A Comparative Analysis of Traditional versus Blockchain-based Voting Systems

Abstract

Voting holds immense importance in any democracy, serving as the bedrock of any country's democratic structure. It possesses the transformative potential to shape the nation's future. However, the history of elections and the voting process has witnessed significant developments. Initially, paper ballots and laborious counting methods were employed, but they faced severe criticism due to fraudulent practices and booth capturing. To address the shortcomings of the paper ballot system, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) emerged as a technological advancement. EVMs addressed paper ballot drawbacks but concerns persist over hacking, fraud, software programming, manufacturer affiliations, machine security, and vote storage. An alternative to the prevalent EVM system is a blockchain-based voting system, although it has limitations. The primary objective of this paper is to present the working of traditional, EVM, and blockchain-based voting systems. Finally, the objective is to present a comparison between traditional, EVM, and blockchain-based voting systems. © 2023 IEEE.