Prototype implementation of dynavote e-voting protocol

Abstract

Voting is regarded as one of the most effective methods for individuals to express their opinions on a given topic. Electronic voting (eVoting) refers to the use of computers or computerised voting equipments to cast ballots in an election. eVoting performed over Internet can be universally accepted in the upcoming years due to the fact that Internet plays key roles in people's lives. The DynaVote eVoting protocol claims that it is practical over a network since it does not use complex algorithms and has no physical assumptions such as untappable channels, whereas fulfilling core voting requirements such as privacy, accuracy, uncoercibility and individual verifiability. Software development requires considerable amount of time and money. Therefore, in order to utilise all resources, the prototype implementation gains more importance as it gives quick feedbacks about the practicality of the system. This paper presents a prototype implementation of DynaVote eVoting protocol over the Internet. Since DynaVote relies on PVID scheme, which is an unlinkable pseudo identity mechanism, the prototype includes implementation of PVID scheme component as well. The main outcome of this study is to prove that DynaVote protocol over Internet is practical and applicable in real life and to illustrate that PVID scheme provides unlinkability. This study also contributes some improvements in DynaVote e-voting protocol. Furthermore, this paper analyses how the prototype fulfils some electronic voting system requirements such as efficiency, transparency and mobility.