Essay: Developing a software package for election purposes

INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Election is a process where people express their views to their governments. The paper based election system tends to have less transparency because there could be chances of counting errors and most of time voters look for ways to cast their votes more than once. This system creates lots of troubles and wars among people and therefore naturally calls countries to enhance their election system by using an automated computerized election process where electoral vote counts are done in real time, at the end of election the results are automatically out (Rubin, 2002).
Electronic voting was first introduced by Chaum in the early 80s, it is a means of voting where electronic devices such as computer equipments are used to cast, tabulate and tally results of an election in a trustable manner (Baldersheim H. and Kersting N, 2008). Privacy and security are very important in electronic voting systems, but in most cases, it is not always achievable (Benaloh and Tuinstra, 1994). Electronic voting is a viable alternative for elections as it helps in reducing long queues, reduce chance of voting error, verifiability etc (Abdulwasiu K.A, Olusegun F. and Sushil K.S, 2011).
It is inexpensive to administer compared to the paper based voting, however if not properly designed, it can be easily compromised thereby corrupting election results, violating voters’ privacy etc. Some advantages of electronic voting systems are: it saves considerable cost of printing stationery and transport of large volumes of electoral materials during elections, it is easy to store, maintain, it completely rules out invalid votes, its use results in less polling time, fewer problems during elections, it is fast and accurate in counting of votes (Tadayoshi K, Adam S, Ariel D.R and Dan S.W, 2004).
Every voter has great concern about the security of electronic voting systems and its ability to protect users from unauthorized access; hence the use of electronic voting systems requires much work on the privacy and security of information. A secured voters’ identification technique is needed to verify the claimed identity of persons. Every individual must be able to verify who they say they are before granted access to vote, and if the person is unable to do so, access will be denied.
Biometric is referred to as a physical and behavioral feature that is captured and used to validate the identity of a person by comparing with previously stored information. Some of these features include; fingerprints, voice patterns, iris pattern etc. Fingerprint has been used for identification for many decades. It is one of the most reliable biometric technologies; this is because of the well known distinctiveness. Identical twins do not carry same fingerprints hence they are singular to each individual and do not change over time. Due to the fact that biometric identity cannot be forged or shared, they are considered to be very reliable for a person’s recognition than knowledge based methods (Ridges and Furrows) (Linu P. and Anilkumar M.N, 2012).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The present election process in Nigeria is characterized by several problems among which are delay in release of election results, not allowing persons to vote for candidates of their choice in their locality because of restriction of movements during election, voters card are not used in any other voting center except where the person registered, also the long queues for accreditation and the often times associated violence discourages persons from participating in elections. These and many others motivated this research to develop an alternative voting process that will be reliable, acceptable, give real time results and enable violent free elections.
1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aim of this research is to develop a software package for election purposes. This package must meet the design specifications such as real time, enhanced security, reliable result and statistical analysis of the continual and final election result display.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
When fully implemented, the electronic voting system will ensure a reliable election process, check fraud during voting and counting process and give freedom of voting location for voters.
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This research is limited to designing the system software, developing the software package and test running it without hosting it on the net.
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
In democratic nations like Nigeria, people choose their leaders and decide public issues through voting. It is one of the most important rights of a citizen which is guaranteed by the constitution. In the 1770’s, oral elections were conducted; it later switched to written ballots which required voters to sign their ballots. Some voters feared that their friends might react negatively if they didn’t vote for their candidates. This brought about the use secret ballots so that each voter could vote freely with privacy. Over the years, various types of voting machine have been designed but not limited to mechanical levers, electronic scanners, optical scanners, punch card machines and direct recording electronic system.
2.1 EVOLUTION OF ELECTRONIC VOTING
The history of voting methods started far back in the 19th century. The different voting systems are:
2.1.1 Paper Ballots
This is the first type of voting process which is still used in almost all countries. In this method of voting, Voters are expected to mark boxes next to the names of candidates or party logos and put them inside the ballot box after voting. Its disadvantage is that it is laborious and subject to human errors because it is counted by humans.
2.1.2 Mechanical Lever Voting Machine
The first mechanical lever voting machine was patented by Jacob H. Myers of Rochester New York. It was later called the Myers Automatic Booth and was invented in November 19, 1889. It prevented over votes, sped up vote counting process thereby reducing the chance of dishonest vote counting. The machine was used in the United States as of the 1996 Presidential election, since the machines are no longer made, computer based mark sense or Direct Recording Electronic systems were invented to replace them ( Mary Bellis, 2000).
2.1.3 Punched Card Voting System
Punch card voting system has been in use since the 19th century, invented by a statistician named Herman Hollerith to process the large amount of information from the 1890 US census, but later developed for commercial, scientific purposes and voting. An advantage of the punch card system is its ability for verification
( Aspray et al, 1990).
2.1.4 Optical Scan Systems
The optical scan system was first used in the 1980s for counting of paper ballots (Randolph, 2004).
It is made up of the following four components:
‘ Computer-readable ballots
‘ Marking devices
‘ Privacy booths
‘ Computerized tabulation device
2.1.5 Electronic Voting System
This is a system that records votes electronically. There are different types of electronic voting setup used to cast vote electronically.
Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems
Direct-recording electronic voting system was first introduced in the 1970s, it is an electronic implementation of the old mechanical lever systems, where the voters cast ballots by pulling down levers that correspond to each candidate and each lever had a mechanical counter that recorded the number of votes for that position. It is a computer with a screen to display the ballot and an input device; it processes data with a software and records results in memory components. One advantage of DRE voting machine is that the vote is stored directly into the machines memory and saved for electronic tallying, and the DRE system can later also print a record of ballots cast. Another advantage is that the voter can print a “receipt” after casting the vote to verify to him that the correct vote was registered.
2.2 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The complexity of voting process makes it challenging to design a secure electronic voting system. Some of its undesirable features includes not allowing recounting of votes after election in case of a protest like what is obtainable in Nigeria, another issue is that of erroneous software which can greatly affect the result of the election, and the difficulties associated with the collection and processing of very large amount of data obtained from the distributed population which makes e-voting system difficult to understand.
Oleg Murk (2000) presented e-voting Schemes and explained that ‘e-voting is a promising application of cryptography, which can have positive impact on democratic process. The work discussed cryptographic aspects of constructing e-voting schemes and approached the scheme from three perspectives viz: scientific, technical, and politico-sociological and tried to generate a preliminary framework on the notion of choice. He added that on the internet, implementing cryptographic protocols like digital encryption and signature has been widely accepted’.
Ivan Damg_ard et al. (2002) described the theory behind a practical voting scheme based on homomorphic encryption; they gave an example of an ElGamal-style encryption scheme, which can be used as the underlying cryptosystem. This work presented important goals for electronic voting schemes such as: Privacy, Robustness, Universal verifiability and freeness.
Folorunso et al. (2010) recommended an Algorithm called the ‘Treemap Algorithm’ to solve the opaque nature of e-voting system. The Treemap based visualization technique was used to monitor the distributed ballot and voting processes at a mock election in real time. It was proved that the Treemap algorithms can be configured and transmitted through the central server to effectively monitor the voting transactions in real time and hence enable transparency. According to their work, visualization is the use of computer supported interactive, visual representations of data to amplify cognition. The purpose of visualization is to gain insight; it is applied to abstract data. The Treemap algorithm invented by Ben Shneiderman in 1992 was preferred to other Hierarchical data visualization techniques like the Listing Outlines Technique, because of its ability to provide full structure and content information. All the structural indentation and modes in area can viewed at a time. The Treemap algorithm involves drawing Treemap and tracking the cursor movement in the Tree. The algorithm can be applied to any tree, regardless of its branching degree, and the algorithm was written using C-language specification.
The Tree-map E-voting monitoring (TEMS) developed in their research is made up to three primary subsystems, these are:-
1. The E-voting system
2. The networking facilities
3. The central server or monitoring system
In conclusion, they acknowledged that there are some challenges in the adoption of visualization technologies, but that it can easily be circumvented.
To improve the security of E-voting system, Canard and Traor’s proposed cryptographic primitives of which List Signatures was identified as suitable for E-voting system. Complicated cryptographic protocols such as Blind Signatures, homographic schemes were described as the most advanced proposal for securing system.
Research and development institute, designed an e-voting system whose security relies on a tamper resistant Smart Card embedding several cryptographic primitives like list Signatures. They designed an off-line voting system were every voter owns a voting smart card that is used twice. First in a polling booth and second, in front of a ballot box so as to resemble the traditional vote. A probabilistic encryption scheme was employed and was used by each voter to encrypt his or her ballot which will be decrypted during the counting phase. Instead of using a classical RSA scheme, a discrete logarithm-based threshold encryption such as El Gamal was adopted. It remains simple and ensures fairness of the vote as it prevents a single teller to count the votes alone. There is a unique encryption tray of which each teller owns a decryption key so that decryption involves all tellers. Also employed, is an anonymous signature scheme known as list signatures. An anonymous signature scheme is a mechanism that enables a user to authenticate him to another without revealing his complete identity. He only proves that he owns some right. In their system, a smart card produces a list signature S of the choice V, then encrypts V// in order to improve to improve the security of the list signature scheme by a distinct authority, called a key authority, with this mechanism, nobody knows the global share private key, except the smart cards. However, even with these advantages, it is not totally fool proof. The major problem with these cards is that the fraud associated with them often involve huge amount of money. The two ways of attacking a microchip card is destructive reverse engineering of the silicon circuit and discovering the memory contents of the cards by other means such as raising or dropping the supplied voltage of the microprocessor, researchers have learned have how to steal a smart card’s supposedly secret key (Anderson and Kuhn 1996).
Improving security to prevent fraud and other threats has always been the utmost goal of any electronic voting system. From the above explanations, each authentication method has its own pros and cons. Fingerprint recognition is quite expensive and may not be 100% accurate. Password are difficult to control, easy to replicate, easy to guess or can be obtained illegally. Cards can be duplicated, lost, or stolen. One cannot really say any one method is the best to authentication method but it can be compensated for by combining several methods to form a more formidable authentication process. In this light, this research is proposing strengthening security measures by combining the use of Voters Identification Number, password and finger print recognition in authorizing users for the voting process.
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
This chapter examines the design methodology used in the development of this electronic voting system. The system design involves both hardware and software. The actual project design is on software because the hardware which involves computer and scanners can be purchased.
The software was designed to run on windows operating system which is available in almost all computers. To develop the software, a structural design approach was adopted. This involves breaking the entire system into modules. Each module was developed separately, tested and confirmed to be working. All the modules were then integrated to form the overall system. The final system was then tested using random sample of registered voters who were accredited, cleared or rejected. The cleared candidates were allowed to vote and real time results were displayed showing that the system worked according to design specification.
The block diagram of this top down design approach is as shown in fig 3.1 below
Figure 3.1: Block diagram of the Electronic voting system
3.1 Interface
This module consists of the hardware which is the scanner and the software that enables the computer to read or write from the port.
3.2 Login Module
This module involves all the icons in the software, stage by stage process of opening the site. It allows the administrator and voters to log on to the electronic voting application.
The design algorithm for the Login module form is shown below:
Step 1: Start
Step 2: Is system on
a. If No, go back to step1
b. If yes, go ahead to step 3
Step 3: Click on software
Step 4: Is software open
a. If No, go back to step 3
b. If yes, go ahead
Step 5: Enter username and password
Step 6: is username and password correct
a. If No, go back to step 5
b. If yes, go ahead
Step 7: Interface opens
Step 8: select desired icon
Figure 3.2: Login Module Flowchart
The Login module was designed using ASP.NET MVC 4 Razor. The ASP.NET MVC framework was developed from the ground up to make it easier to build good software. It was created to support pattern-based software development. In other words the framework was designed to make it easier to implement software design principles and patterns when building web applications. MVC model contains all of an applications logic that is not contained in a view or controllers. MVC views contain control-flow logic. An MVC controller interacts with the MVC models and views to control the flow of application execution.
3.3 Voters Registration Module
This module is used to capture relevant data of the voter such as Name, Sex, Age, Occupation, Location of Registration, State, LGA, Password etc. The form is made as simple as possible so as to avoid it been too complex and time-consuming.
The design algorithm for the voters registration form is shown below:
Step 1: Start
Step 2: Open voter registration form
Step 3: Input personal details of the individual
Surname
First name
Age
Gender
State of Origin
Local Government
Location of Registration
Occupation
Step 4: Upload Picture
Step 5: Input Fingerprint
Step 6: Submit
Step 7: Preview Voters Registration Card
Step 8: Proceed to Voting else log off
Step 9: Stop
Figure 3.3: voter registration module flowchart
3.3.1 Fingerprint Capture
Every human has unique physiological and behavioral characteristics which cannot be forged; the commonly used is the fingerprint. In this application, the fingerprint is chosen because no two individual have same fingerprint. A Futronic FS80 fingerprint scanner which uses the optical fingerprint scanning technology for superior image quality is used to capture the fingerprint of the individual because it recognizes the most difficult fingerprints The scanner driver is installed on the laptop computer running on windows operating system before the scanner is connected through its universal serial bus cord to the port of the computer to create an interface between the scanner and the application. The individuals fingertip is placed on the glowing sensor window and the device automatically captures the fingerprint image and stores it in the database. The right thumbprint of the voter is captured because most persons are right handed and it is easier to get the right thumbprint than the left.
The system requirements for the fingerprint reader to be installed in the computer include;
‘ JDK or JRE ( 1.5 or 1.6)
‘ Any of the operating systems: Microsoft windows vista (32/64 bit), Microsoft windows XP (32/64 bit), Microsoft windows 7 (32/64 bit)
‘ CD/DVD drive
‘ X86- based processor
3.3.2 Password
The password is designed to have seven letters which will include upper case letters, lower case letters, numerals and non-alphanumeric keyboard symbols. The password characters are shown for a brief moment before replacing it with the standard ‘secure’., so as to make it more secured.
3.3.3 Voters Identification Number
The VIN is generated by the system; it is designed to have 13 characters consisting of 10 digits and 3 alphabets. The digits are chosen randomly while the alphabet is chosen from the user’s first name in order to make the VIN purely unique and identifiable for every citizen.
3.4 Authentication Module
Authentication is the identification of a registered voter or to ensure conformity with registered voters’ information in the database. This module compares the information with that stored in the database. If information is valid, the voter is authenticated and allowed to go to the voting stage which is voting. Invalid information will display an error showing that the individual is not registered or if registered, the individual should check their login details.
Design Algorithm for Authentication Module
Step 1: Start
Step 2: Open electronic voting application
Step 3: Input username, password and fingerprint
Step 4: If (detail is invalid)
a. Go back to step 3
If (detail is valid)
b. Go ahead to step 5
Step 5: Decide on what task to perform
a. Register later
b. Login to move to voting process
c. Clear
Step 6: Stop
Figure 3.4: Flow chart of Authentication module
3.5 Database Module
The database design involves creating database for the administrator, candidates contesting for election and the voters. The development was done using MySQL. MYSQL is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft, it stores and retrieves data as requested by other software applications, be it those running on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network. The algorithm for developing the database is given below:
‘ Start
‘ Select MySQL server
‘ Select MySQL server management studio
‘ Right click database folder
‘ Choose new database
‘ Type in database name
‘ Provide file groups allocation on file groups tab.
‘ Click OK
‘ Expand the database folder and then expand the newly created Database
‘ Right click Table folder on newly created database and choose New Table
‘ Specify Table Name, Column, Row and Null in table designer
‘ Create table for Admin Login
‘ Create a Table for citizen
‘ Create a Table for Candidates
‘ Create a table for voting
‘ Stop
Entity relationship diagrams are visual representation of the tables and relationships within a database. The database created has four tables, which are: Admin login, Candidates, Citizens, and Voting. Each of these tables has a number of columns to ease retrieval of data and data commitment to the database. The columns have a specific name that is used to identify the kind of data to be stored there. The database is split into different tables so as to make the time to search for an attribute to be shorter and the maintenance will be simple.
The four (4) tables created in this thesis are further explained below;
Admin Login Table: There are 2 attributes in this table namely USER and ADMIN. This holds and manages the profiles of the candidates and voters. It can only be accessed by the administrator.
Candidates Table: There are 7 attributes namely CANDIDATES NAME, CANDIDATE PARTY, ELECTION LEVEL, CANDIDATE STATE, CANDIDATE ZONE, LGA and GENDER. This holds and manages the profiles of all candidates contesting for an Election. It can only be accessed by the administrator.
Voting Table: This table consists of nine (9) attributes which includes: CANDIDATE NAME, ELECTION TYPE, SELECTION, VOTER, ACCREDITATION TIME, VOTE TIME, VOTE DATE, GENDER and AGE. This table keeps record of candidates contesting for an election and the position he/she is contesting for, the time a voter was accredited, time and date of vote, gender and age of the voter. It can be accessed by the administrator and voter.
Citizen Table: This table consists of thirteen (13) attributes which includes:
ID, FIRST NAME, SURNAME,PASSWORD,OCCUPATION,STATE OF ORIGIN, AGE, LOCATION OF RESIDENCE, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, GENDER, FINGER PRINT, PASSPORT and FRANCHISE. This table is mainly for the registration process; it holds and manages all the profiles of the voters. It can only be accessed by the administrator.
3.6 Result Module
This module shows the result of the elections conducted. The results are given in real-time. The data extraction software extracts relevant data, processes it and displays result in different statistical charts. The results will be displayed while voting is taking place.
3.7 Design Consideration
‘ Real time: They must measure and process the values as they are
‘ Statistical Analysis: Ability to automatically compute mean, median, variance and other statistical values
‘ Interactive: Ability to select the action to be done at a given time
‘ Provision for networking
‘ Tabular display of results
‘ Choice of graphical display of result
‘ Interchangeability: Ability to import and export recorded values to the other applications like excel and can be used to plot all available excel graphs
‘ Flexibility for adoptions into various applications like school, offices etc
3.8 Software Design
The system design in this application was studied systematically to achieve the required result. The evaluation of the functionality was addressed in each of the development phase. The phases involved in the development of this application include: planning phase, analysis phase and implementation phase;
In the planning phase, the electronic voting software algorithm and flowchart were designed; this gave the framework and guidance on how to achieve a functional electronic voting system.
After the software and all its sub-functions are specified, the implementation stage is carried out and it involved coding.
The Complete Design algorithm for the Electronic voting Application
‘ The administrator logs in with password and user name to facilitate the voting process or to recover misplaced voters identity with voters VIN number and also view voting results.
‘ After the admin logs in to start voting, this window appears for the voter to log in and vote
‘ On the login section, unregistered voters can click to register
‘ After registering, the voters details are submitted and the login window is displayed
‘ After voter must have entered their details ( VIN, password and fingerprint ), if it is valid it proceeds to voting else it disenfranchise the voter if he/she logs in wrong details more than thrice
‘ If user have not entered invalid details thrice, it proceeds to validation
‘ Clear all user input and warn for invalid entry
‘ Check if user is registered, if yes disenfranchise user for entering wrong details else clear and warn user for wrong input
‘ Disenfranchise voter on three times wrong input
‘ This part checks if user have voted or not
‘ Notify user if they have already voted
‘ Loads user profile from entered ID, password and login
‘ After user have done all necessary selections for voting, user submits vote
‘ Vote reports if saved else it resets. If saved, it logs user out for a new user to login
‘ Reports error, resets and loads user profile
Coding of this application design was not an easy task. The programming languages used in the development of this Electronic Voting System software application are given below.
1. C#
C# is a programming language developed by Anders Hejlsberg and his team; it is designed for Common Language Infrastructure and consists of executable codes and runtime environment which allows the use of different high level languages on different platforms and architectures
Reasons for choosing C#:
‘ Easy to learn
‘ Modern, general-purpose programming language
‘ Object oriented
‘ It produces efficient programs
‘ It can be compiled on a variety of computer platforms
2. MySQL
This is one of the world’s most frequently used relational databases. It is used to store and retrieve information. It is suitable for business because of its advanced features.
3. Java
This is a programming language that enables programmers to write instructions using English based commands instead of writing in numeric codes. It is a high level language because it can be read and written by humans. It has sets of rules called syntax which determines how the instructions are written. Once a programme is written, the high level instructions are translated into numeric codes that the computer can execute.
Reasons for choosing java
‘ Easy to Use
‘ Reliability
‘ Secure Platform Independent
4. Model View Controller
This code was used to design the user interface for the web application. The MVC architectural pattern separates an application into three main components. The model, the view, and the controller. The ASP.NET MVC Framework provides an alternative to the ASP.NET web forms pattern for creating MVC based applications. The ASP.NET MVC Framework is a lightweight, highly testable presentation framework that is integrated with existing ASP.NET features, such as master pages and membership-based authentication. The MVC Framework is defined in the system. Web.MVC namespace and is fundamental, supported part of the system.web namespace.
MVC is a standard design pattern that many developers are familiar with. Some types of web applications benefit from the MVC Framework. Others continue to use the traditional ASP.NET application pattern that is based on web forms and post backs.
The hardware requirements needed by the Electronic Voting System include:
‘ Windows 7 professional or ultimate, windows 8
‘ Pentium IV processor and 20GB hard disk space
‘ Fingerprint SDK
3.9 FINGERPRINT PROCESSING
The captured fingerprint may not have well defined ridges and furrows, it might contain a lot of noise hence there is need for the fingerprint image to be enhanced.
The fingerprint undergoes a process of segmentation so as to completely separate the background area from interfering with the process of ridge pattern and minutae extraction.
Centre point location is done to find the point of most curvature by determining the normal of each fingerprint ridge and then following the riges inwards towards the centre (Rao, 1990).
Once the point is determined, the image is cropped. The cropped fingerprint is divided into 5 concentric bands centered on the pseudo-center point. Each band has a radius of 20 pixels and a centre hole radius of 12 pixels. Hence the total radius of the sectorisation is 223 pixels. Each band is divided equally into 12 sectors resulting in a total of 60 sectors. After the process of sectorisation, the image is then normalized by reducing each image to a fixed mean and variance so as to eliminate variations in the fingerprint pattern arising from scanning noise ( Jain et al, 2000).
After all the feature extraction procedures, the input fingerprint now in a template is used to match the corresponding one in the database The Euclidean distance between the two fingerprints, which is a function of the minutiae is measured, each minutia is characterized by its (x, y) coordinates while using the equation below to compute the Euclidean distance between the two fingerprints per individual. Let A be the template image with M minutiae and B the input image with N minutiae:
A= { where
B= { where
The Euclidean distance Ed between a minutia in B and a minutia in A can be calculated as shown below;
3.1
where EdT is the threshold value used as the pass score.
Figure 3.6: Flowchart of fingerprint matching
In an ideal situation, the Euclidean distance between the two fingerprints from the same user ought to be zero. But because the input image does not always have the exact appearance of the image captured during the registration, the distance is not zero but greater than zero. This can happen because of some reasons; the scanner may be dirty, the individuals’ position is not right etc.
From the design simulation, it was possible to detect unregistered voters and stop multiple votes. The results obtained are analyzed in detail in the next chapter.
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter presents details and results’ regarding the simulation of the model; the application was implemented by randomly registering some persons in different states.
On completion of the Electronic voting system, the software was installed in a laptop and tested.
4.1 ELECTRONIC VOTING APPLICATION OPERATION
The administrator opens the web browser and lunches the voting application as shown in the figures below
Figure 4.1: Electronic Application Home Page
This is the first page that is seen when running the software.An administrator had to be created for the purpose of capturing information of the voters. The administrator logs in to the system with an ID and password and clicks any of the menus. If the ‘open e-ballot for voting’ icon is selected, another screen for voter’s registration will appear.Administrator has the privilege of viewing registered voters and editing their information, searching for a person (registered voter) by entering his name or VIN, can view the details of all voters who have registered. The administrator is also provided with the feature of viewing the information of voting i.e. numbers of voters, the all error log, view live results, though voters also have the privilege to view live results as the voting is taking place, which reduce the tendencies for rigging.
Figure 4.2: Voters Registration Form
This interface is the voter’s registration form which requires detailed information of the voter fulfilling all the required specifications. The required fields are; Surname (CHAR), First name (CHAR), Sex (BOOLIAN), Date of birth (DATE), Phone numbers (INT), Local government (VARCHAR), State of origin (CHAR), Occupation (VARCHAR), Location of Registration (VARCHAR), Password (VAR), Confirm Password (VAR), Resident Address (VARCHAR), Picture upload and Fingerprint.Once the voter gets registered, he/she will be provided with a system generated Voters identification number (VIN).
Figure 4.3: Voters ID card
This interface shows the voters card which would be printed out and be used in case of password loss. It is generated once the voter gets registered.
Fig 4.4: Candidates Database
This page is provided for the administrator, where ballot can be setup, inserting candidate names into the ballot for respective electoral position and political parties. The administrator can also update any candidates’ profile or information either editing or deleting information for respective categories of the election. After editing the setup the administrator can post the ballot for voting.
Figure 4.5: Recover Registered Voters Details
This page is managed by the administrator to recover the voters detail if password is missing.Administrator has the privilege of searching for a registered voter by entering his/her VIN to recover lost details.
Figure 4.6: Voters Register
This interface consists of all registered voters details saved in the database. In the case where a registered voter misplaces his/her password, it can be recalled from the database where all information is stored.
Figure 4.7: Voter Login Details
This interface is for those registered voters who want to vote. Their voters identification number, password and fingerprint are required before they can be authenticated for voting.
Figure 4.8: Filled voters login details
This interface shows the filled voters identification number, password and fingerprint that will enable the voter proceed to voting.
Figure 4.9: Unsuccessful Voter Login
This interface shows that the voter has voted earlier, this solves the problem of multiple voting.
Figure 4.10: Unregistered Voter
This interface shows that the user is not a registered voter and cannot proceed to voting. This interface does not allow impersonation.
Figure 4.11: Registered Voter Details
This interface comes up once the voter has registered; it gives a summary of all the voters details after which the voter can proceed to voting.
Figure 4.12 Voter Proceeds to cast vote for Presidential election
This interface shows the ballot for presidential election by party selection. It shows the different parties contesting for presidential election.
Figure 4.13: Voter Proceeds to cast vote for gubernatorial election
This interface shows the different parties contesting for gubernatorial election. It also gives the voter the privilege to vote either by residence or by state of origin. This will help solve mobility issues.
Figure 4.14: Voter Proceeds to cast vote for Senatorial election
This interface shows the party contesting for senatorial election in a particular zone.
Figure 4.15: Voter Proceeds to cast vote for House of Representative election
This interface shows the party contesting for house of representative election in a particular zone.
Figure 4.16: Voter Proceeds to cast vote for House of Assembly election
This interface shows the party contesting for house of assembly of a state.
4.2 ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
The accuracy and effectiveness of the electronic voting software application was demonstrated, this stage was developed for the voter and administrator so they can view the results of the election immediately a vote is cast.
Figure 4.17: Interface showing the candidate a voter voted for, accreditation time and time of vote
Figure 4.18: Interface showing candidates information and result
Figure 4.19: Presidential Candidate Result
Figure 4.20: gubernatorial candidate result interface
Figure 4.21: Senatorial Candidate result interface
Figure 4.22: House of Representative result interface
Figure 4.23: House of assembly result interface
Figure 4.24: Interface showing candidates who won for the different positions
The pie charts below where produced by the electronic voting system. It shows the age categories in percentage for various elections.
The age categories are:
Youths 18-44 yrs
Adults 45-69 yrs
Elderly 70 yrs and above
Figure 4.25: Pie chart showing age category of voters for presidential election
The chart above shows that 9% of elders, 27% of adults and 64% of youths voted for presidential election.
To check for the adequacy of the electronic voting system, we calculated the percentages of votes manually. From the database, 7Youths, 3Adults and 1Elderly voted during the presidential election. Percentage of the various age categories that voted during the presidential election was calculated as follows:
4.1
where
YPE = Percentage of youths that voted for presidential election.
NYE=Number of Youth that voted for presidential election.
TNY=Total Number of Votes.
4.2
where
APE= Percentages of adult that voted for presidential election
NAE=Number of adult that voted for presidential election.
TNY=Total Number of Votes.
4.3
where
EPE= Percentages of elders that voted for presidential election
NEE-Number of elders that voted for presidential election.
TNY=Total Number of Votes.
Thus, the calculations are as follows:
64%
= 27%
9%
It is observed that the results from the manual calculation and the results produced by the electronic voting system are same. Therefore, we can conclude that the electronic voting system is adequate. This calculation applies to other forms of elections such as gubernatorial, senatorial, house of representative and state house of assembly.
Figure 4.26: Pie chart showing age category of voters for gubernatorial election
The chart above shows that 14% of elders, 29% of adults and 57% of youths voted for gubernatorial election.
Figure 4.27: Pie chart showing age category of voters for senatorial election
The chart above shows that 20% of elders, 30% of adults and 50% of youths voted for senatorial election.
Figure 4.28: Bar chart showing age categories of voters for the different elections
The bar-chart above shows the number of elders, adults and youths that voted for presidential, gubernatorial, senatorial election respectively.
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 CONCLUSION
In this work, we considered that a biometric feature ‘Fingerprint’ because it identifies a person based on their unique physiological attributes peculiar to them alone. The Electronic voting system developed in this research used a fingerprint scanner to proffer solution to the present challenge of multiple votes and electoral frauds.
This research focused on developing a better method of voting where people are allowed to vote regardless of where they registered. This will help solve mobility problems that arise during elections and also arouse people’s interest in participating during elections.
We have designed an electronic voting system that guarantees a credible and reliable election, with results produced in real-time and without any possibility of interference with the election results, votes can be recounted after election.
5.2 RECOMMENDATION
1. In future, multi-biometric measures should be incorporated into the system for more security checks for example, inclusion of a DNA and iris readers.
2. A system that will involve the physically handicapped voter should be developed especially for blind voters. A voice sensor should be made available so that blind voters can give their vote by voice.
3. All the polling units that make up a ward should be connected so that their results will be displayed in a central display unit
5.3 CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE
1. A secured electronic voting system is which uses fingerprint matching technology is developed.
2. A system that collates and displays results of election in real-time is developed.
3. A system that allows voters to vote regardless of where they registered is developed.
4. A system that is able to recover voters’ details is developed
5. Votes will be recounted after election if need be.
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