A Blockchain-Based Network Security Mechanism for Voting Systems

Abstract

As technology advances, many countries have now opted for electronic voting systems. Any voting system must follow principles of transparency and impartiality in order to achieve fairness; the electronic voting process must also be protected against cyberattacks or denial-of-service attacks (DDOS) because such attacks may affect the processing time in voting procedures and even hinder the fairness in voting. This study establishes a network security mechanism for voting systems based on blockchain technology. The blockchain mechanism employs a distributed architecture that can prevent system shutdown resulting from malicious cyberattacks; additionally, any user in the blockchain can authenticate data integrity, which satisfies requirements of transparency and impartiality in voting systems. This study utilizes bilinear pairing to establish network security in voting systems, which call for anonymity, authenticity, integrity, and non-repudiation. When authenticating voting integrity, the user's anonymity must be ensured to prevent identity revelation, and the data must be protected against malicious tampering such security measures also fulfill blockchain requirements. The proposed voting system relies on the basis of blockchains to create a trustworthy voting system. In current blockchain technology, smart contracts allow the establishment of voter-related regulations to prevent controversies during voting processes. Additionally, in order to establish both a secret ballot and an open ballot system, the study also implements a bilinear pairing security mechanism to ensure the overall security of a voting procedure.