SECURED MOBILE Based VOTING SYSTEM Report PDF

VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY,
BELAGAVI-590018
A Technical Seminar Report on
“SECURED MOBILE BASED VOTING SYSTEM”
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of Degree
Bachelor of Engineering
In
Electrical and Electronics Engineering
By
Student Name USN

ZEESHAN KANKUDTI 2KE17EE415
Under the guidance of

Mr. MALLIKARJUN HUDEDMANI
Assistant Professor, KLEIT
Subject Code:15EES86
K.L.E Society’s
K.L.E. INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, HUBBALLI-30
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

2019-2020
VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, BELAGAVI-590018
K.L.E Society’s
K.L.E. INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, HUBBALLI-30

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the seminar work entitled “SECURED MOBILE BASED VOTING
SYSTEM” is a bonafide work carried out by Zeeshan Kankudti (2KE17EE415) , in partial
fulfillment for the award of degree of Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics
Engineering, K.L.E. Institute of Technology under the Visvesvaraya Technological University,
Belagavi during the academic year 2019-2020. The seminar report has been approved as it satisfies
the academic requirement in respect of technical work prescribed for the Bachelor of Engineering
Degree.
Signature of the Guide Signature of the HOD Signature of the Principal

(Mr. Mallikarjun H) (Dr. Vinoda S) (Dr. B. S. Anami)
Viva Voce
Name of the Examiners Signature with Date
1.
2.
Contents
CHAPTER No Page No
Acknowledgement i
Abstract ii
List of Figure iii
List of Tables iv
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Significance 2
2 Literature Review 4
3 Methodology 14
3.1 Data Collection Techniques 14

3.1.1 Interviews 14
3.1.2 Documentation Review 14
3.2 System Analysis and Design 15

3.2.1 System Analysis 15
3.2.2 System Design 15
3.3 System Implementation Tools 15

3.3.1 Implementation Tools 15
3.4 System’s Testing and Validation 16

3.4.1 Testing 16
3.4.2 Validation 16
3.5 System Study 17

3.5.1 Workflow for the Voting Process 17
3.5.2 Weaknesses of the Existing Systems 17

Chapter No Page No
3.6 System Analysis 18

3.6.1 User Requirements 18
3.6.2 Architectural Design for the System 18
3.6.3 Data requirements 19
3.6.4 The Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) 20
4 System Implementation 23
4.1 Introduction 23
4.1.1 Hardware Requirements 23
4.1.2 Software Requirements 24
4.1.3 System Map 25
4.2 System Testing and Validation Results 26
4.2.1 System Testing Results 27
4.2.2 Risks 27
4.2.3 Challenges 28
5 Conclusion 30
Bibliography 31
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The seminar report on “SECURED MOBILE BASED VOTING SYSTEM” is the outcome
of guidance, moral support, and devotion bestowed on me throughout my work. For this, I
acknowledge and express my profound sense of gratitude and thanks to everybody, who have
been a source of inspiration during the seminar preparation.
First and foremost, I offer my sincere phrases of thanks with innate humility to our principal
Dr. B.S.Anami who has been a constant source of support and encouragement. I would like to
thank our Dean Academic Dr. S.G. Joshi for his constant support and guidance. I feel deeply
indebted to our H.O.D. Dr.Vinoda.S for the right help provided for our successful completion
of seminar work. I would take this opportunity to acknowledge our guide Mr.
M.G.Hudedmani who not only stood by me as source of inspiration, but also dedicated time
for me, to enable me to present the seminar on time. I would be failing in endeavor, if I do not
thank our Coordinator Mr M.G.Hudedmani who has helped me in every aspect of our
seminar work. Last but not the least I would like to thank my parents, friend and well-wishers,
who have helped us in this work.
Student Name
Zeeshan Kankudti
i
ABSTRACT
The critical issue in elections is choosing a leader who will represent his nation
and preserve its citizens' rights with the threat of a criminal element attempting
to influence the outcome of the election. Unfortunately, such disruptions have
occurred at many paper-based voting stations, and also in some electronic voting
systems. Manual, or paper-based voting is the most widely used voting system,
but its integrity can be questioned, since the votes are gathered and counted by
hand, which decreases the likelihood of every vote being counted, either
accidentally or intentionally. Electronic voting systems have emerged to solve
most of the problems that occur in manual voting. However, the criminal
element, with their knowledge of how to exploit technical loopholes, attempts to
take advantage of these problems, thwarting any efforts to hold fair elections. To
avoid the mistakes made by both manual and electronic voting systems, we have
developed the Mobile Voting system to try to achieve the desired goal, which is
to preserve the integrity of elections. Mobile Voting is a mobile phone
application that uses three level of security, which are username and password,
national ID and fingerprint, and a strong dedicated security algorithm. These
techniques prevent votes from being deleted or changed, enhance integrity and
put an end to criminal acts. The results showed that Mobile Voting is a highly
secured mobile application that facilitates the vote process for most of people,
since they only need a mobile phone and an Internet connection to participate in
the election process.
ii
List of Figures
Figure No Figure Name Page No
3.5.2 Flowchart for the manual voting process 11
3.6.2 Architectural Design for the System 14
3.6.4 The ERD for Mobile Voting System 16
4.1.3 System Map showing functions provided by the system 20
iii
List of Tables
Table No Table Name Page No
1 Hardware Requirements 18
2 Software Requirements 19
iv
SECURED MOBILE BASED VOTING SYSTEM
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Voting is a formal indication of a choice between two or more candidates or

courses of action, expressed typically through hand-counted paper ballots or by
show of hands [1]. In democratic societies, voting is an important tool to collect
and reflect people’s opinions. Traditionally, voting is conducted in centralized
locations called polling stations. Voters go to these polling stations and cast their
votes under the supervision of authorized parties. The votes are then counted
manually once the voting process has ended and later the results are declared.
Like all other aspects of democracy, voting requires transparency, participation
and accountability. To increase the efficiency and accuracy of voting procedures,
computerized voting systems have been developed to help in collecting and
counting the votes. These include Lever Voting Machines, Punched Cards for
Voting, Optical Mark-Sense Scanners and Direct Recording Electronic (DRE)
voting systems [2].
However, the voting systems in most institutional bodies in the past have been
marred with irregularities which have jeopardized this democratic process. Hence
the need for improvement in the voting system through mobile technologies as a
means of attaining the democracy most people advocate for is paramount.
Due to the irregularities involved in the voting process such as delays in tallying,
poor attendance due to distant poll-sites, increased cost of conducting elections,
lack of transparency and poll-site voting limitations (such as queues), there is
need to develop a Mobile Voting System to curb these problems.
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Department of Electrical and Electrical, KLEIT, Hubballi. 1
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The specific objectives for the Mobile Voting System are;
1. To carry out an investigation on the electoral process in Makerere University

2. To design a Mobile Voting System to support voting at Makerere University
3. To implement the system.
4. To test and validate the system.
The system will be limited to elections held at the school level in Makerere
University which include; the School President, Vice President, Finance Minister
and other members of the cabinet. Emphasis will be on the School of Computing
and Informatics Technology (SCIT) but it can also serve as a tool in conducting
elections in other schools and colleges.
1.2 Significance
Business around the world has widely, of recent, been conducted using electronic
means. Governments have come to realize the benefits of automating several
processes due to efficiency and relatively low cost as compared to traditional
means. As the digital age continues to grow, only time will tell until almost every
human-handled process becomes computerized. Furthermore, governments are
getting more involved in developing the ICT sector due to the pressure imposed
by other governments and regulatory bodies for fear of lagging behind.
Mobile communication of recent has taken the world by storm and its getting
bigger and better. Due to the numerous advantages they offer, a number of
government and private business processes are being carried out under this
platform. A case in point is the Mobile Money service provided by Mobile
Telecommunications Companies in Uganda that enable users to pay water bills,
electricity bills, tax, send and receive money, et al.
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Augmenting the current voting systems with mobile voting will enhance the
voting process by increasing voter participation. Below are other advantages that
mobile voting systems offer;
1. Reduced costs in the materials required for printing and distributing ballots.
2. It permits access to more information regarding voting options and processes

also.
3. Efficiency and accuracy in placing and tallying votes and displaying the voter
4. Minimal chances of invalid votes due to the use of option buttons to represent
candidates.
5. Flexibility as mobile voting can support multiple languages, and the flexible
design allows up- to-the minute ballot modifications.
6. The same development concept can be used and applied in other fields of
research to support researchers in collecting and analyzing people’s opinions and
view
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter includes a critical look at the existing research and case studies that
have significance with this research project. It has been done by consulting other
people’s work in order to understand and investigate the problem of the research
project. In conducting literature review, scholarly articles, books and other
sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research or theory has been
surveyed. After reviewing all materials, a description, summary, and critical
evaluation of each work is granted.
There is need to review the literature because it is important to know exactly what
has been going on, the system in use and identification of gaps and inefficiencies
so as to come up with the appropriate solution that will lead to the enhancement
of the electoral process in Makerere University. Therefore using different sources
we have managed to analyze and compare the existing voting systems and we
have concluded that there is need for improvement.
Mobile Voting System (MVS) is a system that will operate in parallel with the
existing manual and automated voting processes. It will enable legitimate voters
to cast their vote from wherever they please using their mobile devices unlike
other means that require the voter to appear at the polling station. This will help
alleviate the nuisance of long queues at poll-sites which waste a lot of time. It
will also ease the vote-counting process which will be done instantly as the voting
progresses and a graphical display will be available on a site (attached to the
system) for all stakeholders to view progress, hence ensuring transparency.
Mobile voting falls under a category of voting called e-voting, which is short for
‘electronic voting’, and refers to the option of using electronic means to vote in
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referendums and elections. There are systems such as DRE voting machines that
record the vote without that vote being transmitted over the Internet or another
network. The interface of a DRE machine can be a touch screen or a scanner that
scans the ballot paper where the voter marked the vote.
The vote is then registered and stored in the voting machine. Then there is voting
over the Internet that uses a PC with an Internet-connection to cast the vote and
send it to be stored in another remote computer. Personal Digital Assistants
(PDA’s), telephones or mobile phones can also be used to cast a vote
electronically [3].
Besides its hype and advantages over traditional voting systems, MVS reliability,
security and transparency are still issues that limit its deployment in many
countries. Bradly et al [3], points out the risks and challenges faced by electronic
voting systems as follows;
Besides these challenges and risks, Mobile Voting Systems can still be trusted as
a platform to conduct free and fair elections in a secure and transparent manner
given that they are well implemented. Mutual authentication, integrity, voter
anonymity and system accountability are some of the critical functional
requirements that Mobile Voting Systems should have. If all these and some other
requirements are well catered for in the system, then it can be a success – which
is a high possibility [4].
Mobile Voting Systems are composed of several interacting agents, the Vote
Collector, the Vote Manager, the Vote Authority, the Candidate, and the Voters.
The Vote Authority (VA) is responsible for registering candidates for elections
and commissioning Vote Managers. The Vote Collector (VC) is a mobile agent
mandated by a stationary Vote Manager (VM) agent to collect votes from
stationary voting agents (VOs). The arrangement of the system in such
components can ensure a stable system suitable for voting [5].
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Citizens around the world recognize and embrace the benefits of e-Government
services such as online tax filing, license renewal, and benefits claims. Now
governments are initiating strategies that support e-democracy and in doing so,
engaging more citizens in democratic processes. This briefly addresses the highly
formal processes of e-democracy, e-voting in particular, to offer governments
and democratic-based entities worldwide the infrastructures, applications, and
services necessary to implement and manage reliable, secure e-voting systems.
Today, the development and widespread use of information technologies is

changing the way people view voting processes and, ultimately, the way they
vote.
Mobile Voting Systems offer multiple advantages over traditional paper-based

voting systems- advantages that increase citizen access to democratic processes
and encourage participation.
Manish et al [6]
According to Lumu [5], an article on the aftermath of 18th February 2011

presidential elections in Uganda, invalid votes accounted for 4% of the votes.
This makes the issue of invalid votes in manual voting systems a big problem.
However, with a mobile voting system, there will be little or no invalid votes due
to the use of option buttons on the electronic ballots to represent candidates.
According to the Electoral Commission Board [3]
Constitutionalism, rule of law and good governance are the fundamental pillars
of democracy. Democracy, irrespective of whatever form it takes in different
national domains must not lose its universal sense of a government of the people,
by the people and for the people. This is why democratic leadership in any
country should only be accessed through a free and fair electoral process which
is the foundation of true democracy Mugisha [4]
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A citizen of Uganda of or above 18 years who is registered has the right to vote
in a parish or ward where he or she is registered as a voter for public elections
and referenda. That person cannot be compelled to vote in any election in Uganda
under the present constitution. A person, however, is not qualified to vote in an
election if he/she is not a registered voter. The guidelines to be followed when
voting in elections and referenda can be found in articles 68 (1), (2), (3), (4) and
(5) of the constitution of Uganda. Articles 59 (1), (2), (3), and (4) also identify
the citizens who are eligible for voting and the role of the state and the parliament
in the electoral process [5].
A. Manual Voting :
Manual voting was the first voting method, and is the oldest, having been used
for many centuries. In spite of its shortcomings, it was considered the only way
to vote, as there was no successful alternative. Basically, this system relies on the
voter, whose main role is casting his/her vote for one candidate, either by
selecting his/her name on a preprinted ballot containing the candidates’ names,
or by writing the selected candidate’s name on a blank ballot and placing it in a
sealed envelope. After voting is finished, a committee at the polling station,
composed of more than one person, opens the envelopes and places them in piles,
one for each candidate. Then, the counting process begins for all the candidates
and the result is recorded. The tabulation process is repeated to ensure that the
results are identical. If they are not the same, they have to be tabulated a third
time, and so on, until there are no discrepancies. Eventually, the results are
certified and transmitted to the tabulation center for the announcement of the final
result. However, the traditional methods, with all their diversity in terms of the
means of voting, are still problematic. As mentioned before, since the votes are
gathered and counted by hand, there is a strong likelihood of the occurrence of
errors.
B. Electronic Voting Systems:
Elections permit the population to select their representatives and convey their
preference for who will govern them. Obviously, the honesty of the election
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process is essential to the truthfulness of democracy itself. The voting system
should be reliable enough to resist to many suspicious behaviors, and at the same
time adequately translucent and lucid that citizens and nominees can accept the
results of an election. Not surprisingly, history is cluttered with cases of elections
being misused to control their result. For this reason many researchers,
professors, and developers began to think about ways to enhance the integrity of
the election process. They established working teams to study many instances of
traditional elections and the results of those elections, and came up with the
concept of e-voting, which is an electronic technology and not necessarily related
to traditional methods. E-voting is a common type of polling, whereby electronic
systems multiple mechanisms are used, such as optical vote scanning systems
and voting kiosks, as well as punched cards, and involve the transmission of
ballots and votes via telephone, the Internet, or private computer networks. The
first country that introduced the concept of e-voting on a broad scale was the
United States, and is based on voters casting their votes electronically at polling
stations. Then, most countries around the world followed their lead, and began to
develop and implement this technique. Most have succeeded in doing so. A few
countries have gone further, and started to think about a new approach to
facilitating voting that does not involve direct communication with polling
stations. This new concept is known as remote voting, and has been introduced
by France and United States. With remote voting, voters simply cast their votes
electronically, using a personal computer, the Internet, or interactive television.
Some examples of e-voting systems are the following:
 The Australian Capital Territory (2000).Polling places e-voting. Australia.
 The Austrian Federal Council of Ministers (2003). Remote e-voting. Austria.
 Russell, P., Dundas, S. & Counties, G. (2003). Remote e-voting. Canada.
 The National Electoral Committee (2003). Remote evoting. Estonia.
 The European Commission (2000). Polling place evoting, remote e-voting. EU.
 France government (2003). Polling place e-voting, remote e-voting. France.
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 The Research group of Internet Voting (1999). Remote e-voting. Germany.
 Election Commission (2003). Polling place e-voting. India.
 The European Parliament and Local Elections (2004). Polling place e-voting.
Ireland.
 Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development (2003). Polling

place e-voting. Norway.
 Portuguese government (2004). Polling place e-voting. Portugal.
 Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development (2011).

E-voting system.
 OKOH, C. (2010, APRIL 20). ITAN Adopts E-Voting. Nigeria.
 E-Voting system (2007-2011). Estonia.
 E-voting polls (2012). USA.
 Bismark, D. (2010). E-voting without fraud. TEDGlobal.
 Lootah. (2007 April, 3). Lootah reviews success of evoting system. UAE.
1) Benefits of Electronic Voting systems Electronic voting technology can:
 Speed up the process of counting votes,
 Offer accessibility for voters in remote locations and for disabled voters,
 Increase the security and reliability of elections.
2) Failed E-Voting Projects Notable failures are the following:
In the 2004 American presidential election in 2004, e-voting machines were in

the news, as they both lost votes and doubled votes. In Fairfax County, VA, in
2003, votes were subtracted instead of added. In San Bernardino County, CA, in
2001, a programming error caused the computer to look for votes in the wrong
portion of the ballot in 33 local elections, which meant that no votes were
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registered on those ballots for those elections [2]. Finally, in 2012, the electoral
commission in Ghana abandoned the concept of e-voting, which was soon to be
introduced. The reason given for doing so is that the country’s technocrats
realized that there were not enough skilled individuals to operate the system [3].
About 85% of electronic voting projects in developing countries have failed in
some respect [4], according to the World Bank, and of those, 35% failed
completely. The statistics in the United States and Europe are just as grim.
According to Mercuri [5], "Europe appears to be rushing ahead to deploy
computer voting technologies with serious sociological and technological
downsides, such as lack of auditability, and increased opportunities for vote
selling, monitoring, coercion, and denial of service attacks" [5].
C. Mobile Voting Systems
Today, mobile smart phones, connected to Internet, are considered one of the
necessities of life and are highly reliable as an alternative to hard-wired phones
and to computers, because they are small size and easy to own. Previously,
password protection was difficult to break, and was a highly reliable means of
safeguarding online accounts. However, but now there are numerous free
programs that can be downloaded and used to break passwords, which do not
require sophisticated technical skills, so that anyone with a modicum of
experience can run them to steal online account information. To find solutions to
such problems, biometrics are developed to determine and examine uniqueness
of the human being body, such as fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, DNA, voice
patterns, facial patterns, and hand measurements. This approach can provide
optimal reliability, in terms of determining the identities of users for
authentication purposes, as it is impossible for two any individuals, even twins,
to have the same body structure. Biometrics are a vast improvement over
passwords, the principal weakness of which is that they can be forgotten.
Moreover, many people use the same password for all their accounts, and so when
an attacker gains access to one account, he/she can very often succeed in
accessing the rest with the same password. However, according to Microsoft,
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“Biometrics are often computationally intensive to compute, inaccurate, and
unable to scale to identify an individual among a large set of known individuals.”
“Therefore,” argues Microsoft, “the biometric identification of an individual may
be supplemented by identifying one or more devices associated with the
individual. When an individual is registered for identification, various device
identifiers of devices associated with the individual may be stored along with the
biometrics of the individual. Individuals may then be identified using both
biometrics and detected device identifiers, thereby improving the efficiency,
speed, accuracy, and scalability of the identification.” [6] There are a great many
fingerprint scanning applications that permit the user to lock and unlock his/her
device Basically, the lock process is carried out through a fingerprint screen that
pops up, and the user has to touch that screen for identity authentication. At that
time, a vibration is felt and a beep is heard which persist to the end of scanning
process. The unlock process is different, in that it is based on the user touching
the screen until the fingerprint is authenticated, rather than on scanning or storing
the data. It is important to mention that this software doesn’t constitute a true
biometric application, which does scan the fingerprint, but is an imitation of that
software. Android devices have taken the lead in the development of biometric
scanning applications. The Android device competitor, Apple, is in the process
of patenting its biometric scanning products, which may include a voice
recognition system, a retinal scanner that uses the iPhone's camera, or, most
likely, a screen to scan fingerprints. According to Robinson [7], “Motorola has
been heavily marketing the security benefits of using biometrics (fingerprint
sensor) to protect its latest Android smart phone, the Atrix. It is even being called
the ‘James Bond’ smart phone”. According to Goode Intelligence [8], the key
drivers behind market growth and the adoption of mobile phone biometric
security include:
 Device security: Protecting the device against unauthorized access is the biggest
driver for mobile phone biometric security.
 Mobile commerce: The growth of M-Commerce and the need to effectively
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secure the ecosystem on the mobile.
 Near Field Communication (NFC): Contactless technology is reaching a tipping

point, and could well be a major driver.
 Convenience: Swiping a finger on a phone or providing a verbal ‘voiceprint’

can be an easier and far more convenient way to verify identity than conventional
PINs and passwords.
 The need for a multifactorial authentication solution: With the recent attack on
the security firm RSA, which led to the exposure of vulnerabilities in its SecureID
token technology, there is an urgent requirement for strong and agile
authentication solutions – mobile phone-based biometric security can play an
important role in such solutions.
 Military and law enforcement applications: This technology can provide a cost-
effective method for capturing biometric data and verifying identity in the field.
According to the Joint EC-UNDP Task Force, there is strong interest on the part
of African countries such as Benin, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Togo,
Mauritania, Ivory Coast, DRC, and Nigeria in the procurement of high-tech
biometric voter registration systems, which need to gather data via what are
referred to as “mobile biometric or ID registration kits” [1]. Clarke and Furnell
[8] have compared various biometric techniques for mobile phones.
2) Mobile voting system problems
The most common Mobile voting system problems encountered can be grouped
into 2 categories:
1. Environmental factors: These may be internal or external to the organization:

a) Internal: Perhaps the most common problems are the lack of skill in
administrating biometric voter registration and staff resistance to change.
b) External: Political leaders may not be interested in the registration process and
its accuracy and integrity. Vendors may gain access to a system and corrupt its
ability to correctly tally votes or to manipulate the electorate, motivated by
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money or power.
2. Technical factors: Many machines have been developed recently with as

variety of speeds and levels of efficiency and reliability that can cause delays and
failures. Changes in biometric characteristics, such as voices altering with age
and fingerprints altering due to skin scratches or the kind of work carried by
individuals, can affect the mobile voting process.
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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Data Collection Techniques
3.1.1 Interviews
Interviews are a forum for talking to people and they may be structured,
unstructured or semi- structured. We conducted interviews with the stakeholders;
the School cabinet ministers to identify and specify functional and non-functional
requirements to determine requirement specification. Our interviews were both
semi-guided and unguided and also contained both closed and open ended
questions as we obtained the data mainly about the operation of the existing
system; its problems, strength, information flow and processing of the current
system.
3.1.2 Documentation Review
We reviewed the relevant documents, guides and laws governing the voting
system in use for the past years. We also studied the processing methods used to
come up with the accurate records. The most preferred sources of our documents
reviews were in the form of the Constitution of Uganda, other books of literature,
internet resources and journals. We were able to gather information on concepts
and challenges of the current voting system. We also examined reports from the
manual system which helped us to identify the inputs, processes and outputs of
the system.
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3.2 System Analysis and Design

3.2.1 System Analysis
Systems analysis is the process of identifying and summarizing data with the intent
to extract useful information and develop conclusions.
In system analysis requirements were determined. The requirements included
functional and non- functional base on the system study.
3.2.2 System Design
1. Process Modeling: This was achieved by use of Data Flow Diagrams to

show processes and external entities in the system and the end product was
a detailed description of processes involved (process models). The
information used in building the Data Flow Diagram was obtained from the
Data Dictionary.
2. Data Modeling: This was achieved using Entity-Relationship Diagrams to

show the data requirements and model. This yielded the structure of relations
in the relational schema (database).
3.3 System Implementation Tools
This is whereby the physical realization of the database and the application design
was done. This involved the implementation of both the database and the
application programs. It was achieved using the Data Definition Language (DDL)
of the selected Database Management System (DBMS).
3.3.1 Implementation Tools
In the implementation stage, the following tools were used; WAMP/Apache

server, MySQL, PHP, AJAX, JavaScript, Notepad++, Windows operating
system, and NetBeans (as the development environment).
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3.4 System’s Testing and Validation

3.4.1 Testing
This is the process of executing application programs with the intent of finding
errors, using careful planned test strategies and realistic data the system will be
methodically and rigorously tested to uncover faults in the application programs
and the database structure. The faults were corrected and the process was repeated
until the system was proven to be working according to users’ specification and
performance requirements.
This was achieved by:
i. Testing the system performance, efficiency, disk space and its throughput to
ensure proper functioning of the system.
ii. Checking the compatibility of the system with different operating systems
for example Windows XP, Linux and Windows 7.
iii. Testing for security issues like resistance to remote attacks and
authentication procedures.
3.4.2 Validation
The validation process for the Mobile Voting System provided a high degree of
assurance that specific processes consistently provide products which met
predetermined specifications and quality attributes. It involved identifying
compliance to quality management procedures, life cycle definition,
specifications, for example; user requirements specification and functional
specification, documentation controls and various items of documentation for
example user manuals and administrator documentation and testing procedure
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3.5 SYSTEM STUDY, ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
3.5.1System Study
From the data gathered about the existing systems through interviews and review
of existing documents (documentation review), we found that manual voting
systems are widely used.
Further analysis of the manual voting system yielded a flow chart that shows the
manual voting process right from registration of candidates and voters to
declaration of the winning candidate. Figure 4.1 below shows manual voting
process.
3.5.2 Workflow for the Voting Process
Figure 3.5.2: Flowchart for the manual voting process
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3.5.3Weaknesses of the Existing Systems
The existing manual and electronic voting processes have disadvantages or

weaknesses as described below;
1. No option for voters who may not be readily available for poll-site voting
since they may be sick, busy at their work places or their homes are far from
the polling stations.
2. Manual voting, counting and tallying of votes may take a long time to
accomplish. Official results are not declared until after 48 hours of vote
counting and tallying.
3. Auditing of manual votes is also a burden since it may require critical analysis
of ballot papers, boxes, votes and other voting material used in the voting
process.
4. The existing electronic system was weak and prone to attacks hence hackers
could manipulate the voting processes due to poor encryption of voting data.
3.6 System Analysis
Data collected was analyzed in order to identify user, functional, non-functional,

software and hardware requirements that guided the design and implementation
of the Mobile Voting system to automate the manual voting process.
3.6.1 User Requirements
These are statements, in a natural language, of what services the system is

expected to provide and the constraints under which it must operate. Below are
the user requirements for the system;
1. Allow mobile users to cast their votes efficiently and effectively
2. Process user’s tasks as fast as possible
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3. Provide a user friendly interface with interface metaphors, mapping,

affordances, constraints, visibility, feedback and other user friendly qualities of
an interface.
3.6.2Architectural Design for the System
The architectural design shows how the MVS is comprised of the different
subsystems namely Data Collection, Data Processing, Data Storage and Data
Display. The figure below shows an architectural diagram of the mobile voting
system.
Figure 3.6.2: Architectural Design for the System
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3.6.3Data Requirements
Below are the data requirements that were based on to obtain entities for the MVS
database;
1 Candidate
Data to be stored by the candidate (aspirant for one of the positions being
elected for) entity include; voter ID (student number), candidate Name,
position ID, election ID, Number of Votes and photo.
2.Voter
Students and candidates are both voters. Information about voters include;
voter ID, First Name, Last Name, Course ID, Gender, Hall ID, Password and
Status.
3.Position
Each candidate aspires to be elected for one position. The Position entity
stores the Position ID and Position Name.
4.Course
A voter at Makerere University can pursue only one course. Information to

be obtained from the course entity is Course ID and Course Name.
5.Hall
Besides the courses, students also are attached or reside in halls. The Hall
entity stores the Hall ID and Hall Name.
6.Vote
A voter casts vote to candidate, which is later tallied. The Vote entity stores
the voter ID, candidate’s voter ID and position ID.
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3.6.4 The Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
The ERD below shows the entities, their attributes and the relationships between
these entities. The relationships further indicate the multiplicities between these
entities.
Figure 3.6.4: The ERD for Mobile Voting System
Since this proposed E-Voting system will execute electronic voting system
for every citizen, it should be highly consistent to handle bulk load of data.
For secure handling of these classified information,
Data Modeling using Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is shown in Fig.
3.6.4, whose parameters have been already explained above. ERD may be
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further described as below
1. MEMBER OF: - Many Candidates are member of a single party. Every
candidate is a member of any party. Those who are contesting without any
party, for them also a entry for them is also made in party table as party table
will supply the candidates with their voting symbol.
2. CONTESTING FROM: - Many candidates contests from a single
constituency. Every constituencies has multiple candidates who contest
among themselves to win that particular constituency.
3. BELONGS TO: - Many citizen belongs to a single constituency. During
any vote, every citizen is put into constituencies based on their home address.
4. CONDUCTED WITH: - Every Election like Assembly Election,
Municipality Election etc. are conducted with many constituencies. These
constituencies may vary based on the election type, like the constituencies
constructed for assembly pole is not same as municipality pole as during
municipality elections are conducted for each ward, then individual wards are
treated as constituency.
5. CASTS: - Every individual citizen Casts one vote each in any given
election. Whether a citizen casts its vote or not is tracked by CitizenVote Cast
entity.
6. INCLUDES: - Every election includes many votes from individual
citizens.
7. RECEIVES: - Every candidate receives multiple votes from citizens in any
given election.
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CHAPTER 4
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
4.1 Introduction
This section describes the implementation of the design models in of the system
and also shows the different results generated by the system. Therefore
screenshots of the system will be displayed to show how the system displays
results given a command.
1. System Functions.
2. Functions provided to all Users.
3. Functions provided to the Voter.
4. Functions provided to the Registrar.
5. Functions provided to the Returning Officer.
The system will count and tally votes being cast, and provide a view of the
candidates’ progress and the entire voting process on web display. These are done
in real time and enable the returning officer to view the progress.
The system also provides the returning officer with a report depicting the final
outcome of the voting process.
4.1.1 Hardware Requirements
These are the minimum hardware requirements of hardware resources required

for the system. To ensure faster processing of data, a system (server) with
processor speed of at least 1GHz, 512MB RAM and storage space of at least
20GB to handle all cast votes, ballots and registered candidates and voters.
The mobile phone on the other hand has to be java enabled to support the
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application developed that presents the voter with an electronic ballot. The
mobile phone should have a minimum storage space of 320 kilobytes either on
the phone’s memory or the phone’s memory card.
The table below summarizes the hardware requirements;
Table 1: Hardware Requirements
Hardware Minimum requirements Reason
CPU Speed 1GHz Moderate
RAM 512MB Moderate
Disk Space 20GB Enough
FSB 32bit Moderate
Bandwidth 100Mbps Enough
Phone Memory 320kB Moderate

A 3G – capable mobile phone 3G, GSM - capable Essential
4.1.2 Software Requirements
The system will require supporting software on which it will run. The software
requirements range from operating systems to some utility software. The system
runs on predominantly Windows Operating Systems including Windows XP,
Windows Vista and Windows 7. Since the system was built using platform
independent languages, it can be configured to run of some Linux distributions.
MySQL will be required to interpret SQL queries/commands that were used in

the implementation of the database and data retrieval form the database.
WampServer will be used on windows Operating Systems to process all requests
and display results on web pages.
A number of web browsers can be used for this system which include; Mozilla
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_______________________________________________________________________
Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, Opera Browser and Google
Chrome.
Table 2: Software Requirements
Software Minimum requirements Reason

Web server WampServer Freeware
Database Management System MySQL Freeware
Web browser Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera Free and available

Mini, Google Chrome
Operating System Windows XP, Windows Vista, Available
Windows 7
Mobile Phone (JTWI platform) MIDP 2.0 Required
Required
CLDC Version 1.0
4.1.3 System Map

System requirements include hardware and software requirements that will be
sufficient for the smooth operation of the system.
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_______________________________________________________________________
Authenticate the user

Send the user an e-ballot as a feedback of a
successful login
Provide feedback on login failure
Mobile Enable the voter to cast vote using the e-ballot
User Provide feedback on a successful or failed voting
attempt
Logout the user incase of network failure or
receives a call during voting
Authenticate the registrar

Provide a web interface for the registrar to add
voters to edit voter register and to manage
Login Registra candidates and the respective
r Provide a voter’s register report to the registrar
Provide feedback on all action performed by the
registrar
1. Authenticate the returning officer

2. Count and tally votes in real time
3. Provide a real time view of the voting progress
Returning on a web interface
Officer 4. Print a report on the voting outcome
5. Provide feedback to the returning officer on
success and failure of any tasks he/she performs
Figure 4.1.3 : System Map showing functions provided by the system to each user
4.2 System Testing and Validation Results
System testing was carried out with an aim of finding out errors that were in the
system. Also, system Validation Was performed to ensure that the system
conformed to the then defined user needs and requirements. We presented the
system to some of the users so as to get feedback about the system performance
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_______________________________________________________________________
in relation to their requirements.
4.2.1 System Testing Results
The test results were got from the different testing phases that were conducted
during system implementation. The system was tested in the unit level and
integration level. During unit test, unit modules were tested to ascertain that they
functioned as individual units. During integration test, the unit modules were
linked together and tested to ascertain that they worked together as a system.
The authentication of the system could only allow administrative users to access
the system information and make the necessary changes. We created one
administrative account called Election Officer, in which case was used for testing
all administrative tasks. All administrative options were tested exhaustively.
Hence the system was declared satisfactory to the user needs.
We also tested the system to see whether it was capturing valid data, this was
done by putting wrong data and then the system responded by alert messages
displaying the type of error. Testing and validation was done successfully.
4.2.2 Risks
1. Third parties: Unauthorized intervention of third parties in the voting process.

Given the current state of information technology, there is no guarantee, that a
programme would not be manipulated to allow the storage and printing of a form
or document different from the one appearing on the screen.
2. Errors and technical malfunctions: More difficult to detect and identify the
source of errors and technical malfunctions than with conventional procedures.
3. Unreliability: Possibility that fully digitized system would fail to produce

results and lack physical back-up records, making a public recount difficult or
impossible.
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_______________________________________________________________________
4.2.3 Challenges
1. Security: In the context of remote e-voting, special attention should be given

to the process guaranteeing a free and secret vote. Only entitled voters are
allowed to cast a vote and this requires that every voter be authenticated (e.g. by
using a PIN -Personal Identification Number or TAN -Transaction Number or by
the use of digital signature) and their right to vote verified. In order to prevent
multiple votes being cast or other misuse, a record must be made and checked in
order to establish whether the voter has already cast a vote. There must be an
electronic separation between the vote and the identification of the voter.
2. Reliability: Mobile Voting Systems have to interact with some database

server, or some other server, over a network. There might be instances when this
network goes down during the voting process which may cause a potential voter
to miss out on casting his/her vote, especially when he/she planned to use the
system with no aim of going to the poll-site. Keeping the network stable and
available during the voting process is a challenge that MVS application
developers need to consider.
3. Skepticism: Networks have been widely used all around the world in a number
of sectors due to their benefits. The internet is the world’s largest network, with
billions of dollars in transactions being carried out over it per fiscal year.
Nevertheless, a large number of people, especially in developing countries where
internet technologies are beginning to gain ground, still doubt the power that it
brings into speeding up communication and information sharing. As
governments begin to adopt e-voting, Mobile Voting for that matter, people doubt
the security and transparency of such schemes just as they do for the internet.
Besides these challenges and risks, Mobile Voting Systems can still be trusted as
a platform to conduct free and fair elections in a secure and transparent manner
given that they are well implemented. Mutual authentication, integrity, voter
anonymity and system accountability are some of the critical functional
requirements that Mobile Voting Systems should have. If all these and some other
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requirements are well catered for in the system, then it can be a success – which
is a high possibility.
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
A socioeconomic and technological look into the future predicts that most
business transactions, client support services will be mobile-aided. The imminent
response from mobile users through the use of mobile phones will provide the
inexpensive voting option as this technology will promote mass participation and
it will ensure secure voting. This aimed at improving on the speed, ease and
transparency of the electoral process. There was need to guarantee improved
quality of service, reduced election malpractices, increased efficiency in tallying,
increased voter participation, decreased invalid votes and voting errors; prevent
a digital divide, and allow for better voter registration management.
Many people both the voters and election officials will benefit from further
development in this area since there is need to influence the progress of electronic
voting, mass voter participation and ensure the transparency, freedom and
fairness of the whole election process.
Security, integrity, and availability form the cornerstone of any voting process,
and the nature of that process can affect both the actual and perceived legitimacy
of electoral outcomes.. Mobile Vote is designed to improve on current voting
processes by allowing voters to cast their ballot via mobile phones, streamline
the registration process by requiring simply the voter’s national ID number to
check his/her eligibility and scanned fingerprint to ensure integrity, eliminate
vote tampering, and increase voter confidence in the voting process.The results
show that MobileVote is a secured mobile application that increases the accuracy
and efficiency of the voting process. In fact, it accommodates very large numbers
of voters, since the process doesn't require a great deal of effort and it can be
completed quickly.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1]. Joint EC-UNDP Task Force. (2017, April 17). Biometric Voter Registration: Skills
required and problems encountered? Retrieved August 16, 2017, from
[2]. Schneier B. (2014, November 10). The Problem with Electronic Voting Machines.
[3]. Bismark, D. (2015, November 5). 85% of electronic voting projects failed in
developing countries.
[4]. Mercuri R. (2017, September 1). E-voting.
[5]. Nir N, Veradim K, Eyal K, and Shimshit. (2018, June). Patent of the Month in the
Biometry Field.
[6].Khan, M. A. (2009, April 6). Mobile voting could become reality by 2019: VeriSign.
Retrieved August 16, 2019.
[7] Gibbons, G. (2010, October 18). Mobile Voting Application Wins USA Challenge. Retrieved
August 16, 2012.
[8] Pavlo, B. and Ekimov, V. (2010, November 4). wevote - Mobile Voting System. Retrieved
August 16, 2012
[9] A Menezesm, P Van Oorschot, and S Vanstone, Handbook of Applied Cryptogoraphy, CRC
Press 1996.
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VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY,

A Technical Seminar Report on

“SECURED MOBILE BASED VOTING SYSTEM”

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of Degree

Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Student Name USN

Under the guidance of

K.L.E. INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, HUBBALLI-30

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

K.L.E. INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, HUBBALLI-30

Signature of the Guide Signature of the HOD Signature of the Principal

Name of the Examiners Signature with Date

3.1 Data Collection Techniques 14

3.1.2 Documentation Review 14

3.2 System Analysis and Design 15

3.2.2 System Design 15

3.3 System Implementation Tools 15

3.4 System’s Testing and Validation 16

3.5 System Study 17

3.5.2 Weaknesses of the Existing Systems 17

3.6 System Analysis 18

3.6.2 Architectural Design for the System 18

3.6.3 Data requirements 19

3.6.4 The Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) 20

4.1.2 Software Requirements 24

4.1.3 System Map 25

4.2 System Testing and Validation Results 26

4.2.1 System Testing Results 27

Figure No Figure Name Page No

3.5.2 Flowchart for the manual voting process 11

3.6.2 Architectural Design for the System 14

3.6.4 The ERD for Mobile Voting System 16

4.1.3 System Map showing functions provided by the system 20

Table No Table Name Page No

Voting is a formal indication of a choice between two or more candidates or

The specific objectives for the Mobile Voting System are;

1. To carry out an investigation on the electoral process in Makerere University

2. It permits access to more information regarding voting options and processes

Today, the development and widespread use of information technologies is

Mobile Voting Systems offer multiple advantages over traditional paper-based

According to Lumu [5], an article on the aftermath of 18th February 2011

According to the Electoral Commission Board [3]

B. Electronic Voting Systems:

 The Australian Capital Territory (2000).Polling places e-voting. Australia.

 The Austrian Federal Council of Ministers (2003). Remote e-voting. Austria.

 Russell, P., Dundas, S. & Counties, G. (2003). Remote e-voting. Canada.

 The National Electoral Committee (2003). Remote evoting. Estonia.

 The Research group of Internet Voting (1999). Remote e-voting. Germany.

 Election Commission (2003). Polling place e-voting. India.

 Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development (2003). Polling

 Portuguese government (2004). Polling place e-voting. Portugal.

 Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development (2011).

 OKOH, C. (2010, APRIL 20). ITAN Adopts E-Voting. Nigeria.

 E-Voting system (2007-2011). Estonia.

 E-voting polls (2012). USA.

 Bismark, D. (2010). E-voting without fraud. TEDGlobal.

1) Benefits of Electronic Voting systems Electronic voting technology can:

 Speed up the process of counting votes,

 Increase the security and reliability of elections.

2) Failed E-Voting Projects Notable failures are the following:

In the 2004 American presidential election in 2004, e-voting machines were in

C. Mobile Voting Systems

 Mobile commerce: The growth of M-Commerce and the need to effectively