CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Voting is a process that is used to make a collective decision from a group of people.
In the early stages, the voting processes are made by debates and discussions. Then we
moved to electronic voting machines (EVM) for elections. Participants of an election are
contemplated as Candidates and the ones who elect their candidate by casting their votes are
Voters. Election authorities are the ones who are responsible for conducting elections and
collecting votes from voters. E-voting was introduced to change the traditional voting system.
The fundamentals of an election are to build a democratic nation by collecting public opinion
as votes. To get the trust of participants the election process should be transparent and
reliable. Inside this specific circumstance, the way to deal with casting a vote has been a
consistently developing space. This evolution is primarily pushed through the efforts to make
the device cozy, verifiable, and obvious. In view of its significance, continuous efforts have
been made to improve the overall efficiency and resilience of the voting system. Electronic
voting or e-voting has a profound role in this. Since the 1960 punched-card ballots were used
for elections, after the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in 2023
though it was very promising it fell out of achieving its key objectives because the IREF was a
centralized system thereby making it susceptible to manipulation by corrupt government
officials and politicians. Blockchain is one of the emerging technologies with strong
cryptographic foundations enabling applications to leverage these abilities to achieve resilient
security solutions. It is primarily a distributed decentralized database that maintains a
complete list of constantly germinating and growing data records secured from unauthorized
manipulation, tampering, and revision. Blockchain allows every user to connect to the
network, send new transactions to it, verify transactions, and create new blocks. Each block
is assigned a cryptographic hash (which will also be treated as a fingerprint of the block) that
stays valid so long as the records inside the block aren't always altered. If any modifications
are made inside the block, the cryptographic hash could trade at once indicating the exchange
in the facts which can be because of a malicious hobby. Therefore, due to its strong
foundations in cryptography, blockchain has been increasingly used to mitigate against
unauthorized transactions across various domains.

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Since elections are the cornerstone of democratic societies, they serve as a means for citizens
to express their collective will and choose their representatives. The integrity of the electoral
process is paramount to uphold the principles of fairness, transparency, and legitimacy.
However, traditional centralized voting systems have faced numerous challenges that have
raised concerns about the security, transparency, and accessibility of elections. In recent
years, the emergence of blockchain technology has sparked a new wave of innovation and
potential solutions to these challenges.

1.2 THE EVOLUTION OF BLOCKCHAIN-BASED DECENTRALIZED VOTING SYSTEM

i. The Electronic Voting Machine(EVM):
is the alternative to the issues with the old voting system. Nevertheless,
because EVM(Electronic Voting Machine) does not fix any security concerns, it
also suffers from universal approval problems. The main difficulty with
EVM(Electronic Voting Machine) is that it is simple to inject any malware into
the device that will mess with the server (Yi, 2019).
ii. The Internet Voting System(I-Voting):

I-voting is where electors use an internet browser to vote. I-voting systems

empower electors to vote at any place in the world beyond location limitations
that take into account flexibility, confidentiality, protection, and convenience
in voting (Dogo et al., 2018). Various nations have begun using I-voting
methods. Estonia was the very first country to establish a national Internet
voting system. They allowed citizens to cast their ballots from anywhere
around the world through the Internet (Hengavalli et al., 2019). Shortly after
that, Switzerland adopted I-voting for regional elections and Norway for local
elections (Ayed, 2017).

I-Voting also has certain drawbacks (Krishnamurthy et al., 2019). The secrecy
of significant portions of the code is one of the main criticisms of electronic
voting systems in Estonia and Norway. The format for the ballot on the
Estonian I-Voting system is restricted due to various confidentiality concerns.
The centralization of power of the IV thing makes DDOS attacks susceptible,
which will make electoral elections unavailable to voters (Ayed, 2017). People
who vote could question the fairness and confidentiality of the voting process

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 (Zhang et al., 2019). Police and security services have access to network
traffic’s variety and processing capacity to examine polling data for possible
alterations. System attacks are still likely in all previous schemes, even though
security is strengthened (Ayed, 2017). Some enhanced security schemes or
processes must also ensure that voting or measuring procedures are reliable
and the above-listed issues are avoided (Krishnamurthy et al., 2019).
iii. Blockchain-Based Decentralized Voting System:
However, blockchain technology is a reliable method to overcome the
problems with traditional voting systems, Electronic Voting systems and I-
voting systems. With the development of blockchain, the central idea of
decentralization has progressively gained more recognition (Hsiao et al., 2018).
Blockchain is a decentralized network (Zhang et al., 2018) in which the node
members exchange data, but each user maintains the identical data
replication. Blockchain technology provides characteristics such as
a) Decentralization
b) data accuracy
c) Transparency
d) Security & Immutability
e) Speed & Efficiency
With the help of blockchain technology, it is possible to build a reliable and
secure electronic voting system (Barnes and Perry, 2014).

1.3 THE EMERGENCE OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

Blockchain has become an important technology in all the fields. Blockchain is a
decentralized and distributed ledger technology that records the provenance of a
digital asset. Blockchain is sometimes referred to as distributed ledger technology
(DLT) that makes any digital asset transparent with the help of decentralization and
cryptographic hashing. An easy example to explain blockchain technology is the
Google Doc. When wecreate a document and share with many people, this document
will get distributed rather than copied and transferring. This creates a decentralized
distributed chain that can provide access to everyone at the same time. [3] No one
will wait for other party to make changes and all these modifications will be recorded
in real time which is transparent to everyone. However, blockchain is more

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 complicated than a Google Doc but the concept is the same. Blockchain is said to as
a promising technology as it helps to reduce risk, eliminate fraud, and bring
transparency in a scalable way.[2][5] Blockchain has a distributed database that
maintains an ever-growing list of data records secured for tampering. Also, it is
decentralized which avoids a single-point failure that may occur in centralized
systems. As the name indicates blockchain is a chain of blocks where each block is
linked with others using cryptography. Blockchain consists of two cryptographic keys
are private key and public key. These keys help to perform successful transactions
between two parties. Each person has two keys which are used to produce a secure
identity reference. This identity is referred to as digital signature and is used for
controlling transactions. [4] Each block consists of a cryptographic hash value of the
previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data. For using a distributed ledger,
blockchain manages a peer-to-peer network which helps in inter-node
communication and validating new blocks. The structure of the blockchain is shown
in plate1.1:

Plate. 1.1: Structure of blockchain

1.4 THE ESSENCE OF BLOCKCHAIN IN VOTING SYSTEMS

Blockchain has become important in almost all fields but one of the most valid
domains is voting.[12] Constructing a secure electronic voting machine is a difficult
task as it is a crucial system that must be executed without failure. The advantages of
e-voting using blockchain include:
a) Greater transparency due to open and distributed ledgers
b) Inherent Anonymity
c) Security and Reliability (especially against Denial of service attacks)
d) Immutability (strong integrity for the voting scheme and individual votes.)

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 Blockchain distributes the information of votes to thousands of computers making it
impossible to alter or delete votes once they have been cast. This method promotes
greater trust between voters and governments by protecting their data.[8] Blockchain
will allow all to cast their votes on smartphones or from the computer with the apps,
rather than having a queue at polling stations. Implementing blockchain will not
require a government to change its existing system rather the existing platform can
be re-modeled.[11] The major weakness of blockchain is that it can handle a small
string of text that simply records a balance transfer between two parties. However,
the Interplanetary file system (IPFS) provides much of the infrastructure needed for
blockchain content storage as it provides a permanent decentralized web and no
central entity controls the data.

1.5 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

In contemporary democratic societies, the electoral process is fundamental to the
functioning of government and the expression of citizens' will. However, traditional
centralized voting systems are beset with vulnerabilities that challenge the integrity
and transparency of elections. These vulnerabilities include the risk of fraud,
tampering, and a lack of transparency, which can undermine public trust in
democratic institutions. The emergence of blockchain technology offers a promising
solution to these challenges, presenting an opportunity to create decentralized,
secure, and transparent voting systems. Yet, the integration of blockchain technology
into voting systems is not without its own set of complexities and challenges. This
work aims to address the following critical problems:
I. Vulnerabilities in Traditional Voting Systems: Traditional centralized voting
systems are susceptible to a range of vulnerabilities, including tampering,
fraud, and hacking. These issues compromise the integrity of electoral
processes and undermine trust in democratic institutions.
II. Lack of Transparency: Centralized voting systems often lack transparency,
making it difficult for voters and observers to verify the accuracy of election
results. This lack of transparency can lead to suspicions of electoral fraud.
III. Security Concerns: The increasing digitization of elections exposes them to
cybersecurity threats, such as hacking and data breaches. Ensuring the
security of voter data and the integrity of election results is paramount.

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 IV. Voter Authentication: Verifying the identity of voters while maintaining their
privacy is a complex challenge. Blockchain-based voting systems need
effective solutions to ensure that only eligible voters participate.
V. Scalability and Technological Readiness: Implementing blockchain-based
voting systems on a large scale is technically challenging. Ensuring that the
technology can handle a high volume of votes while remaining user-friendly
is essential.
VI. Public Trust and Acceptance: Blockchain-based voting systems represent a
significant departure from traditional methods. Building public trust and
acceptance is a critical concern for the successful adoption of these systems.
VII. Ensuring Data Privacy: Blockchain systems must strike a balance between
transparency and voter privacy. Ensuring that voter data is protected while
maintaining transparency is a challenging aspect of the decentralized voting
system.

1.6 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this seminar work are as follows:
i. To explore the potential benefits of decentralized voting systems using
blockchain technology.
ii. To assess the challenges and limitations of implementing blockchain-based
voting systems.
iii. To understand the implications of such systems for democratic processes and
electoral integrity.

1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This work holds significance within the context of improving electoral systems and
democratic governance. It addresses the potential for blockchain technology to
enhance trust and confidence in electoral processes and contribute to the evolution
of modern, secure, and transparent voting systems.
1.8 SCOPE OF STUDY
This focuses on examining the potential of blockchain technology to enhance the
integrity of voting systems. It will consider the technical, and societal aspects of
implementing decentralized voting systems using blockchain technology.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Overview Of E-Voting Systems:

Electronic Voting (eVoting) systems have emerged as potential alternatives to traditional

paper-based voting methods, promising increased accessibility, efficiency, and voter
participation. Existing eVoting systems can be categorized into online voting (I-Voting)
platforms and blockchain-based solutions. Online voting systems enable voters to cast their
ballots remotely, reducing the need for physical polling stations and increasing convenience.
However, these systems have faced scrutiny due to concerns over cybersecurity, voter
authentication, and the potential for vote manipulation.

On the other hand, blockchain-based eVoting systems have gained attention for their
decentralized and tamper-resistant nature. Blockchain technology ensures transparency and
immutability by recording votes on a distributed ledger, making it challenging for any single
entity to alter the results without consensus from the entire network. Using smart contracts
in blockchain-based eVoting further enhances security and automation in the voting process.
Despite these advantages, adopting blockchain-based eVoting faces challenges related to
scalability, voter privacy, and the technical complexity of the underlying blockchain
platforms.

2.2 Blockchain Technology in E-Voting:

The blockchain technology that forms the basis of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin has
developed beyond the scope of its initial application to change a variety of industries, one of
which is electronic voting. Because of the blockchain’s distributed and decentralized
structure, there is no way for a centralized authority to exert control over the voting process.
This significantly lowers the likelihood that votes will be manipulated or fraudulently cast.
Blockchain-based electronic voting provides voters with a verifiable audit trail of every ballot
they cast by recording votes in an immutable ledger. This enables voters to independently
audit and verify election results.

Several different blockchain technologies have been investigated for use with eVoting, with
Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric emerging as the two most popular options. The features
of smart contracts offered by Ethereum make it possible to build decentralized voting
systems, which eliminates the requirement for third-party intermediaries and guarantees
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the transparent execution of voting rules. On the other hand, Hyperledger Fabric, which has
an architecture that is both modular and extensible, provides increased control over privacy
and permissioning. As a result, it is an excellent choice for the development of enterprise-
level electronic voting applications. Despite these benefits, blockchain-based electronic
voting still faces issues in the areas of voter anonymity, identity verification, and maintaining
the integrity of data sources that are not part of the blockchain.

2.3 Hyperledger Fabric as a suitable platform:

The blockchain is a decentralized, distributed, and immutable database ledger that maintains
transactional data in timestamped blocks connected by hashes. Blockchain is a P2P network
whose participants are identified by private and public keys. Blockchain blocks consist of
three essential components:

1) The cryptographic hash of the preceding block,

2) Transaction data often expressed as a Merkle tree

3) The timestamp.

Once transaction data is recorded in a block, it cannot be modified without modifying all
preceding blocks. Enterprises are hyperledger fabric's target audience for its permission
blockchain technology. Hyperledger fabric was incorporated into an architecture built on
microservices to facilitate deployment more easily. The NoSQL database known as CouchDB
was utilized to construct the ledger. Hyperledger fabric supports smart contract creation in
general-purpose languages (written in Go, Java, and NodeJs).

A chaincode is a smart contract in the fabric where all functions that can be invoked by a
transaction are defined. Chaincodes come with endorsement policies that apply to their
linked smart contracts. An isolation mechanism called a channel can ensure the privacy of
transactions between participants in a network. Every channel maintains its own ledger,
ensuring the transaction and data are only available to member nodes in the channel.
Hyperledger peer, orderer, CouchDB, Certification Authority (CA), and chaincode are the
components that make up the microservices that constitute a Hyperledger blockchain
network. Docker containers were utilized in the deployment process for each microservice.
They are connected through the use of remote procedure calls. Hyperledger fabric has

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several features such as modes of consensus (Solo, Raft, Kafka), no transaction fees, and rich
ledger queries.

Hyperledger Fabric, a prominent framework under the Linux Foundation, provides a robust
foundation for building secure and scalable enterprise blockchain applications, including
eVoting systems. Its modular architecture allows for the fine-tuning of network components,
ensuring privacy and confidentiality among participants. Hyperledger Fabric’s permissioned
network model ensures that only verified and authorized entities can participate in the
voting process, addressing concerns related to cyber-attacks and unauthorized access. The
endorsement policy of Hyperledger Fabric ensures that transactions (votes) are validated by
authorized peers before committing them to the ledger, enhancing the overall integrity of
the E-Voting system. Moreover, its pluggable consensus mechanism allows for flexibility in
choosing an appropriate consensus algorithm based on the specific requirements of the
eVoting application. Hyperledger Fabric’s support for off-chain data through external
services enhances the integration of real-world data into the voting process without
compromising privacy. By adopting Hyperledger Fabric as the underlying framework for the
proposed Webbased eVoting Website, this project aims to harness the power of blockchain
technology to address the limitations of traditional voting systems and enhance the security,
transparency, and trust in the eVoting process. The Execute-Order-Validate (EOV)
architecture in Hyperledger Fabric is a novel approach that distinguishes it from traditional
blockchain platforms. As illustrated in Plate 2.1, this architecture can be elucidated in three
distinct phases:

i. Execution: Endorsing peers perform smart contract logic to execute transactions. An

endorsement policy in the chaincode (smart contract) specifies endorsing peers. The
endorsing peer(s) sign the proposed ledger change (also known as a "proposal
response" or "endorsed transaction").
ii. Ordering: After signing, the ordering service orders all incoming transactions into a
block. The ordering service creates a transaction history by arranging all network
transactions.
iii. Validation: Network peers receive ordered transaction blocks. The peers then
review the blocks’ transactions for endorsement policy compliance and double-
spend problems. The ledger commits transactions after this validation phase. This
separation of the execution and validation processes allows the network to perform

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 transactions in parallel without a global order of execution, increasing flexibility and
scalability. Ordering transactions after execution reduces invalid transaction effort,
boosting performance.

Plate 2.1 Execute-Order-Validate Architecture in Hyperledger Fabric

2.3.1 Permissioned Ledger: One of the fundamental reasons for choosing Hyperledger Fabric
is its support for a permissioned ledger. In an eVoting system, it is essential to ensure that
only verified and authorized participants can access and participate in the network.
Hyperledger Fabric’s permissioned network model allows for fine-grained control over
access, ensuring that only trusted entities, such as voters, candidates, and the Election
Commission, are allowed to interact with the blockchain. This feature mitigates the risk of
Sybil attacks and unauthorized access, safeguarding the integrity of the voting process.

2.3.2 Consensus Mechanism: A pluggable consensus mechanism in Hyperledger Fabric lets

the eVoting application choose a consensus algorithm. Choose consensus algorithms like
Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) or Raft for an eVoting system that prioritizes
security and efficiency. PBFT provides Byzantine fault tolerance to allow malevolent nodes
and yet reach a consensus on transaction validity. Raft has a simpler consensus method for
quick transaction finality. Hyperledger Fabric is ideal for eVoting due to its consensus
mechanism flexibility.

2.3.3 Privacy Controls: Since voters must conceal their identities and voting intentions,
electronic voting creates privacy problems. Hyperledger Fabric’s channels feature lets users
create private sub-networks within the larger network, adding privacy to the platform. This
isolates sensitive voting data and only shares it with relevant participants to protect voter
names and preferences. Hyperledger Fabric allows private data collection. This lets
authorized parties store confidential data off-chain with cryptographic integrity assurances.
Hyperledger Fabric is a good choice for building a safe, privacy-protected electronic voting
system.

2.3.4 Scalability and Performance: Hyperledger Fabric’s modular architecture and

endorsement policies boost performance and scalability. E-voting system throughput
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increases by partitioning the network into many channels and using endorsement policies to
control transaction endorsement. Hyperledger Fabric’s scalability allows the network to
conduct a large number of voting transactions without affecting performance, making it
perfect for large voter populations. The web-based eVoting website is designed with a
highlevel architecture that leverages the capabilities of Hyperledger Fabric to ensure a
secure and transparent eVoting process. The architecture consists of several components,
each with specific roles and responsibilities. Endorsing peers, ordering nodes, and the client
application from the Hyperledger Fabric network. Only permitted and legitimate
transactions are added to the blockchain by endorsing peers. Ordering nodes manage
consensus and order and add agreed-upon transactions to the blockchain.

2.4 Architectural Overview

As shown in Plate 2.2, the architecture of the system is designed to facilitate a secure and
transparent voting process. Voters and the Election Commission interact with the system
through a client application. This application serves as the main interface for users to cast
their votes and for the Election Commission to oversee the process.

Plate 2.2: System Architecture

The client application communicates with the Ordering Service, a key component
responsible for ordering transactions into blocks. This creates a consistent and transparent
history of all transactions. Following the proposal of transactions by the client application,
they are sent to the Endorsing Peer. This is a network node that simulates transactions and
provides endorsement, thereby ensuring the validity of each vote.
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The Endorsing Peer utilizes a chaincode, also known as a smart contract, which contains the
business logic of how votes are cast and counted. After the chaincode is executed and the
transactions are endorsed, they are ordered by the Ordering Service and subsequently
update the Vote Ledger.

The Vote Ledger is a comprehensive record of all votes cast, offering a transparent and
immutable chronicle of the voting process. This architecture thus presents a secure and
efficient platform for conducting elections, making the most of blockchain’s transparency,
security, and verifiability.

2.5 Network Configuration

In the area of blockchain technology as it exists today, Hyperledger stands out as the leading
center for the development of new applications of the technology. Its Hyperledger Fabric
module offers a sturdy foundation upon which the architectural strata of applications, such
as voting systems, can be created. These applications may include voting systems. The
capacity to carry out strict validation checks is one of the primary benefits that comes with
putting into operation a permissioned blockchain platform such as Hyperledger Fabric. This
assures that the voting process is only open to registered voters, whose identities have been
thoroughly checked, and that these voters are the only ones who may take part in it.
Additionally, while the system is checking voter credentials, it maintains a shroud of
confidentiality. This ensures that voter names stay secret, which maintains the concepts of
anonymous voting and helps uphold its principles.

The voting application has been modeled after a system that is both streamlined and
thorough. A single client application acts as the medium via which users communicate with
one another, but with a variety of user interfaces specifically designed to cater to different
user types. The modular approach helps to ensure that user management and data
separation are carried out in an effective manner.

The importance of endorsements from peers cannot be overstated. Within the context of
this ecosystem, a particular endorsing peer has been given the task of overseeing the

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execution of chaincode within the Docker container that corresponds to it. In addition, the
ordering node, which is an essential component, is responsible for ensuring that the
transactions are sequenced in the appropriate order and, as a result, the integrity of the
voting sequence is preserved. Diving into the network configurations, this application
employs the sample network ’basic network’, which initiates the following instances and
situates them within Docker containers:
a. Orderer: Central to the voting application, the orderer processes transactions
(votes), organizing them sequentially and distributing blocks to network peers. This
systematic operation ensures that each transaction is processed in the right order,
contributing to a consistent view of the ledger across the network. Each vote, being
a transaction, is ordered and validated before it is added to the blockchain.
b. Certifying Authority: The Certifying Authority (CA) is integral to maintaining the
security and authenticity of the network. The CA issues digital identities to all
participants, such as voters and network nodes (like the peer and orderer). Only
verified voters are permitted to participate, with the CA taking charge of issuing
these verified identities. This strategy minimizes the risk of fraudulent votes by
ensuring each vote cast on the network originates from a verified voter.
c. Org1 maintaining Peer0: In this system, the peer maintained by Org1 hosts both the
ledger and the voting smart contract (chaincode). The peer, upon receiving ordered
blocks of votes from the orderer, adds them to the ledger. Each vote is treated as a
transaction processed by the peer. Additionally, the peer handles the execution of
the voting chaincode, potentially containing rules and logic exclusive to the voting
process (e.g., eligibility criteria, vote counting).
d. CouchDB: Serving the voting application, CouchDB acts as the state database storing
the current ledger state. This state represents the latest voting results at any given
time, offering an efficient method to query the current voting status and allowing
swift retrieval of voting results as required.
e. CLI: The Command Line Interface (CLI) provides a tool that allows developers or
administrators to engage with the network. It handles a variety of tasks, such as
creating and joining channels, installing and instantiating the voting chaincode, and
querying the current state of voting. Administrators may deploy new versions of the
voting chaincode or query the current state of votes using the CLI. Hyperledger
Fabric’s permissioned and distributed nature allows only verified voters to vote in
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 this project. The blockchain securely stores each vote, creating a trustworthy and
transparent voting mechanism. This greatly eliminates fraud and tampering.
Hyperledger Fabric’s permissioned and distributed nature allows only verified voters
to vote in this project. The blockchain securely stores each vote, creating a
trustworthy and transparent voting mechanism. This greatly eliminates fraud and
tampering.

Plate 2.3: The proposed E-voting based hyperledger fabric blockchain network

2.6 Review of Related Work

Numerous publications have been published about electronic voting and blockchain
technologies. These publications present a variety of approaches and goals, and they are
attained in different ways. Satizábal et al. [9] presented a new voting protocol for electoral
processes called SIVP (Secure Internet Voting Protocol) for national electoral processes in
Colombia. It combines blind signatures and public key cryptography to secure votes. Jin et
al. [10] A heterogeneous deniable authentication (HDA) protocol was proposed for electronic
voting systems. Messages can be sent between sender and receiver in a certificateless
cryptography (CLC) environment and a public key infrastructure (PKI). Agate et al. [11]
Introduced SecureBallot, a secure, open-source E-voting system that completely separates
the voting phases and voter identification by using cryptographic technology that has already
been developed.

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Yang et al. [12] proposed a voting protocol based on the blockchain technology. All votes are
submitted with full proofs of legitimacy and are available in encrypted form to the public. Li
et al. [13] developed a blockchain-based framework for a self-tallying voting system in
decentralized IoT. They offered a specific design and demonstrated that the suggested
system meets all security requirements, such as fairness, dispute-free voting, and maximum
ballot confidentiality.

Pandey et al. [14] presented VoteChain, a blockchain-based voting system that will enable
polls to become more transparent and secure. Report on the development of VoteChain and
the results of testing the system in a real-world election, indicating that such a system may
be used in practice for large-scale elections. Dhulavvagol et al. [15] constructed an E-voting
application that uses smart contracts to conduct read and write transactions, By setting up
an Ethereum multi-node blockchain in a private network.

Vijayalakshmi and Vimal [16] incorporating blockchain technology and E-voting, numerous
methods for a secure voting procedure were given. Voting data is kept confidential and
duplicate votes are prevented during the election process by encrypting and storing it in the
blockchain as blocks. Santiso and Lamas [17] presented a decentralized e-voting system that
offers increased security, cost-effectiveness, and transparency. Votes were cast using
hyperledger fabric and smart contracts. The proposed system was subjected to a transaction
load and letancy study. Kirillov et al. [18] to strengthen confidence amongst participants, a
modified protocol of a previous voting technique was suggested and deployed on the
Hyperledger Fabric platform.

Vivek et al. [19] for the adoption of electronic voting on a broad scale, the suggested system
must offer both dependability and security. A safe, transparent, and decentralized electronic
voting system is proposed using the hyperledger sawtooth blockchain technology. Seftyanto
et al. [20] A blockchain based electronic voting system utilizing hyperledger was proposed
for Indoanesia. This architecture was evaluated in three phases: blockchain necessity,
election security requirements, and issue resolution. Al Barghuthi et al. [21] proposed a
prototype hyperledger fabric blockchain based electronic voting system for the Consultative
Council of Sharjah (CCS) in the Emirates (UAE) political election process. The suggested
method relies on peer-to-peer communication between blockchain players and voters.

Teja et al. [22] introduced secured voting on Ethereum blockchain technology using solidity
language as an alternative to existing methods. Because Estonia uses blockchain for almost
15
all services, they studied the Estonian E-voting procedure. Despite the fact that the
introduced product isn't ideal for use in a sweeping political election, it was still developed.

Works like [20, 21] show a close approach to our work such that they use hyperledger fabric
and apply it to political E-voting systems. In contrast, both works focus on implementing
fabric networks and electronic election procedures without evaluating the proposed fabric
network performance (i.e., throughput, latency, memory allocation, and CPU usage) with a
high volume of concurrent voting transactions. Our work contributes to covering all
challenges found in similar previous studies.

2.7 Limitations of Blockchain-Based Decentralized Voting System

While blockchain-based decentralized voting systems have gained attention for their
potential to enhance transparency and security in elections, they also have several
limitations and challenges. Some of the key limitations include:

1. Voter authentication: Ensuring that eligible voters are the ones participating in the
election remains a significant challenge. Verifying the identity of voters in a
decentralized system without compromising privacy is not straightforward.

2. Privacy concerns: Although blockchain provides a high level of security, it does not
guarantee absolute voter anonymity. Transactions on a blockchain are visible to all
participants, which can raise concerns about voter privacy and the potential for
coercion or vote buying.

3. Accessibility: Not everyone has easy access to the technology required to participate
in a blockchain-based voting system. This could lead to digital exclusion,
disenfranchising certain populations who lack access to the necessary devices and
internet connectivity.

4. Scalability: As the number of participants and transactions increases, blockchain

networks may become slower and more resource-intensive, making it challenging to
handle large-scale elections efficiently.

5. Security vulnerabilities: While blockchain technology is generally secure, it is not

immune to security breaches, especially when it comes to the vulnerabilities in the

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 underlying infrastructure, smart contracts, or voting software. Any weaknesses in the
system can be exploited by malicious actors.

6. Legal and regulatory issues: Adapting traditional legal and electoral frameworks to
accommodate blockchain-based voting can be complex. Ensuring that these systems
comply with existing election laws and regulations can be challenging.

7. Key management: Safeguarding private keys and ensuring that voters don't lose
access to their accounts is a critical aspect of blockchain-based voting. If a voter loses
their private key, they may lose their ability to participate in the election.

8. Smart contract errors: Many blockchain-based voting systems rely on smart

contracts to execute the voting process. Errors in the design or implementation of
smart contracts can lead to vulnerabilities or unpredictable behavior.

9. Cost and infrastructure requirements: Implementing and maintaining a

blockchainbased voting system can be expensive, especially when considering the
necessary infrastructure, security measures, and skilled personnel.

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