DESIGN A SECURE ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM USING FINGERPRINT TECHNIQUE

DESIGN A SECURE ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMUSING FINGERPRINT TECHNIQUE

Sanjay Kumar1, Manpreet Singh2

1Computer Science & Engineering Department, Maharishi Markandeshwar UniversityMullana, Ambala, Haryana-133203, India

2Computer Science & Engineering Department, Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Ambala, Haryana-133203, India

AbstractFingerprint biometric is the most widely deployedpublicized biometrics for identification. This is largely dueto its easy and cost effective integration in existing andupcoming technologies. The integration of biometric withelectronic voting machine undoubtedly requires lessmanpower, save much time of voters and personnel,eliminate rigging, ensure accuracy, transparency and fastresults in election. In this paper, a framework for electronicvoting machine based on biometric verification is proposedand implemented. The proposed framework ensuressecured identification and authentication processes for thevoters and candidates through the use of fingerprintbiometrics.Keywords: EVM, Fingerprint, Biometric, Fingerprintmodule.

1. Introduction

1.1 Traditional Voting Process:

Traditional voting process can be divided intodifferent phases [10]:

1. Authentication: In this phase, voter authenticateshimself or herself by showing his or her votingcard, this step is public and verified by thepresiding officer. At the end of authenticationprocess, presiding officer give a ballot paper tovoter to cast his or her vote.

2. Vote: The vote takes place in a protected boothwhere voter cannot be seen by any person. Thevoter cast their vote by writing it with a pen on thepaper ballot, folds the ballot paper and put into theballot box where all the votes are mixed.

3. Vote counting: At the end of voting time, thepresiding officer collect the ballot box containingall ballot papers and submit it to the countingcentre. After that with the help of members of theelection committee nominated by electioncommission of India, the ballot boxes are openedand votes are counted and the results are thenannounced.

4. Verification: Various types of verification processare used, most procedure are public and verifiedby the representative of candidates of competingparties. Recount is also possible if there is anyfraud or error.

Conventional voting systems are not efficient due tolong period of preparation, bogus voting, includepapers, punch cards, mechanical levers, optical-scanmachines [1]. These systems are not efficient as theyare conducted manually and therefore very often arenot accurate. As a consequence, it is obligatory tocarry the available voting through an electronicsystem.

1.2 Requirement of E-Voting:

The requirement in traditional voting process is alsoapplicable for e-voting and some of them arementioned below [12].

1. Fairness: No person can learn the votingoutcomes before the tally.

2. Eligibility: Only eligible voters are allowed to casttheir vote.

3. Uniqueness: No voter is allowed to cast their votemore than once.

4. Privacy: No person can access the informationabout the voters vote.

5. Accuracy: All the valid votes should be countedcorrectly.

6. Efficiency: The counting of votes can beperformed within a minimum amount of time [2].

1.3 Biometric Authentication:

Fingerprint matching is one of the most popular andreliable biometric techniques used in automaticpersonal identification. There are two main stagesduring the use of fingerprints authentication:fingerprint verification and fingerprint identification.While the goal of fingerprint verification is to verifythe identity of a person, the goal of fingerprint

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identification is to establish the identity of a person[13].

In a traditional biometric recognition system, thebiometric template is usually stored on a centralserver during enrolment. The candidate biometrictemplate captured by the biometric device is sent tothe server where the processing and matching stepsare performed [6].

The objective of voting is to allow voters toexercise their right to express their choices regardingspecific issues, pieces of legislation, citizeninitiatives, constitutional amendments, recalls and/orto choose their government and politicalrepresentatives [11]. Technology is being used moreand more as a tool to assist voters to cast their votes.To allow the exercise of this right, almost all votingsystems around the world include the following steps:

Voter identification and authentication Voting and recording of votes cast Vote counting Publication of election results

Voter identification is required during two phasesof the electoral process: first for voter registration inorder to establish the right to vote and afterwards, atvoting time, to allow a citizen to exercise their rightto vote by verifying if the person satisfies all therequirements needed to vote (authentication) [14].

The field of biometrics was formed and hassince expanded on to many types of physicalidentification. Still, the human fingerprint remains avery common identifier and the biometric method ofchoice among law enforcement [8]. These conceptsof human identification have lead to the developmentof fingerprint scanners that serve to quickly identifyindividuals and assign access privileges. Fingerprinting recognition, the electronic methods ofrecording and recognizing an individual finger print,advanced substantially during the last decade of the21th century [15]. Today, identification can beachieved in a few seconds with reasonable accuracy.As a result, the use of automated fingerprintidentification systems (AFIS) that record, store,search, match and identify finger prints is rapidlyexpanding. AFIS can be integrated with amicrocontroller and other peripherals to form anembedded system which is a comprehensiveelectronic voting machine with fingerprint printidentification system.

2. Existing E-Voting System

The category “electronic voting” is potentiallybroad, referring to several distinct possible stages ofelectronic usage during the course of an election.

A. Electronic voting: Electronic voting refers to anysystem where a voter casts his or her ballot usingan electronic system, rather than a paper. Oncerecorded, an electronic vote is stored digitally and

transferred from each electronic voting machineto a counting system [16].

B. Electronic vote counting: Electronic vote countingrefers to the system that is used to tabulate ballotsand award seats. It would be possible to voteusing a non-electronic medium and then convertthese votes to an electronic system and awardseats through an electronic vote counting system[3].

Electronic Voting Machine is a simple electronicdevice used to record votes in place of ballot papersand boxes which were used earlier in conventionalvoting system [4]. It is a simple machine that can beoperated easily by both the polling personnel and thevoters. Being a standalone machine without anynetwork connectivity, nobody can interfere with itsprogramming and manipulate the result. Keeping theerratic power supply position in many places in thecountry, the machines have been made to run onbatteries. It has mainly two units: Control unit andBallot unit. The Control Unit is the main unit whichstores all data and controls the functioning of EVM.The program which controls the functioning of thecontrol unit is burnt into a micro chip on a “one timeprogrammable basis”. Once burnt it cannot be read,copied out or altered. The EVMs use dynamic codingto enhance security of data transmitted from ballotunit to control unit. The new EVMs have also got realtime clock and date-time stamping facility whichenables them to record the exact time and datewhenever a key is pressed. After the voting iscompleted and the close button is pressed, themachine does not accept any data or record any vote.Through the press of “total” button, the control unitcan display the number of votes recorded till thattime which can be cross checked with the register ofvoters. The display system of the control unit showsthe total number of votes polled in a polling stationand the candidate-wise votes polled in the machinewhen the ‘result’ button is pressed by the countingstaff in the presence of counting agents at thecounting centre. The control unit can also detect anyphysical tampering made with the connecting cableand indicate the same in the display unit [16].The security of an EVM can be significantlyimproved by using biometric authentication system.The main reasons for augmenting a biometricauthentication with electronic voting system is thatbiometrics are traits of a person which can be hardlycopied or shared thereby it becomes very difficult toforge the identity of a person [5]. The majorbiometric-based technologies include finger-scanning, hand geometry, facial recognition, irisscanning, retinal scanning, finger geometry, voicerecognition and dynamic signature verification.

In [6], a scheme for a dynamic voter registration,enrolment and voting in an online biometricelectronic voting system is proposed. An indexingtechnique for facilitating the search of a matchingidentity to an input fingerprint is incorporated. In [7],



a web based secure e-voting system with fingerprintauthentication is implemented. A public votingsystem based on biometric fingerprint method tomake the election process transparent and efficient isimplemented [8]. In [9], the challenges existing in theconventional electoral system of India are analyzedwith the aim of addressing fraudulent electoral pricesby the use of biometric authentication basedElectronic Voting System.

This research work deals with the design anddevelopment of fingerprint recognition basedElectronic Voting System. The proposed system alsotakes into account the essential voting requirementsin terms of privacy, uniqueness, completeness,efficiency and fairness.

Figure 1: Block Diagram of Proposed Secure E-Voting System

3. System Framework

The system framework for secure voting comprisesof a key pad, graphical LCD, microcontroller, fingerprint module and system interface as shown in Fig 1.

Arduino Mega 2560 is a microcontroller boardhaving a number of facilities for communicating witha computer or other devices. It can be programmedfor serial communication on any of the Mega 2560'sdigital pins. SM630 fingerprint verification moduleconsists of optical fingerprint sensor, highperformance Digital Signal Processor and Flashmemory. It boasts of functions such as fingerprintlogin, deletion, verification, upload and fingerprintdownload etc. The voter information is stored infingerprint module, whereas, the candidate databasealong with voting record is kept in microcontrollerflash memory and remote site through Ethernet port.At the lowest level, keyboards are organized in amatrix of rows and columns. The microcontrolleraccesses both rows and column through ports;therefore, with a port of microcontroller, a 4 x 3matrix of keys can be connected. The graphical LCDhas a display format of 128x64 dots and yellow-greencolor backlight. It makes the use of KS0108controller to executeits internal operations.

4. Working of Proposed SecureElectronic Voting System

The main phases of a voting system are registration,authentication, accessibility, casting and counting.The implementation of all these phases in theproposed system is elaborated in following steps:

//variables used are:candidate [100] – candidate databasecandidate_tot = 0 – total number of registeredcandidatesvoter_tot = 0 – total number of registered votersvoted = 0 – total number of votesSECURITY_PIN – stores security pin //

Step 1: Display Welcome ScreenStep 2: Security Check. If password is correct go

to step 3 else repeat 2Step 3: Detect memory card. If memory card found

go to step 4 else display No Memory cardDetected

Step 4: Display main menu optionsStep 5: Candidate ZoneStep 6: Voter ZoneStep 7: Vote NowStep 8: ResultStep 9: Change PinStep 10: ExitStep 11: If Keypad input is 1 than go to step 12Step 12: If Keypad input is 2 than go to step 41Step 13: If Keypad input is 3 than go to step 59Step 14: If Keypad input is 4 than go to step 73Step 15: If Keypad input is 5 than go to step 80Step 16: If Keypad input is 6 than go to step 85Step 17: If Keypad input is greater than 6 then print

Invalid option. Please try again. Go to step4

Step 18: Display candidate zone optionsStep 19: New RegistrationStep 20: Modify CandidateStep 21: Empty DatabaseStep 22: Back to Main MenuStep 23: ExitStep 24: If Keypad input is 1 than go to step 19Step 25: If Keypad input is 2 than go to step 25Step 26: If Keypad input is 3 than go to step 37Step 27: If Keypad input is 4 than go to step 4Step 28: If Keypad input is 5 than go to step 85Step 29: If Keypad input is greater than 5 then

display Invalid option. Please try again. Goto step 12

Step 30: Enter Candidate code using keypad

Graphical LCD(KS0108)

Microcontroller(ARDUINO MEGA-2650)

Keypad(4 * 3 MATRIX)

Fingerprint Module(SM-630)

EthernetShield

Voter

Database

Candidate Database

Voting Record

Ethernet Port(RemoteSite)

SDCard



Step 31: If candidate code exists in candidatedatabase display Already registered. Go tostep 12

Step 32: candidate_tot++Step 33: candidate[candidate_tot] = New

candidate’s code and display Candidate hasbeen registered.

Step 34: Store candidate information in memorycard, EEPROM and remote system. Go tostep 12

Step 35: If list is candidate database is empty thendisplay List is empty. Go to step 12

Step 36: Display option for modification.Step 37: Change CodeStep 38: Delete CandidateStep 39: If Keypad input is 1 than go to step 29Step 40: If Keypad input is 2 than go to step 34Step 41: If Keypad input is greater than 2 then print


Step 42: Enter candidate code for modificationusing keypad

Step 43: Enter new code for candidateStep 44: If code already exists in candidate database

then display Already registered. Go to step12

Step 45: Replace old code with new one and displayInformation has been updated.

Step 46: Updated information in memory card,EEPROM and remote system. Go to step12

Step 47: Delete candidate code form database anddisplay Candidate removed.

Step 48: Remove candidate information frommemory card, EEPROM and remotesystem.

Step 49: candidate_tot--. Go to step 12Step 50: Security Check. If password is correct go

to step 38 else repeat 37Step 51: candidate_tot = 0Step 52: Delete complete database and display

Database Clear.Step 53: Update candidate information in memory

card, EEPROM and remote system. Go tostep 12

Step 54: Display voter zone optionsStep 55: Register voterStep 56: Delete VoterStep 57: Empty DatabaseStep 58: Back to Main MenuStep 59: ExitStep 60: If Keypad input is 1 than go to step 48

Step 61: If Keypad input is 2 than go to step 52Step 62: If Keypad input is 3 than go to step 56Step 63: If Keypad input is 4 than go to step 4Step 64: If Keypad input is 5 than go to step 85Step 65: If Keypad input is greater than 5 then print


Step 66: Input voter thumb print using fingerprintmodule

Step 67: If fingerprint matches in database then printAlready registered. Go to step 41

Step 68: Add fingerprint in voter database.Step 69: voter_tot++. Go to step 41Step 70: Input voter thumb print using fingerprint

moduleStep 71: If fingerprint doesn’t matches in database

then print Doesn’t exist. Go to step 41Step 72: Delete fingerprint from voter database.Step 73: voter_tot--. Go to step 41Step 74: Security Check. If password is correct go

to step 57 else repeat 56Step 75: Delete complete database and display

Database Clear.Step 76: voter_tot= 0. Go to step 41Step 77: Display vote now optionsStep 78: VoteStep 79: Back to Main MenuStep 80: If Keypad input is 1 than go to step 63Step 81: If Keypad input is 2 than go to step 71Step 82: If Keypad input is greater than 2 then

display Invalid option. Please try again. Goto step 59

Step 83: Input voter thumb print using fingerprintmodule

Step 84: If fingerprint doesn’t matches in databasethen display You are Not Eligible. Go tostep 59

Step 85: Enter candidate code using keypadStep 86: If candidate code doesn’t matches in

database display invalid candidate code. Goto step 59

Step 87: Votes++. Increase the vote of selectedcandidate by 1.

Step 88: Update voted database in memory card,EEPROM and remote system.

Step 89: Delete fingerprint from voter’s database.Step 90: Display successfully voted. Go to step 59Step 91: Security Check. If password is correct go

to step 4 else repeat 71Step 92: Display Winner of election’s code with

votesStep 93: Display Result section’s options



Step 94: Full listStep 95: Main menuStep 96: ExitStep 97: If Keypad input is 1 than go to step 78Step 98: If Keypad input is 2 than go to step 4Step 99: If Keypad input is 3 than go to step 85Step 100:If Keypad input is greater than 3 then print

Invalid option. Please try again.Step 101:Display whole list of candidates and their

respective votes. Go to step 12

Step 102:Security Check. If password is correct goto step 80 else repeat 79

Step 103:Enter new security pin.Step 104:Confirm security pin.Step 105:If value of step 80 and step 81 matches

then go to step 84Step 106:If value of step 80 and step 81 matches

print Pin not matched. Go to step 12Step 107:SECURITY_PIN = new security pin. Go to

step 12Step 108:Display Thank you for using EVM. Exit.

The interaction among the various entities in the proposed framework is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Sequence Diagram showing the Control flow in Proposed System



5. System Implementation & Discussion

This proposed framework has been successfully simulatedon Arduino 1.0.3 platform. The steps involved in theimplementation of the proposed secure electronic votingsystem are highlighted from Figure 3 to Figure 12.

Figure 3: Secure Electronic Voting System Implementation

Figure 6: Coding for Proposed System on ARDUINO 1.0.3 Platform

Figure 7: Functionalities Available in Proposed System

Figure 4: Candidate Information Zone

Figure 5: Voter Information Zone

Figure 8: Voter Registration Phase

Figure 9: Result of Voter’s Authentication through Fingerprint Matching



Figure 10: Validation of Candidate’s Selection

Figure 11: Information of Winning Candidate

Figure 12: Voting Result Summary

Some of the salient features of the proposed system areas follow: Voters during voting cannot perform the tempering

as he is not authorized to scroll any other screen. A voter cannot do bogus voting as his fingerprint

must match the previously stored data. After voting,the voter’s fingerprint record is deleted from thedatabase thereby not allowing him to cast votingmore than once.

The candidate information and voting records arestored at three different places: SD card, EEPROMof microcontroller and remote site through Ethernetport, thereby, improving the availability andreliability of system.

The replication of voting information at multiplelocations reduces the risk of biasing during votecounting.

The existing Electronic Voting Machine comprisesof two separate components: Ballot unit and Controlunit; however in the developed system allfunctionalities are embedded in one module makingit as compact and concise.

The design of currently used voting machinesdepends on the number of candidates within a

constituency; however this is not a constraint forproposed system and the same model of machinecan be used anywhere during voting.

6. Conclusion

Electronic voting system is emerging as significantalternative to the conventional systems in the delivery ofreliable and trusted elections. In this paper, a frameworkfor electronic voting system based on fingerprintbiometric is proposed and implemented with theobjective of eliminating bogus voting and vote repetition,less election expenditure, more transparency and fastresults.

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DESIGN A SECURE ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM USING FINGERPRINT TECHNIQUE