A Survey on Feasibility and Suitability of Blockchain Techniques for the E-Voting Systems
International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer and Communication Engineering
Introduction
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Recent major technical challenges
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Anonymous vote-casting
- Ballot casting verifiability by (and only by) the voter
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Secure digital identity management
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Any potential voter should have been enrolled
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Individualized ballot processes
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hashed, encrypted etc...
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Introduction
Introduction
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common problems of current e-voting applications
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High initial setup costs
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Lack of transparency and trust
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Voting delays or inefficiencies related to remote/absentee voting
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Increasing security problems
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Double-voting or voters from the other region
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Introduction
Implementations and Design Decisions
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Proof of Identity
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ID cards, digital residence code, ...
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User Interface
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Token
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defined as a type of digital asset
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used to fulfill all the functions of that service
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Ledger
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Programming Languages
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Open Source
Introduction > Implementations and Design Decisions
Introduction > Implementations and Design Decisions
Implementations and Design Decisions
Feasibility Analysis
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feasibility
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cost-effective, scalable, secure, and easy-to-deploy system
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how to measure?
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considered some thresholds or factors in order to determine whether it is feasible to replace the existing (and prospective) structures with their blockchain-based counterparts, or not.
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Feasibility Analysis
Feasibility Analysis
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Constraint
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Any blockchain-based solution should be (noticeably) cheaper
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3-years period with at least 1 elections per year
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may need to support millions of people
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The security level should not be lower than non-blockchain solutions
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Feasibility Analysis
Feasibility Analysis
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Blockchain solutions are suitable, when the following characteristics are present in the legacy subject systems
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Shared data
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Multiple parties
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Low trust
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No trusted third party
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Auditability
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If we want the records to be immutable
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Feasibility Analysis
Feasibility Analysis
Feasibility Analysis
Blockchain Fundamentals
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Blockchain solutions are suitable, when the following characteristics are present in the legacy subject systems
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Shared data
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Multiple parties
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Low trust
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No trusted third party
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Auditability
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If we want the records to be immutable
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Feasibility Analysis > Blockchain Fundamentals
Social Aspects
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Several studies showed that the trust in e-vote are considerably low (or at least not high as the traditional systems)
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Estonia still holds both traditional and online elections together
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popular cryptocurrency like Bitcoin may strengthen the perception of trust
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If the software is open source public opinion and trust will even be higher
Feasibility Analysis > Social Aspects
Financial Aspects
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lower the administrative costs in the long term despite of higher initial costs
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cost from the point of view of the voters is analyzed in another work in Estonia
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who live at least 30 minutes distance from their voting centers are more likely to prefer voting online
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Feasibility Analysis > Financial Aspects
Security and Reliability
Feasibility Analysis > Security and Reliability
Security and Reliability
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authentication is implemented by asymmetric cryptology in crypto coins
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ensures the integrity and authentication of the user/voter accounts
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authenticating the users themselves remains as an open problem
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Feasibility Analysis > Security and Reliability
Comparison with Alternatives
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compared the distributed model with centralized solutions
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relational database vs blockchain
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Requirements
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voters’ identities must not have any kind of relation with their casted votes
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duplicate voting must be prevented
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voters should be able to verify their ballots
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vote storage/counting phases should be time trackable.
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Feasibility Analysis > Comparison with Alternatives
Comparison with Alternatives
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=> Providing all these features at the same time is very hard with the classical relational databases
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Conversely, these can be implemented easily with a blockchain based system
Feasibility Analysis > Comparison with Alternatives
Comparison with Alternatives
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scalability
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highly implementation and consensus protocol dependent
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transaction rate may vary from 30 per second up to many more
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speed and security is trade-off
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Feasibility Analysis > Comparison with Alternatives
SWOT Analysis
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Our analysis showed that, the potential gains of holding blockchain-based online elections are significant and worth developing
Feasibility Analysis > SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Feasibility Analysis > SWOT Analysis
Conclusion
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Blockchain may seem perfect, but we are not yet fully aware of all the risks regarding security and scalability, as blockchain-based e-voting systems are still on the testing phase
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remote participation does not seem to be secure enough with the current technology
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risks regarding the personal ID authentication
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Conclusion