Abstract

This research was carried out to examine electronic voting system with special focus on online voting system, which is a form of electronic voting. One basic feature of democracy that cuts across all divides of people is the act of election which peaks in voting. Voting means formally expressing your choice or opinion by a ballot, show of hands, etc. Democracy thus encourages individual freedom according to the rule of law, so that people may behave and express themselves as they choose. This not only gives people a chance to choose their leaders, but also to freely express their views on issues. A voting system is made up of all the persons and processes involved in voting. Voters, contestants, casting of ballot, recording and publication of voting results are all parts of the voting system. A voting system could be manual or electronic. A manual voting system makes use of manual processes and approaches such as use of ballot papers, pen, papers, etc while the electronic counterpart uses information and communication technologies such as computers, telephones, websites, etc in carrying out its voting functions. The inefficiency of manual voting processes has resulted in a lot of problems. These problems have continued to obstruct the peace of democracy because the choice of a capable candidate is not encouraged by the current system. Some of the major problems are high incidence of multiple voting, massive transfer of ballot papers and forging of electoral papers using fictitious names. To solve the problems highlighted above, an online voting system needs to be set up. An online voting system is a voting system where voting is web-based. This implies that voting online can be done by any qualified person from any part of the world. This saves a lot of stress and increases people’s participation in the electoral (voting) system. However, data security issues, privacy issues, virus attacks, epileptic power supply, poor internet connections and computer illiteracy are some of the challenges associated with online voting system. The present researcher therefore presented an overview of online voting system for Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), including explanation of related concepts, and analysis of usage, benefits and limitations of online voting system.

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
One basic feature of democracy that cuts across all divides of people is the act of election which peaks in voting. Voting means formally expressing your choice or opinion by a ballot, show of hands, etc. Democracy thus encourages individual freedom according to the rule of law, so that people may behave and express themselves as they choose. This not only gives people a chance to choose their leaders, but also to freely express their views on issues.
A voting system is made up of all the persons and processes involved in voting. Voters, contestants, casting of ballot, recording and publication of voting results are all parts of the voting system. A voting system could be manual or electronic. A manual voting system makes use of manual processes and approaches such as use of ballot papers, pen, papers, etc while the electronic counterpart uses information and communication technologies such as computers, telephones, websites, etc in carrying out its voting functions.
The inefficiency of manual voting processes has resulted in a lot of problems. These problems have continued to obstruct the peace of democracy because the choice of a capable candidate is not encouraged by the current system. The problems are as follows:
- High incidence of multiple voting, massive transfer of ballot papers and forging of electoral papers using fictitious names.
- Indiscrete manipulation and inflation of election figures by electoral commission officers to suit the interest of their favoured candidates.
- Thuggery operation, fear of intimidation and victimization, and smuggling of ballot papers in the ballot boxes.
- Loss of votes due to either wrong voting or the case of any of accident occurring during transporting of the statement of result forms and other electoral materials to the collation centers.
- Delay in the generation and announcement of election results which gives room for other manipulations.
To solve the problems highlighted above, an online voting system needs to be set up. An online voting system is a voting system where voting is web-based; i.e. votes are cast over the Internet. The internet is a network of networks. It is an interaction of computer networks connecting other networks from homes, offices, institutions, etc. The Internet is an open source and this implies that anybody can access it from anywhere with little or no restrictions. This in effect implies that voting online can be done by any qualified person from any part of the world. This saves a lot of stress and increases people’s participation in the electoral (voting) system. Again, cost of purchasing election materials such as ballot papers and cost of paying ad hoc election staffs are saved. Thuggery, loss of ballot papers, intimidations and other forms of irregularities noticed in the manual voting system are totally eliminated in the online version.
However, data security issues, privacy issues, virus attacks, epileptic power supply, poor internet connections and computer illiteracy are some of the challenges associated with online voting system.
The present researcher therefore presents an overview of online voting system for Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), including explanation of related concepts, and analysis of usage, benefits and limitations of online voting system.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The inefficiency of the manual voting system has resulted in a lot of problems. These problems have continued to obstruct the peace of democracy because the choice of suitably qualified candidates is not encouraged by the current system. The problems are as follows:
- High incidence of multiple voting, massive transfer of ballot papers and forging of electoral papers using fictitious names.
- Indiscrete manipulation and inflation of election figures by electoral commission officers to suit the interest of their favoured candidates.
- Thuggery operation, fear of intimidation and victimization, and smuggling of ballot papers in the ballot boxes.
- Loss of votes due to either wrong voting or the case of any of accident occurring during transporting of the statement of result forms and other electoral materials to the collation centers.
- Delay in the generation and announcement of election results which gives room for other manipulations.
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to analyze an electronic voting system.
The specific objective of this project is to achieve the following:
• Each voter will be able to vote only once
• Nobody will have access to the votes before the official opening of the electronic ballot box
• The votes cast cannot be intercepted, modified or diverted.
• The online site will resist any attack
• Only registered voters will have access to the application
• Voters will be protected against any attempt of identity theft.
• The secrecy of the vote will be guaranteed
• Rigging of the election will be controlled
• The system will not accept votes outside the voting period
• It will put to an end the indiscriminate alteration of election result by any officer of the electoral commission of Enugu State.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The Independent National Electoral Commission will benefit from this project because it will introduce them to a convenient, fast and accurate system for conducting credible, free and fair elections in the country. Voters will also be happy with this online voting system as it will save them time and energy that would have been spent forming queues to cast their votes in the manual voting system. This project report will serve as a useful guide to any other student carrying out further research on same or related topics. Most importantly, this project forms an inevitable requirement for the award of National Diploma (ND) in Computer Science.
1.5 Scope of the Study
This study focuses on analysis of an electronic (online) voting system for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Enugu.