International Journal of Computer & Organization Trends ( IJCOT ) – Volume 7 Issue 4 – July to Aug 2017

Design and Implementation of Electronic

Voting System
Taban Habibu1, Konde Sharif 2, Sebwato Nicholas3
1, 2, 3
Department of Computer and Information Science, Muni University,
Arua Uganda.

Abstract main goal of e-Voting is to provide voters (students)

The Public opinion and democratic in a good environment so that students can cast their
universities setting are the most important votes with minimum cost and efforts. There are so
determinant to establish a good administration. many properties that have been proposed to make the
Voting is the process through which individuals e-Voting secure process. The properties are: -
convey their opinion and has the freedom to elect a Eligibility: Only eligible/registered students (voters)
leader of the choice to signify and address the are permitted to cast and use the system. Secrecy:
student’s issues. In today’s technological and There is no association between student’s
knowledge age, computerized related matters become identification and the system. Exceptionalness: No
widespread. E-voting is one of these substances and it student can cast his/her vote more than once.
is capable to deliver appropriate, less costly, fast and Freeness: A student does not gain any information (a
secure services. The aim of this paper is to present an receipt) which can be used to prove to a coercer that
electronic voting system (E-Voting) to be applied to she/he voted in a certain way. Justice: No incomplete
Muni University student’s electoral body. Several result is obtainable before the concluding result
security measures were integrated into the E-Voting comes out. Confirmable: Students can verify that
system in order to achieve an enhanced, speedy and their votes were computed correctly. Uncoercibility:
accurate performance. A computer software No student can prove what he voted for others to
application was developed using PHP (Hypertext prevent bribery. Effectiveness: The calculations can
processor) programming language and MYSQL (My be achieved within a realistic amount of period.
Structural Query Language), a relational database
management system in designing the database; tested II. LITERATURE REVIEW
and found to have produced the expected results. It is A. Electronic Voting
about time that traditional voting in Muni University Electronic Voting (EV) comprises the use of
gives way to E-Voting and hence simplifies the task a computer rather than the traditional use of ballot at
for Electoral commission and his/her Officials. polling centers or by postal mail [2]. It involves the
method for a group such as a meeting an electorate to
Keywords: Muni University, Elections, E-Voting, make a decision or express an opinion, usually
Security. following discussions, debates or election campaigns
[3]. It incorporates various types of voting such as
I. INTRODUCTION kiosks, the Internet, telephones, punch cards, and
Muni University is a Public Campus mark sense or optical scan ballots. India as world’s
established by the Uganda Government by largest democracy with a community of 1.1 billion
Constitutional Instrument, 2013 No.31 [1]. The [4], developed electronic voting machines (EVM).
university is located in Arua district, 3Km South of Embraced and supported by voters for elections
Arua town in North-Western Uganda. Students at enable to solve problems associated with the
Muni University are required to have free and fair traditional paper-based voting system. The Estonian
elections for a democratic of the student’s union. experience in deploying Internet voting in the United
Elections allow the populace to choose their States (U.S) and about 3.4 percent voters were able to
representatives to express their preferences for how use the remote e-voting in 2003 and by 2007 the
they will be governed. Thus, the integrity and remote e-voting elections proved secure despite
accuracy of the election process are fundamental to worries about hacker attacks, identity fraud, and vote
the integrity of the democracy itself. Today, many count manipulation [5].
new technological innovations are developing the
computerized security and fair exchange including Regardless of the benefits of E-voting, the
electronic voting which is becoming a popular trend. variety of its use globally is still, though, partial as it
Our University, Muni, is also trying to keep abreast has a shortcoming on many stages such as lawmaking,
with the other established Universities in every arena. societal, partisan and technical levels [6], [7] and [8].
Therefore, students from Muni start to replace The paper underlines the radical and traditional
electronic voting instead of traditional paper voting aspects of Electorate body of Muni student’s case for
for saving university resources and time. The they are the main factors to influence the
implementation of secure electronic voting systems is management’s decision concerning the use of the E-
very critical in every student’s electoral body. The Voting system at the university. The operation of the

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 International Journal of Computer & Organization Trends ( IJCOT ) – Volume 7 Issue 4 – July to Aug 2017

E-voting system raises numerous questions linked TABLE I: THE CATEGORICAL TABLE ATTRIBUTES
directly to votes such as lawful, societal, practical, Field Type Null Key Default Length
partisan, managerial and monetary concerns. Though, Cat_id int No PRIMARY none 20
profiting from the affirmative aspects of E-Voting
desires the operation of security measures in order to Cat_name varchar No - none 20
repair the lack of transparency and to reclaim the trust Start_time varchar No - none 20
of constituencies and liable Authorities [6], [8] and End_time varchar No - none 20
[9].
TABLE II: THE CANDIDATE TABLE ATTRIBUTES
B. The Importance of the E-Voting System
Field Type Null Key Default Length
According to [10] the importance of e-voting
are obvious; empowerment; it empowers members to Cand_id Int No PRIMARY none 20
have a voice in the leadership and direction of their Fullname varchar No - none 20
organization. When allowed to vote in fair and open Username varchar No - none 20
elections, members will feel a greater sense of value, image varchar No - none 20
ownership, and responsibility. Accessibility; With the Position varchar No - none 20
surge of mobile devices, online voting is a convenient About varchar No - none 20
option for many members, allowing them to access Voter_id Text No Foreign Key none 20
ballots anytime, anywhere. Cost effectiveness; Cat_id int No Foreign Key None 20
Elections are cost effective, especially when
considering production costs of printing, postage, and TABLE III: THE RESULT TABLE ATTRIBUTES
mailing ballots. Security and confidentiality; A Field Type Null Key Default Length
properly designed e-voting system will safeguard in Result_id Int No PRIMARY NONE 20
place to assure the security of ballots and protection
of voter identities. Transparency; e-elections, Cat_id Int No Foreign Key none 20
particularly those run by a third-party, eliminate the vote count Int No - none 20
chance of election mismanagement or fraud. An
percentage double No - none 20
audible trail helps increase voter confidence.
Accuracy and expedience; since e-voting utilizes Cand_id Int No Foreign Key none 20
electronic ballots, there are no rejected, mismarked,
or invalid votes and results are automatically TABLE IV: THE VOTER TABLE ATTRIBUTES
calculated, eliminating the need for manual tabulation Field Type Null Key Default Length
or dreaded recounts. Furthermore, [11] point that e-
voter_id Text No PRIMARY None 20
voting promises an increase in participation and
offers voters more options of convenience to vote, image varchar No - None 20
encourages more voters to cast their votes remotely, firstname varchar No - None 20
and has great potential to stimulate higher voter
turnout. Casting and counting votes are much faster lastname varchar No - none 20
and more accurate with e-voting systems, by default Sex varchar No - None 20
there are no invalid or unclear ballots and the username varchar No - None 20
automatic gathering and counting of ballots reduce
the amount of time spent counting votes and password varchar No - None 20
delivering the results. In addition, [12] pointed that e- course varchar No - none 20
voting reduced logistical and administrative costs.
sponsor varchar No - none 20
The system will reduce the materials required for
printing and distribute ballots, the personnel required Cat_id Int No Foreign None 20
to assist in voting stations reduces and greater
accessibility for the old and disabled people increase
B. The Users’ Interaction with the System
and allows to accommodate them as they cast their
The E-Voting system seeks to computerize
votes comfortably at their own homes.
the voting process through a convivial, efficient and
easy-to-use graphical interface. The E-voting system
III. MATERIALS AND METHODS was managed by Dean of student and the electorate
A. The System Database and Specifications body to oversee and observe the election process.
MySQL server was used to implement the They established the sub-systems and declaring the
back-end of the system. The access to the database final results. Every polling center was equipped with
server was made possible by a graphical interface a plug-and-play system especially custom designed
(phpMyadmin). The database name was given voting. for the case of this center and it works separately
from the main system server. The persons who want
to vote need to be registered by the electorate
(Chairman electoral commission) to be a voter. The

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 International Journal of Computer & Organization Trends ( IJCOT ) – Volume 7 Issue 4 – July to Aug 2017

voters must send their personal data including voter

name and voter ID to the electorate chairman in order
to be checked for validity.

FIGURE II : THE LOGIN PAGE

D. The Online Election Creation Module

The online election creation module is where
the admin (electorate chair) creates polls, register the
posts and the candidate as well as the voter’s
FIGURE I : THE SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE particulars such as student guild, student religious
leaders, student class representative and specify the
The system architecture indicated the modules and start and end periods of the voting.
flow of the system.

C. The Online Voting Module

The online voting module presents the login
form for the students to sign in.
FIGURE III : THE ELECTION CREATION MODULE

Besides the online creation module, there is The voter cast the vote on a post he/she wish and the
a voting component that displayed all registered system automatically adds the casted votes into the
posts and the corresponding candidates on each post. database and restricts the voter to vote twice.

FIGURE IV : THE ADMIN PANEL FOR AVAILABLE POSTS

This page allows voters to select the candidate of

their choices.
Select the post on which you want to cast the vote

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 International Journal of Computer & Organization Trends ( IJCOT ) – Volume 7 Issue 4 – July to Aug 2017

FIGURE V : USERS LOGIN FOR VOTE CASTING

The page indicated the users who logged in for the vote cast at a particular time.

FIGUR VI : THE VOTE CASTING PAGE

The summary number of voters cast from different who did not vote on the particular posts, compute the
posts. percentage, generate the graph and finally printed
the report.
E. The Results Module
The results module provide the voter with
summary numbers of the voters who voted and those

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 International Journal of Computer & Organization Trends ( IJCOT ) – Volume 7 Issue 4 – July to Aug 2017

FIGURE VII : THE CANDIDATE RESULTS

F. Conclusion [7] Mitrou, L., Gritzalis, D., Katsikas, S., Quirchmayr, G.

(2003) "Electronic Voting: Constitutional and Legal
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voting systems and essential security properties of Electronic Voting (Ed. Gritzalis, D.A.), pp. 43-60.
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