Formal Verification and Implementation of an E-Voting System

Abstract

The organization of free, democratic, and transparent elections requires on the one hand an independent national electoral authority that manages all the stages of the electoral process and on the other hand the use of new information and communication techniques to manage the election process. E-voting offers the ability to vote online anytime and from anywhere using a computer, smartphone, or tablet. In addition, it saves time and reduces costs and effort spent in the process. However, the security of e-voting applications deployed on the internet is a difficult task due to the increasing number of cyber-attacks and application vulnerabilities. On the other hand, blockchain technology is an emerging technology with a strong cryptographic foundation. In this paper, the authors propose a new secure e-voting system based on Ethereum blockchain. In addition, they propose a hierarchical coloured petri net (HCPN) model for their e-voting system using CPN Tools. They verify by means of simulation techniques and state space analysis important properties such as absence of deadlocks and livelocks.