使用以太坊区块链进行电子投票

E-VotingusingEthereumBlockchain

ShubhamPareek1,AnujUpadhyay2,SatyaDoulani3,SiddarthTyagi4,AdityaVarma5,S.Nandini6

1,2,3,4,5Student,DepartmentofComputerScienceandEngineering,SRMInstituteofScienceandTechnology,Chennai

6AssistantProfessor,DepartmentofComputerScienceandEngineering,SRMInstituteofScienceandTechnology,Chennai

ABSTRACT-BlockchainisnowoneofthemosttrendingtopicintheITindustry,butitismostlyaboutcryptocurrencyhype,whichisthelimiteduseofblockchainsotoexploitthepotentialoftheblockchaintechnology,Ethereumcameupwiththeconceptofdecentralizedapplication.Ethereumprovidesaplatformfordevelopmentofdecentralizedapplicationusingethereumvirtualmachineandtestitinthevirtualenvironment.Whatmakesitmorepowerfulistheintroductionofsmartcontracts,Smartcontractistheintegrationofmeaningfulcodeintheblockchain.Smartcontractcreatesavirtualcontractbetweentheownerandtheuserwhichisappliedtotheblockchainsoalltheusershavetoagreetothecontractwhichpreservestheintegrityoftheblockchain,Smartcontractsvalidatestheuseoftheblockchaintransactions.E-votingisatrendingyetcriticaltopicrelatedtoprovidingareliableandsecureonlineplatformtocastvotes.Inademocraticcountrythereisahighdemandofadecentralizedandtransparentplatformofvoting.AnE-votingplatformmustbesecure,itshouldprovideonepersononevotepolicy,itshouldbetransparent,easiertouse.Ethereumanditswidespreadnetworkisthemostsuitableplatformfordeployingsuchapplication.Theapplicationcantestedanddeployedonatestplatformusingethereumvirtualmachine(EVM)whichprovidesatestnetworktotesttheapplicationbeforedeployingtothemainethereumnetwork,WhenE-votingisdeployedinthemainnetworkalltheuserscanvoteforthecandidates,Itprovidesasecurewayofhidingthevotersidentityyetkeepingtherecorddistributedsuchthatthereisnotasinglepointfailure,ItprovidesaP2P-basedsystemthereisnoneedofathirdpartyhavingcontrolovertheprocess.Theblockchaintechnologyensurestheconsistencyandsecurityoftheapplication.Indecentralizedapplicationsinsteadofusingasingledatabaseadistributeddatabaseisused,thedataisnotstoredinasingleplaceandthedataisnotgovernedbyasinglepartywhichmakesitdecentralizedandthedataisvalidatedisusedusingcryptographyandalgorithms.Aseveryoneisgettingconcernregardingtheirroleintheelectionandinthetransparencyinelection.Ablockchainenablede-votingplatformistheonlyreliablesolutiontothisproblem.

Keywords-blockchain;ethereum;smart-contracts,e-voting.

INTRODUCTION

Everysixoutoftencountryisademocracy.Electionplaysanimportantroleindemocracy.Itgivestherightstothecitizentoelecttheleaderandthecountry’srepresentative,Buttheprocessofvotingisflawedasthevotinginfrastructureisnotusingaproperarchitecture.Thevotingmachinesthatareusedinalmostallthedemocraciesarecentralizedi.e,aparticularpersonorcommunitycontrolsandanalysesthecollecteddatafromthevotingprocess.Whichmakestheprocessvulnerabletomanyflawsinthesystemandlackoftransparencytothevoters.ToovercomethissituationandtoempowerthedemocracytheBlockchaintechnologycanbeused.Theblockchaintechnologyprovidesadecentralizedanddistributedarchitecturefordevelopmentofapplications.Theethereumcommunityintroducedtheconceptofdecentralizedapplicationswhichusestheblockchaintechnologytocreateanapp.Themajordifferencebetweenacentralizedandadecentralizedapplicationis,Indecentralizedapplicationinsteadofusingthetraditionaldatabaseatitsbackendtheblockchainisused.Blockchainservesasthedecentralizedanddistributeddatabasesystemwhichusescryptographyforthestorageofinformationwhichhelpsinstorageofimmutabledata.TheBlockchaintechnologyprovidesapeertopeercommunicationandeliminatesthethirdparty.Initiallytheblockchaintechnologywasusedincryptocurrenciesbuttheintroductionofdecentralizedapplicationshaveopenedadoorofopportunitiesfortheexploitationoftheblockchaintechnology.

Asalreadymentioned,withitsuniquedistributed,decentralizedanddistributedarchitecturetheblockchaintechnologymayresolvemanyissuesinthedigitalageanditmayhelpintheimplementationofane-votingplatformwhichisnotmostlyuseddotothepresenceofmanythreatsintheweblikehackersandsecurityissuessowiththeintroductionofdecentralizedapplicationasecure,safe,decentralizedanddistributede-votingplatformcanbeimplementedwhichwillbefreefromallvulnerabilitiesandthreatsandyetkeepthevotersvoteandidentitiyintact.

CONCEPT

Currentlythemainchallengeinademocraticcountryistoattractmorepeopletoparticipateinelectionprocessanddoafairvoting.Asthevoterturnoutisdecreasingeveryyearandthedemocracyisbecomingweak.Asthecitizensdonotbelieveintheelectoralprocess.Astheprocessisnottransparentandistimeconsuming.Ourmainconcerninthisprojectistoprovideasafe,secureandeasytousevotingenvironmentandshowthatabetteralternativetotraditionalvotingise-votingwhichispossiblebyusingblockchaintechnology.Because,whene-votingwillbeavailableforthepubliceveryeligibleindividualwithinternetconnectionandaphoneorpcwillhavethepowertovoteandtheprocesswillbeverylesstimeconsumingandsecureanditwillattractmorevotingandwillincreasetherateofturnoutastheprocesswillbesimpleandtheidentityofthevoterispreserved.Nomatterwhereverthepersonisthelocationoftheindividualdoesnotmattertherewillbenogeographicalbarrierandvotersalloverthecountrycanvoteatthecomfortoftheirhomesbyregisteringthemselvesandtheydon’thavetovotingpollsandwastetheirtimebystandinginqueue.Alsothecasesofcorruptionaremoreprevalentinduringelectionshugeamountofmoneyiswastedinthisprocess.Byusingtheblockchaintechnologythiscanbestoppedbecausetherewontbeasingleauthorityhavingtotalcontrolovertheprocess.Thiswillfulfiltheactualmeaningofdemocracy.

Theconceptofe-votingisnotnewitismucholderthanblockchain.Sothat,allknowne-votingprocesseshavebeendoneusingacentralizedauthorityhavingtotalcontrolovertheprocess.Estoniaisanexample,sincethegovernmentofEstoniafirstimplementedtheprocessofonlineevoting.Whichleadtoincreaseinthenumberofvotersvoting.Itwasabletomaintaintheprincipleofonepersononevoteusingidcardauthenticationprocessbuttheprocessisnotcompletelysecureasmanycybersecurityexpertsfoundloopholeintheprocessasthedataisstoredinasingledatabaseandthedatacanbetemperedandchanged.Toovercomethischallengetheblockchainprovestobeveryeffectiveasthedataarenotstoredinaparticulardatabasebutspreadacrossthenetworkandstoredusingcryptographysoitwillprovideabetteralternativetoasimpleonlineevotingprocess.

COMPONENT

Theprototypeapplicationwasbuildandtestedontestnetworkithasthefollowingcomponent:

Back-end:Thebackendofthesystemistheblockchainarchitecturewhichisbuildusingthesoliditylanguage.Thesoliditylanguageusesthesmartcontractwhichmakesavirtualcontractbetweenthesystemanduser.Thesmartconsistsofcodewritteninsoliditylanguagewhichiskindofobjectorientedlanguagelikec++andc#.

Front-end:Thefrontendisbuildusinghtml,css,javascriptandweb3js.Thelayoutofthewebpageisdoneusinghtmlandcssisusedfordesigningthewebsite.Web3jsactsasabridgewhichmakesacommunicationbridgebetweenthebackendandthefrontend.Ittakesthebytecodefromthesoliditycodeaftercompilingisreceivedbyweb3jsandtransferredtothetestnetworktoestablishtheconnection.

TestNetwork:Thetestnetworkganache-cliwasusedtodeployandtestthesmartcontract.Ganache-clicomeswithtenethereumaccountswhichholdsomeether.Thisethercanbeusedformakingtransactionintheapplication.Foreveryactionperformedintheblockchainapplicationthereissomeamountofetherinvolved.

Metamask:Metamaskplaysanimportantroleintransaction.Ethercanbetransferredfromoneaccounttoanother.Ithelpstohandlethetransactions.

Trufflecompiler:Truffleprovidesapremiumdevelopmentenvironment,testingframeworkandassetpipelineforassetsusingtheethereumvirtualmachine,aimingtomakethedevelopmentofdecentralizedappseasier.Ithasbuiltinsmartcontractcompilation,linkingdevelopmentandbinarymanagement.Providesrapidapplicationdevelopment.Itprovidesconsoleforcommunicationwithsmartcontract.IthasexternalscriptrunnerthatexecutesscriptwithinTruffleenvironment.

Linuxterminal:Thevariouscommandsandtestingisdoneusingthelinuxterminal.Theterminalprovidesaveryflexibleplatformfordeployingthetestcommandsandrunningvariousapplicationsliketheganache-cliandthetrufflecompiler.

IMPLEMENTATIONANDDISCUSSION

TheProjectisimplementedonethereumasthedevelopmentplatformandalsotheblockchainnetwork.Asethereumprovidesavastvarietyoftoolswhichcanbeusedinthedevelopmentofdecentralizedapps.Theethereumcommunityisavastcommunityofdevelopersandtheydeveloptheplatformofethereumwhichprovidestheplatformfordevelopmentofapplications.Ethereumprovidesethereumvirtualmachinewhichprovidesasoftwaredevelopmentenvironmentfordecentralizedapps.InEthereumtheblocksaremadeinrealtimeandtheblocksarevalidatedbytheminers.Theminerssolveacomplexalgorithmicproblemwhichgeneratesanoncevaluewhichmakesalinkwithpreviousblockandbythisprocessalltheblocksareconnectedtoformablockchain.Thedataisstoredinblockchainusingcryptography.Thisprovidestheidealplatformforthepurposeofourproject.

ThemainconcerninE-Votingishowtoprotecttheusersidentityyetpreservetransparencyandintegrityofdata.Tosolvethisproblemethereumprovidesthedifferenthashvaluestousersinthenetworkthroughwhichitisalmostimpossibletoidentifytheindividualandthetransactionsdoneintheethereumnetworkisvisibletoeveryoneinthenetworkandcanbevalidateditmakesittransparenttoallthenodesinthenetworkandtomaintaintheintegrityofthedatathedataisnotstoredinaparticularlocationbutitisspreadacrossthenetworkwhichactsasadistributeddatabasewhichmakesthedataimmutableandverydifficulttomanipulate,Bythisprocesstheintegrityofthedataismaintained.Itprovidesapeertopeercommunicationwherealltheapplicationsrunonethereumnetwork.Fortheprocessofvotingeachvotermustbeprovidedaethereumwalletwhichwillconsistoflimitedamountofetherwhichwillbeusedtovoteforthecandidateandthevoteswillberecordedintheblockchainusingthesmartcontractwhichwillvalidateandverifythevotersandvote.Theapplicationistestedonthetestnetworkthemetamask.Metamaskprovidesnumberofnetworktheoneusedintheprojectiscustomrpcbutforfinaldeployementitshouldbedeployedinthemainnetwork.Theconnectiontothecustomrpcisdonebywritinghttp://localhost:9545.Asshowninfigure2.

Figure1:

Figure2

Insolidityprogramminginthefirstlineofcodewehavetospecifytheversionofsolidityweareusingtherearemanyversionsoutastheethereumcommunityupdatesit.

regularlytofixanybugsandimproveit.Infigure3itshowshowtheversionisspecifiedthenwespecifythecontractandthenthestructuredatastructureisusedinwhichthevoterstructureisspecifiedwhichconsistsofweight,votedtocheckwhetherthevoterhasvotedandvotewhichistheaddressofthedelegate.

Figure3

Figure4

Figure4showshowamodifierismadetogettheaddressoftheownerthatisthechairpersonwhowillvalidatetheeligiblevoterthatistheonlyroleofthechairpersonthemappingofaddressisdonewithvotersstructuretogettheaddressofthevoters.

Figure4

Infigure4thefunctionregisterisusedbythechairpersontoregistertheeligiblevotersiftheweightofthevotersis0itmeansthevoterhasalreadyvoterhe/shecannotvoteagain.Wehaveusedfourcandidateswhohaveparticipatedintheelectionoutofwhichonlyonewillwin.Thevotersarevalidatedusingtheifconditionandcheckifthevoteriseligibleandletthevotertovotefortheprefferedcandidate.

Figure5

Figure5showsthefunctionwinningProposalreturnsthethewinningcandidatenumberitisdonebycountingthenumberofvotesreceivedbyeachcandidatebyusingaconditionalloopandcheckvariousconditionandconsideringthecandidatewhichmaximumnumberofvoteasthewinneroftheelection.Theelectionwillcontinueuntilalltheregisteredvotershavenotcompletedvotingandtheregisterationisdoneonspotsoitwontbeatimeconsumingprocesswhichwilllettothemaximumparticipationofvotersintheprocessandhelpinfindingtherightfulleader.Sincetherearesomanycheckpointsinthecodeitwillbeverydifficulttomanipulatethedataandthedatastoredisimmutablesothevotesoncecastedcannotbechangedwhichisthebestfeatureofthisprocessandthedecentralizeddistributedstorageprovidesthesecureinfrastructureforthewholeprocess.

CONCLUSION

Bybuildingthis

planned

sensible

contractofours,

we've

succeededinmovinge-votingtotheblockchainplatform

andthatwe

self-addressed

anumberof

thebasicproblems

that

bequest

e-votingsystemshave,by

victimization

thefacility

oftheEthereumnetwork

andthereforethe

blockchainstructure.Asa

resultsof

ourtrials,the

idea

ofblockchain

andthereforethe

securitymethodology

that

ituses,

specifically

changeless

hashchains,hasbecome

pliant

topollsandelections.This

accomplishment

might

evenpavethe

manner

for

different

blockchainapplicationsthathaveimpacton

each

facet

ofhumanlife.At

thistime,Ethereum

andthereforethesensible

contracts,

that

created

oneinall

theforemost

revolutionarybreakthroughssincetheblockchainitself,helpedtooverturnthe

restricted

perceptionofblockchainasacryptocurrency(coin),andturneditintoabroadersolution-base

forseveral

Internet-related

problemswith

thefashionable

world,

andshould

alter

theworld

useofblockchain.

E-voting

remains

a

disputed

topic

inside

each

politicalandscientificcircles.Despitetheexistenceof

some

excellent

examples,mostof

that

ar

stillinuse;

more

makesanattempt

wereeither

didnot

offer

theprotection

andprivacy

options

of

aconventional

electionorhaveserioususabilityand

quantifiability

problems

[7].Onthecontrary,blockchain-basede-votingsolutions,

aswellas

theone

we've

enforced

victimization

the

sensible

contracts

andthereforethe

Ethereumnetwork,address(or

mightaddresswithrelevantmodifications)

most

of

theprotection

issues,likeprivacyofvoters,integrity,verificationandnon-repudiationofvotes,andtransparencyof

investigating.Yet,there

are

someproperties

thatcan't

be

self-addressed

entirely

victimization

theblockchain,

forinstance

authenticationofvoters(on

thenon-publiclevel,notontheaccountlevel)

needs

further

mechanismstobeintegrated,

adore

useofbiometricfactors.

Theprominenceofdistributedsystemsstandsout

particularly

once

consideringthemitigationof

thedanger

thatstoringtheregistrationsatacentrallocation(office).

thiscould

continuously

somehow

enable

officers

toown

thechance

tophysicallyaccesstothevoterecords,

that

couldleadon

tocorruptionsandcheatingsbytheauthorities.

inaddition,intoday'sconnectedworld,withthe

idea

of

thenet

ofThings(IoT),expectedly,

several

non-computerdevices

can

gainaccessto

thenet.

whereas

wehaveatendencyto

ar

still

performingon

a

itinerant

applicationasa

supportive

extensiontoourworktowidentheus