Multi-Candidate Voting Model Based on Blockchain

• Published in: IEEE/CAA journal of automatica sinica Vol. 8; no. 12; pp. 1891 - 1900
• Main Authors: Xu, Dongliang, Shi, Wei, Zhai, Wensheng, Tian, Zhihong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway Chinese Association of Automation (CAA) 01.12.2021; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); School of Mechanical Electrical and Information Engineering,Shandong University,Weihai,Shandong 264209; Cyberspace Institute of Advanced Technology,Guangzhou University,Guangzhou 510006,China%School of Information Technology,Carleton University,Ottawa,Canada%School of Mechanical Electrical and Information Engineering,Shandong University,Weihai,Shandong 264209,China%Cyberspace Institute of Advanced Technology,Guangzhou University,Guangzhou 510006,China
• Subjects: Algorithms; Blockchain; Blockchains; Cryptography; Distributed ledger; Encryption; Forgery; multi-candidate voting model; Online voting; Privacy; Real-time systems; Smart contracts; Trusted third parties; Voters; voting; voting anonymity confusion algorithm; Voting machines; multi-candidate voting model; voting; voting anonymity confusion algorithm; Blockchain
• ISSN: 2329-9266; 2329-9274
• DOI: 10.1109/JAS.2021.1004207

Electronic voting has partially solved the problems of poor anonymity and low efficiency associated with traditional voting. However, the difficulties it introduces into the supervision of the vote counting, as well as its need for a concurrent guaranteed trusted third party, should not be overlooked. With the advent of blockchain technology in recent years, its features such as decentralization, anonymity, and non-tampering have made it a good candidate in solving the problems that electronic voting faces. In this study, we propose a multi-candidate voting model based on the blockchain technology. With the introduction of an asymmetric encryption and an anonymity-preserving voting algorithm, votes can be counted without relying on a third party, and the voting results can be displayed in real time in a manner that satisfies various levels of voting security and privacy requirements. Experimental results show that the proposed model solves the aforementioned problems of electronic voting without significant negative impact from an increasing number of voters or candidates.