Election voting DAPP using Smart contracts (Block Chain)- Part I
Problem Statement:
Conducting elections in a traditional way is generally a huge expense, and has many inherent flaws, which if not addressed leads to a high trust deficit and unworthy candidates being chosen.
· A Centralized process
· Double (Multiple) Voting.
· Voting for Invalid candidates.
· Voter impersonation is possible.
· Voter identity is not private.
· Tampering with election process is possible
· Trust deficit as only central authority has access to verify every vote.
Hence, we need to devise a more convenient way for people to vote using technology which enables complete trust and is easily verifiable.
Solution:
Blockchain enables a trust less, verifiable decentralized system on a replicated hyper ledger.
Build a DAPP (Decentralized Application) to enable election voting using smart contracts.
All credits to dappuniversity for explaining DAPPS concepts in an easy way.
A question that could & should naturally come up now is:
Why is a DAPP (or) decentralized application required, can we not take a traditional client server application setup for this?
No, this wouldn’t work well for our problem statement. Following points reflects why such a setup would be counterproductive.
· No central authority should be able to modify the rules (contracts) of the election once finalized.
· To create and store value (of assets), the code & data store (DB) should not be under the control of central authority or some developers.
· Block chain enables voter anonymity, using public address to vote instead of real names.
· Block chain ledger allows for finality & immutability.
· Hacking/ Injecting fraudulent transactions (votes) is almost impossible as every node has a latest copy of the election voting ledger with itself.
Features of the Smart Contract based DAPP:
· Election voting DAPP allows accounts to vote for candidates listed in an election.
· No one (even developers/ central agency) is able to modify the rules (contracts) of the election once finalized as this is completely controlled by the smart contracts.
· Block chain enables individual voter anonymity, using public address to vote instead of real names.
· Block chain ledger allows for finality & immutability to prevent double voting.
Implementation:
· Solidity Programming for building the DAPP smart contract(s).
· Ganache for enabling local Ethereum block chain setup.
· Truffle framework for deploying the smart contract to the blockchain.
· Tests to validate & check for double voting & invalid voting (Mocha framework).
· JavaScript for building event driven web app.
· Metamask extension to record block chain accounts & vote transactions.
Thanks for reading, this concludes Part I of this medium article.
In Part II, we would discuss in detail about the working of the DAPP and also challenges & results based on a local blockchain setup.
Please share and support and lets build a decentralized future.
