Robust Online Voting System For Overseas Pakistanis

For years, elections were conducted using ballot papers which was costly and vulnerable to frauds and rigging. Nowadays, every process is made efficient using automation. Similarly, an online voting system will make the voting procedure time saving, cost-efficient, secure and easy to use. Before 201

Project Title

Robust Online Voting System For Overseas Pakistanis

Project Area of Specialization

Software Engineering

Project Summary

For years, elections were conducted using ballot papers which was costly and vulnerable to frauds and rigging. Nowadays, every process is made efficient using automation. Similarly, an online voting system will make the voting procedure time saving, cost-efficient, secure and easy to use. Before 2018 overseas Pakistanis were not able to participate in elections. Later, I-Voting system was introduced by the Election Commission of Pakistan in collaboration with NADRA to facilitate overseas Pakistanis but only 7419 Pakistanis registered themselves with the designed system.

So, the main objective is to provide a robust online voting system using a mobile application allowing users to cast their vote easily in a secure environment. The application allows voters to register themselves by verifying their credentials from the remote database. The application requests bio-metric verification and in case of successful authentication, the vote cast to desired candidate is displayed. An electronic receipt is generated for record and verification in case a false vote is cast. Encrypted communication is carried out between the server and mobile application for information security. It establishes the voter’s trust in a transparent election and maximizes voter participation.

Project Objectives

The main objectives of the project:

• Review the current voting system with the view of specifying requirements for a mobile application voting system.
• To develop an online mobile application
• Create a database which stores the user information and votes according to the constituency in the system.
• Testing and reviewing the functionality and usability of the system.
• To design an auditable, secure, robust and efficient online voting system for overseas Pakistani which will maximize voter’s participation in elections.

The extended objective is to study the algorithms and implementation of facial recognition. It can improve the voter’s identification and verification.

Project Implementation Method

An online voting application is being developed to aid the overseas Pakistanis to participate in elections easily. The application frontend will be developed using React Native framework, that supports cross platform development. For backend development PHP will be used, that is a powerful server side scripting language. For data storage Microsoft Azure database will be used. For features like text extraction, facial recognition and touch id third-party APIs will be integrated in the application.

 The voters can cast their votes using the mobile application within the selected time frame by the Election Commission of Pakistan at particular dates for elections. Voters can register themselves through the mobile application, the registration process comprises of the following steps;

• First, the voter will enter their mobile number, the application will verify the mobile number by sending a login key through SMS.
• After confirmation of mobile number, the application will prompt the user to scan the ID card or passport. By using image processing, the user’s information will be extracted from the scanned document.
• If the user’s credentials and biometrics are not present in the database, the application will prompt the user to provide a fingerprint scan or facial scan.

Once the user is successfully registered, the user dashboard will be displayed with information regarding constituencies, candidates and time of elections. When the vote is being cast, the application will ask the user for his fingerprint scan and facial recognition. User’s biometrics will be verified from the database. In case of successful authentication, the application will proceed to candidate selection. The application will display the user-selected candidate, political party’s electoral symbol, timestamp and a picture of the user for confirmation. Once the user confirms the vote will be successfully cast and an encoded digital receipt will be provided to the user. The digital receipt will contain all the information regarding the vote. This improves the audibility of application; the encoded receipt can be used for verification in case a user claims that a false vote is cast. For security, data transmission between application and the centralized server will be encrypted.

The application works in the following order;

drive.google.com/file/d/1K5ZKbH4RJ0Dz9ZPColPfsfq7kC4qUGo6/view?usp=sharing

Benefits of the Project

• Increase Voter’s Participation: The online voting system escalates the voter’s participation by allowing them to vote from anywhere in the world through their mobile phones using an internet connection.
• Security: The online voting system is secure as the system is online, and less chance of human error is expected. All the data is communicated to the server in encrypted form and vote count cannot be manipulated.
• Auditability: The electronic voting system is auditable from beginning to end. The system design helps the voters cast their vote as per their feasibility. Moreover, voters are also issued with an encoded receipt.
• Efficiency: As mentioned above, the electronic voting system is cost-efficient and timesaving. It reduces cost of election set-up and there is no cost of ballot paper printing.
• Precision: The electronic voting system is very precise because it provides an accurate vote count and quick declaration of results.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The final deliverable includes an online voting application “iVote” for overseas Pakistanis, so that they can cast vote and participate in elections. The main features of application which ensures security and ease of use are;

• Successful user registration by verification of user’s data from the database. Once registered, user can successfully login using credentials.
• Passport or CNIC scanning for the verification of citizenship and eligibility to cast vote.
• Biometric authentication for vote confirmation and security.
• Facial recognition for identification of the voter and to keep record.
• Security feature to prevent false vote casting in case of unsecure environment.
• Encrypted communication between database and mobile application.
• To provide voting system in embassy, tablet integrated with finger print scanner and webcam will be provided. This setup ensures full functionality of mobile application.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Core Industry

IT

Other Industries

Core Technology

Internet of Things (IoT)

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com