LAPIS LAZULI ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM (LLEVS) PROJECT

WHITE PAPER :

Introduction: Democracy they say is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. But in some developing countries in Africa, it's not like that. Elections are done but people's voices are most of the times not heard and also, elections are like wars where killings, burning and even stealing of ballot boxes take place.

And so, we want to come up with a system that will enable the people to vote for their choices and people who will represent them well, the system goes by the name LAPIS LAZULI ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM ( LLEVS).

Image Source

More so, Various political parties have demanded from the Election Commission that the migrant workers who are deprived of voting should be ensured their voting.
Furthermore, some citizens who are out of the country too should be given the opportunity to exercise their franchise as patriots and as responsible citizens to vote for their constituency and this can be achieved by having an electronic voting system that will be reliable and well secured.

However, since we will be using a blockchain based system, the system will be designed in such a way that it will give no tolerance for any fraudulent activity and we'll be using a strong security system.
The blockchain is a system in which a database of records appears on multiple computers at the same time, even if it is updated with any new digital information.
It provides a unique combination of a system capable of keeping records, enabling real-time transactions, transparency and accounting without unauthorized interference.

@imagen

The initial and primary use of blockchain technology was to monitor cryptocurrency (for example, bitcoin) transactions. However, its other uses and applications have emerged in the last few years.
Integrity of voters' registration; voters outreach and increasing numbers of voters have prompted governments to consider the use of blockchain-based voting systems to increase confidence in the voting system and participation in essential democratic processes It can be used as a means of.

Although electronic voting has been used in different forms since the 1970s, it is fundamentally more profitable than paper-based systems. Currently, the feasibility of blockchain for effective e-voting is being explored.

The Election Commission has used a one-way electronic system for voters working in the service sector (consisting of armed forces, central para-military forces and central government officials stationed in Indian missions abroad). In the Lok Sabha elections of the year 2019, the ' Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System-ETPBS' was used.

Due to the characteristics found in blockchain technology such as decentralized, transparent, immutable and encrypted systems, etc., this technology can help reduce electoral tampering and increase turnout percentage.

In recent history, the suspicious election process has been repeated all over the world. Wikipedia has a chronological list of all the controversial elections. Each is unique, but the instability of the electoral system is found in all of them. According to some surveys conducted in recent years, it has been found that the government cannot face virtual threats for 78% of interviewees. The electoral system can be divided into two types: digital and manual.

Today's digital systems are based on two terminals. Pollsters use it to enter their voter registration number and see if that person can vote. After being released from the polling place, voters can go to the next terminal, where they can vote for candidates.

The voting ledger is encrypted and has a digital signature. At the end of the vote, the ballot box will print the total of each vote taken at that station. A copy will be sent to the party inspector for later confirmation. This information is also encrypted and stored.

These documents are placed in a sealed container and transported to a transmission point where the data is sent to the election court over a private network. It uses encryption to perform some security checks, saves votes, and counts later if the data is considered valid.

How it works:

The use of blockchain-based voting systems has already been widely discussed. In recent years, some countries have tested the use of blockchain in elections. The system developed was similar to traditional voting, but used a number of social security cards for verification. This allowed citizens to vote for petitions and projects without leaving their homes.

The best way to implement a voting process using blockchain technology is to develop a parallel system. A blockchain is a decentralized database that stores a history of assets and transactions between computers on a network.
For this project, the asset is a vote and the transaction is the act of attribute the vote to the candidate.

The blockchain is sent to all nodes that are computers on the network. To vote, voters identify themselves and generate tokens, which are strings that cannot be read directly.

The identification number and token are sent to the verifier, who verifies if the person has previously voted. For each new transaction, this data is propagated to all nodes in the network, creating a permanent record of votes.

After this step, voters can go to the terminal and vote for candidates there.
Finally, your vote will be registered on the blockchain as a transaction.

Challenges:

Any new technology system based on blockchain technology is vulnerable to cyber attacks and other security vulnerabilities.

These techniques can lead to manipulation of votes, erasing paper marks or electoral chaos.

In addition, voter verification systems in which biometric software is used, facial recognition based verification system can generate many types of rumors and confusion among voters.

Blockchain-based voting systems can also increase privacy risks and concerns.

Road map :

Any innovative technology needs to create a synergy between security concerns and technological innovation.

Thus:
A highly efficient technology provider and system will be used in LLEVS project.

The Election Commission will first test the implementation of LLEVS voting system at a small scale and later explore the possibility on a larger scale.

And in the next 1-2 years, we are looking forward that our project will be used all over the world as a voting activities