Design and Implementation of a Blockchain-Based Secure Electronic Voting System with End-to-End Verifiability

Nisha Patel, Rohan Deshmukh, Dr. Ananya Bhattacharya

Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, Atharva College of Engineering

1. Abstract

Electronic voting (e-voting) has become a significant technological innovation designed to improve the efficiency, accessibility, and integrity of electoral processes. Despite this, traditional e-voting systems have faced challenges such as security weaknesses, assumptions of centralized trust, privacy issues, and a lack of transparency, which have led to doubts about their use in crucial democratic elections. The adoption of blockchain technology offers a promising shift by providing decentralization, immutability, and cryptographic transparency, thus enabling secure, tamper-proof, and auditable voting systems. This research article details the design and implementation of a blockchain-based secure electronic voting system that guarantees end-to-end verifiability (E2E-V), allowing voters and auditors to independently confirm that votes are cast as intended, recorded accurately, and counted correctly, all while maintaining ballot secrecy. The proposed system utilizes cryptographic tools such as public-key encryption, zero-knowledge proofs, and digital signatures, combined with smart contracts on a distributed ledger to ensure transparency, privacy, and accuracy of election results. The system’s architecture includes modules for voter registration and authentication, mechanisms for ballot generation and encryption, decentralized storage via blockchain nodes, and automated vote tallying through consensus protocols. The methodology describes the system’s workflow, threat model, and performance considerations, while the implementation showcases feasibility through a prototype developed using Ethereum smart contracts and a web-based user interface. Experimental evaluation shows that the blockchain-based voting system provides strong security assurances, including integrity, anonymity, prevention of double voting, and transparency. End-to-end verifiability is achieved through cryptographic receipts and publicly auditable ledgers, enhancing trust in election results. The study also addresses limitations such as scalability, latency, and regulatory challenges, and suggests future improvements like hybrid blockchain architectures and advanced privacy-preserving cryptographic methods. The findings indicate that blockchain-enabled e-voting systems offer a viable and secure alternative to traditional voting methods, capable of enhancing democratic processes through transparency, security, and voter confidence.

2. Keywords

Blockchain, Electronic Voting, End-to-End Verifiability, Cryptography, Smart Contracts, Secure Voting, Decentralized Systems, Privacy, Integrity, Distributed Ledger Technology, Digital Democracy