A Blockchain Based Voting System for Makerere University

Abstract

In recent years, blockchain based systems have emerged powerfully and led to the development of several new and improved applications in terms of security, trust and accountability. This project is about a blockchain based voting system. A Blockchain based e-voting system offers secure, trustworthy voting schemes and provides transparency. The data in blockchains are decentralized, meaning that no single server is the center of truth, but the data is synched across hundreds of individual nodes, all of whom are storing the data cryptographically to ensure security and consistency of the data. The E-voting system was developed using Ethereum, a popular platform for creating distributed blockchain applications that support smart contracts. Ether (ETH) is the native crypto currency of the platform. Solidity- a contract oriented high-level language was used for implementing the smart contracts. Different accounts with unique account addresses using the metamask chrome extension were also created. Metamask is a crypto wallet and gateway to blockchain apps. An effective voting system that maintains the integrity of the electoral process by ensuring voter anonymity, voter confidentiality and end to end verification was developed. The system was tested on thirty voters and it worked as expected. This system can be improved further by changing user registration and login to more secure process using biometrics.