privacy in voting systems (e.g., zk-
• SNARKs)
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) Voting Models
• DAOs use on-chain governance to vote on proposals. The same model can apply to
• community-based elections or corporate decision-making.
• Example: Aragon, Snapshot, Colony.io
Example DAO Voting Tool:
Snapshot – https://snapshot.org/

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 Type Title Link

Blockchain and the Law by Primavera De

Book Harvard Press
Filippi

Report OECD Blockchain in Elections (2020) OECD Report PDF

GitHub Solidity Voting Example Ethereum Voting DApp

Whitepaper Follow My Vote Whitepaper

S
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Group Photo:
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Shambulingappa H S,
Assistant Professor, Dept. of ISE., our guide, for his continuous support, guidance, and
valuable suggestions throughout this project. His expertise and encouragement have been
instrumental in the successful completion of our work.

We extend our sincere thanks to the Department of Information Science and Engineering
at SKSVMACET for providing us with the necessary facilities and resources to carry out this
project

We are also grateful to our classmates, friends, and family members for their constant
support, motivation, and encouragement during the project.

Finally, we acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our team members, whose
collective efforts made this project a success.

Submitted by:
Mr. Anish Chavan 2KA22IS004
Mr. Mohammad shaikh 2KA22IS029
Mr. Mohmed Huzefa 2KA23IS402
 CONTENTS
S No. Chapter Name Page No.
1 Abstract 1

2 Chapter 1
Introduction 2-3

3 Chapter 2
Literature survey 4-5

4 Chapter 3
Problem identification 6-7

5 Chapter 4
Objectives 8-9

6 Chapter 5
Methodology 10 - 13

7 Chapter 6
References 14 - 16