MOBILE VOTING SYSTEM (MVS)
By
CSC11-54 Net-Centric Computing DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATICS TECHNOLOGY
A Project Report Submitted to the School of Computing and Informatics Technology for the Study Leading to a Project in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science of Makerere University.
Supervisor MR. JOAB AGABA
Department of Networks School of Computing and Informatics Technology, Makerere University
[email protected] , +256-41-540628, +256-41-540628, Fax: +256-41-540620 +256-41-540620
June, 2011.
Declaration
We Group CSC11-54 do hereby declare that this Project Report is original and has not been published and/or submitted for any other degree award to any other University before. GROUP MEMBERS:
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Names
Registration Number
1
OYITE DAVID ROBINSON
08/U/1429
2
KAWAIDA DAVID
08/U/1418
3
OCHOLA JACOB
08/U/1426
4
LUTAAYA JOSEPH
08/U/16799/PS
i
Signature
Declaration
We Group CSC11-54 do hereby declare that this Project Report is original and has not been published and/or submitted for any other degree award to any other University before. GROUP MEMBERS:
#
Names
Registration Number
1
OYITE DAVID ROBINSON
08/U/1429
2
KAWAIDA DAVID
08/U/1418
3
OCHOLA JACOB
08/U/1426
4
LUTAAYA JOSEPH
08/U/16799/PS
i
Signature
Approval This Project Report has been submitted for Examination with the approval of the following supervisor.
Signed:
_______________________
Date:
_______________________
Mr. Agaba Joab Bsc (CS), MSc Department of Networks College of Computing and Information Sciences
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Dedication This project is dedicated to our loved ones, families, comrades and all those who have contributed to our studies and to our Lord Jesus Christ for His grace we worked together as a team to accomplish this project.
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Acknowledgment First of all, we glorify the Lord Jesus Christ who enabled us to merge ideas throughout this period so as to achieve and present a solution to the task we were handling. We would also like to appreciate our supervisor Mr. Joab Agaba for the inestimable support, guidance and encouragement offered to us during this project’s undertaking.
We also extend our gratitude to our family members and friends whose support, tireless efforts and prayers gave us the faith to accomplish this project. May God richly bless you all!
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Table of Contents Declaration ................................................................................................................................... i Approval ..................................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgment ....................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ................................................... ..................................................................... v List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ............................................... .............................................................................. x List of Abbreviations and Acronyms ................................................ ......................................... xi Abstract ................................................ ..................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................ 1 1.3 Main Objective...................................................................................................................... 1 1.3.1 Specific Objectives ........................................................................................................ 2 1.4 Scope .............................................. ....................................................................................... 2
1.5 Significance ............................................. .............................................................................. 2 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Literature Review ......................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Introduction ............................................. .............................................................................. 4 2.2 Mobile Voting Systems......................................................................................................... 4 2.2.1 Risks ................................................. .............................................................................. 5 2.2.2 Challenges ................................................. ..................................................................... 5 2.3 Usage of Mobile Voting Systems ........................................................................... .............. 7 2.3.1 The Current Voting Process ................................................. .......................................... 8 2.4 Examples of Existing Voting Systems ................................................. ................................. 9 v
2.4.1 Makerere University e-voting System ........................................................................... 9 2.4.2 Mobile Voting in Estonia ............................................................................................... 9 2.4.3 The EU CyberVote Project .......................................................................................... 10 2.5 Comparison between the Existing Voting Systems and the Proposed Mobile Voting System .................................................. ..................................................................................... 11 2.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 12
3.1 Data Collection Techniques ................................................ ................................................ 12 3.1.1 Interviews.................................................. ................................................................... 12 3.1.2 Documentation Review ................................................ ................................................ 12 3.2 System Analysis and Design ............................................... ................................................ 12 3.2.1 System Analysis .................................................. ......................................................... 12 3.2.2 System Design ............................................................................................................. 13 3.3 System Implementation Tools ............................................................................................ 13 3.3.1 Implementation Tools .................................................. ................................................ 13 3.4 System’s Testing and Validation ........................................................................................ 15 3.4.1 Testing.......................................................................................................................... 15 3.4.2 Validation .................................................. ................................................................... 15 Chapter 4 ..................................................................................................................................... 16 System Study, Analysis and Design ................................................... ........................................ 16
4.1 System Study ...................................................................................................................... 16 4.1.1 Workflow for the Voting Process ............................................................................. ... 16 4.1.2 Weaknesses of the Existing Systems ........................................................................... 17 4.2 System Analysis............................................... ................................................................... 17 4.2.1 User Requirements ....................................................................................................... 17 4.2.2 Functional Requirements ............................................................................................. 18 4.2.3 Non-Functional Requirements ..................................................................................... 18 vi
4.3 System Design .................................................................................................................... 18 4.3.1 Process Modeling ................................................ ......................................................... 19 4.3.2 Description for the level1 DFD.................................................................................... 22 4.3.3 Architectural Design for the System ............................................................................ 24 4.4 Data Modeling .................................................................................................................... 24 4.4.1 Data Requirements ....................................................................................................... 25 4.4.2 Identification of Entities and the Associated Attributes .............................................. 26 4.4.3 Modeling Relationships between Entities.............................................. ...................... 27 4.4.4 The Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) ............................................... ...................... 28 4.4.6 Mapping ERD to Relational Schema ........................................................................... 29 Chapter 5 ..................................................................................................................................... 31 System Implementation .............................................................................................................. 31
5.1 Introduction ............................................. ............................................................................ 31 5.2 System Functions ................................................................................................................ 31 5.2.1 Functions provided to all Users. .................................................................................. 31 5.2.2 Functions provided to the Voter. ................................................................................. 31 5.2.3 Functions provided to the Registrar. ............................................................................ 31 5.2.4 Functions provided to the Returning Officer. .............................................................. 31 5.3 System Map ........................................................................................................................ 32 5.4 System Requirements.......................................................................................................... 33 5.4.1 Hardware Requirements............................................................................................... 33 5.4.2 Software Requirements ................................................ ................................................ 33 5.5 Sample Screenshots ............................................................................................................ 35 5.5.1 The Election Administration Pages ............................................................................. 35 5.5.2 The Election Results Page ........................................................................................... 36 5.5.3 The Mobile Voter’s Interfaces ..................................................................................... 37 5.6 System Testing and Validation Results ........................................................ ...................... 38 vii
5.6.1 System Testing Results .................................................................................................... 38 5.6.2 Validation Results ................................................... ......................................................... 39 Chapter 6 ..................................................................................................................................... 40 Summary, Recommendations and Conclusion......................................................................... 40
6.1 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 40 6.2 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 40 6.3 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 40 References ............................................... ..................................................................................... 41 Appendices .............................................. ..................................................................................... 43
Appendix I: ............................................................................................................................... 43 Appendix II: .................................................. ............................................................................ 44 Appendix III:................................................. ............................................................................ 45
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List of Tables Table 1: Comparison between the existing systems and the proposed MVS ................................ 11 Table 2: Description of Processes ................................................ ................................................ 22 Table 3: Description of Data Stores ............................................................................................. 22 Table 4: Description of Data Reports ................................................... ........................................ 22 Table 5: Description of External Entities ..................................................................................... 23 Table 6: Identification of Entities and Associated Attributes ....................................................... 26 Table 7: The Candidate table ....................................................................................................... 29 Table 8: The Voter table ............................................................................................................... 29 Table 9: The Course table ............................................................................................................ 29 Table 10: The Position table ................................................ ......................................................... 30 Table 11: The Hall table ............................................................................................................... 30 Table 12: The Vote table ............................................................................................................... 30 Table 13: Hardware Requirements............................................................................................... 33 Table 14: Software Requirements ................................................. ................................................ 3 4
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List of Figures Figure 4.1: Flowchart for the manual voting process .................................................................. 16 Figure 4.2: Context Diagram for the Mobile Voting System ........................................................ 19 Figure 4.3: Level1 DFD for the Mobile Voting System ................................................................ 21 Figure 4.4: Architectural Design for the System .......................................................................... 24 Figure 4.5: Relationship between Voter and Course ................................................................ ... 27 Figure 4.6: Relationship between Voter and Hall .................................................. ...................... 27 Figure 4.7: Relationship between Candidate and Position .......................................................... 27 Figure 4.8: Relationship between Voter and Vote. ................................................. ...................... 27 Figure 4.9: Relationship between Candidate and Vote ................................................................ 27 Figure 4.10: Relationship between Vote and Position ................................................................. 28 Figure 4.11: The ERD for Mobile Voting System ................................................... ...................... 28 Figure 5.1: System Map showing functions provided by the system to each user ........................ 32 Figure 5.2: The Mobile Voting System’s login page and Homepage. .......................................... 35 Figure 5.3: The Edit Voter Register Page. ................................................................................... 36 Figure 5.4: The Election Results Page. ................................................ ........................................ 36 Figures 5.5 – 5.8: The Mobile Voter’s Login & Authentication Interfaces.................................. 37 Figures 5.9 – 5.12: The Mobile Voter’s Electronic Ballot Interfaces. ......................................... 37
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List of Abbreviations and Acronyms 3G
Third Generation
Ack
Acknowledgment (or feedback)
AJAX
Asynchronous JavaScript and XML
CLDC
Connected, Limited Device Configuration
DFD
Dataflow Diagram
DISD
Department of Innovations and Software Development
DRE
Direct Recording Electronic
ERD
Entity – Relationship Diagram
EU
European Union
FSB
Front Side Bus
GSM
Global System for Mobile communication
HTML
Hyper Text Markup Language
ICT
Information and Communication Technology
JTWI
Java Technology for Wireless Industry
MIDP
Mobile Information Device Profile
MVS
Mobile Voting System
MySQL
My Simple Query Language
PHP
Hypertext Preprocessor
RO
Returning Officer
SCIT
School of Computing & Informatics Technology
XML
Extensible Markup Language
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Abstract This report presents a mobile voting system project tailored for Makerere University. The project was an important area for development because the efficiency, reliability and security of the procedures used to conduct preceding elections were jeopardized by numerous irregularities. The aim of this project was to develop an interactive voting system with which users can participate using their mobile phone and retrieve real-time results on a web-based platform. It involved three phases: the development of a front-end to the voting system; the development of a method of interaction with mobile phones, and the development of a web-based administration tool. Information for system study was gathered using tools such as interviews and study of relevant literature. DFDs and ERDs were used in the analysis and design of the system. The technologies used in the implementation of the objectives of this study included, Java, AJAX, PHP and the Database Management System employed was MySQL. The outcome of the project was an integrated system capable of online registration, receiving votes from mobile phones, tallying the received votes and real-time display of results over the web. Upon successful testing and system validation, we believe that the system can administer election processes fairly, effectively and efficiently.
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Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Background Voting is a formal indication of a choice between two or more candidates or courses of action, expressed typically through hand-counted paper ballots or by show of hands [1]. In democratic societies, voting is an important tool to collect and reflect people’s opinions. Traditionally, voting is conducted in centralized locations called polling stations. Voters go to these polling stations and cast their votes under the supervision of authorized parties. The votes are then counted manually once the voting process has ended and later the results are declared. Like all other aspects of democracy, voting requires transparency, participation and accountability. To increase the efficiency and accuracy of voting procedures, computerized voting systems have been developed to help in collecting and counting the votes. These include Lever Voting Machines, Punched Cards for Voting, Optical Mark-Sense Scanners and Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) votin g systems [2]. However, the voting systems in most institutional bodies in the past have been marred with irregularities which have jeopardized this democratic process. Hence the need for improvement in the voting system through mobile technologies as a means of attaining the democracy most people advocate for is paramount.
1.2 Problem Statement Due to the irregularities involved in the voting process such as delays in tallying, poor attendance due to distant poll-sites, increased cost of conducting elections, lack of transparency and poll-site voting limitations (such as queues), there is need to develop a Mobile Voting System to curb these problems.
1.3 Main Objective The general objective of the study is to develop a Mobile Voting System (MVS) for Makerere University. 1
1.3.1 Specific Objectives The specific objectives for the Mobile Voting System are; 1. To carry out an investigation on the electoral process in Makerere University 2. To design a Mobile Voting System to support voting at Makerere University 3. To implement the system. 4. To test and validate the system.
1.4 Scope The system will be limited to elections held at the school level in Makerere University which include; the School President, Vice President, Finance Minister and other members of the cabinet. Emphasis will be on the School of Computing and Informatics Technology (SCIT) but it can also serve as a tool in conducting elections in other schools and colleges. 1.5
Significance
Business around the world has widely, of recent, been conducted using electronic means. Governments have come to realize the benefits of automating several processes due to efficiency and relatively low cost as compared to traditional means. As the digital age continues to grow, only time will tell until almost every human-handled process becomes computerized. Furthermore, governments are getting more involved in developing the ICT sector due to the pressure imposed by other governments and regulatory bodies for fear of lagging b ehind. Mobile communication of recent has taken the world by storm and its getting bigger and better. Due to the numerous advantages they offer, a number of government and private business processes are being carried out under this platform. A case in point is the Mobile Money service provided by Mobile Telecommunications Companies in Uganda that enable users to pay water bills, electricity bills, tax, send and receive money, et al. Augmenting the current voting systems with mobile voting will enhance the voting process by increasing voter participation. Below are other advanta ges that mobile voting systems offer; 1. Reduced costs in the materials required for printing and distributing ballots. 2. It permits access to more information regarding voting options and processes also. 2
3. Efficiency and accuracy in placing and tallying votes and displaying the results to the voters. 4. Minimal chances of invalid votes due to the use of option buttons to represent candidates. 5. Flexibility as mobile voting can support multiple languages, and the flexible design allows upto-the minute ballot modifications. 6. The same development concept can be used and applied in other fields of research to support researchers in collecting and analyzing people’s opinions and views.
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Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 Introduction This chapter includes a critical look at the existing research and case studies that have significance with this research project. It has been done by consulting other people’s work in order to understand and investigate the problem of the research project. In conducting literature review, scholarly articles, books and other sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research or o r theory has been surveyed. After reviewing all materials, a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work is granted. The automation of business and governmental processes has long been a success story in many countries. As the use of mobile phones for voice and data communication increase, users continue to demand for more services to be offered by mobile phones due to the comfort they present. Recently a number of governments have employed e-voting systems in some of their elections and referendums using mostly computer terminals and a few with mobile voting systems. There is need to review the literature because it is important to know exactly what has been going on, the system in use and identification of gaps and inefficiencies so as to come up with the appropriate solution that will lead to the enhancement of the electoral process in Makerere University. Therefore using different sources we have managed to analyze and compare the existing voting systems and we have concluded that there is need for improvement.
2.2 Mobile Voting Systems Mobile Voting System (MVS) is a system that will operate in parallel with the existing manual and automated voting processes. It will enable legitimate voters to cast their vote from wherever they please using their mobile devices unlike other means that require the voter to appear at the polling station. This will help alleviate alleviate the nuisance of long queues at poll-sites which waste a lot of time. It
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will also ease the vote-counting process which will be done instantly as the voting progresses and a graphical display will be available on a site (attached to the system) for all stakeholders to view progress, hence ensuring transparency. Mobile voting falls under a category of voting called e-voting, which is short for ‘electronic voting’, and refers to to the option of using electronic means to vote in referendums and elections. There are systems such as DRE voting machines that record the vote without that vote being transmitted over the Internet or another network. The interface of a DRE machine can be a touch screen or a scanner that scans the ballot paper where the voter v oter marked the vote. The vote is then registered and stored in the voting machine. Then there is voting over the Internet that uses a PC with an Internet-connection to cast the vote and send it to be stored in another remote computer. Personal Digital Assistants (PDA’s), telephones or mo bile phones phon es can also be used to cast a vote electronically [3]. Besides its hype and advantages over traditional voting systems, MVS reliability, security and transparency are still issues that limit its deployment in many countries. Bradly et al [3], [3], points out the risks and challenges faced by b y electronic voting systems as follows;
2.2.1 Risks 1. Third parties: Unauthorized intervention of third parties in the voting process. Given the current state of information technology, there is no guarantee, that a programme would not be manipulated to allow the storage and printing of a form or document different from the one appearing on the screen. 2. Errors and technical malfunctions: More difficult to to detect and identify the source of errors errors and technical malfunctions than with conventional procedures. 3. Unreliability: Possibility that fully digitized system would fail to produce results and lack physical back-up records, making a public recount difficult or impossible.
2.2.2 Challenges 1. Security: In the context of remote e-voting, special attention should be given to the process guaranteeing a free and secret vote. Only entitled voters are allowed to cast a vote and this requires that every voter be authenticated (e.g. by using a PIN -Personal Identification Number or TAN -Transaction Number or by the use of digital signature) and their right to 5
vote verified. In order to prevent multiple votes being cast or other misuse, a record must be made and checked in order to establish whether the voter has already cast a vote. There must be an electronic separation between the vote and the identification of the voter. 2. Reliability: Mobile Voting Systems have to interact with some database server, or some other server, over a network. There might be instances when this network goes down during the voting process which may cause a potential voter to miss out on casting his/her vote, especially when he/she planned to use the system with no aim of going to the poll-site. Keeping the network stable and available during the voting process is a challenge that MVS application developers need to consider. 3. Skepticism: Networks have been widely used all around the world in a number of sectors due to their benefits. The internet is the world’s largest network, with billions of dollars in transactions being carried out over it per fiscal year. Nevertheless, a large number of people, especially in developing countries where internet technologies are beginning to gain ground, still doubt the power that it brings into speeding up communication and information sharing. As governments begin to adopt e-voting, Mobile Voting for that matter, people doubt the security and transparency of such schemes just as they do for the internet. Besides these challenges and risks, Mobile Voting Systems can still be trusted as a platform to conduct free and fair elections in a secure and transparent manner given that they are well implemented. Mutual authentication, integrity, voter anonymity and system accountability are some of the critical functional requirements that Mobile Voting Systems should have. If all these and some other requirements are well catered for in the system, then it can be a success – which is a high possibility [4]. Mobile Voting Systems are composed of several interacting agents, the Vote Collector, the Vote Manager, the Vote Authority, the Candidate, and the Voters. The Vote Authority (VA) is responsible for registering candidates for elections and commissioning Vote Managers. The Vote Collector (VC) is a mobile agent mandated by a stationary Vote Manager (VM) agent to collect votes from stationary voting agents (VOs). The arrangement of the system in such components can ensure a stable system suitable for voting [5].
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2.3 Usage of Mobile Voting Systems Citizens around the world recognize and embrace the benefits of e-Government services such as online tax filing, license renewal, and benefits claims. Now governments are initiating strategies that support e-democracy and in doing so, engaging more citizens in democratic processes. This briefly addresses the highly formal processes of e-democracy, e-voting in particular, to offer governments and democratic-based entities worldwide the infrastructures, applications, and services necessary to implement and manage reliable, secure e-voting systems. Today, the development and widespread use of information technologies is changing the way people view voting processes and, ultimately, the way they vote.
Mobile Voting Systems offer multiple advantages over traditional paper-based voting systemsadvantages that increase citizen access to democratic processes and encourage participation. Manish et al [6] explains these advantages as below; 1. Reduced costs: E-voting systems reduce the materials required for printing and distributing ballots. Internet based voting, in particular, offers superior economies of scale in regard to the size of the electoral roll. 2. Increased participation and voting options : E-voting offers increased convenience to the voter, encourages more voters to cast their votes remotely, and increases the likelihood of participation for mobile voters. Additionally, it permits access to more information regarding voting options. 3. Greater speed and accuracy placing and tallying votes : E-voting's step-by-step processes help minimize the number of miscast votes. The electronic gathering and counting of ballots reduces the amount of time spent tallying votes a nd delivering results. 4. Greater accessibility for the disabled and the sick : Because they support a variety of interfaces and accessibility features, e-voting systems allow citizens with disabilities-especially the visually impaired-to vote independently and privately. 5. Flexibility : E-voting can support multiple languages, and the flexible design allows up-to-theminute ballot modifications.
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th
According to Lumu [7], an article on the aftermath of 18 February 2011 presidential elections in Uganda, invalid votes accounted for 4% of the votes. This makes the issue of invalid votes in manual voting systems a big problem. However, with a mobile voting system, there will be little or no invalid votes due to the use of option buttons on the electronic ballots to represent candidates.
2.3.1 The Current Voting Process According to the Electoral Commission Board [8], Constitutionalism, rule of law and good governance are the fundamental pillars of democracy. Democracy, irrespective of whatever form it takes in different national domains must not lose its universal sense of a government of the people, by the people and for the people. This is why democratic leadership in any country should only be accessed through a free and fair electoral process which is the foundation of true democracy. Mugisha [9], lists the steps used in the manual electoral process as follows; 1. Formulating legislation, through Parliament, that will guide and support any election process. 2. Calling of elections, 3. Registration of candidates, 4. Preparation and display of voter’s register at polling stations 5. Voting at polling stations 6. Counting and tallying of votes, 7. Declaration of results by the Electoral Body A citizen of Uganda of or above 18 years who is registered has the right to vote in a parish or ward where he or she is registered as a voter for public elections and referenda. That person cannot be compelled to vote in any election in Uganda under the present constitution. A person, however, is not qualified to vote in an election if he/she is not a registered voter. The guidelines to be followed when voting in elections and referenda can be found in articles 68 (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) of the constitution of Uganda. Articles 59 (1), (2), (3), and (4) also identify the citizens who are eligible for voting and the role of the state and the parliament in the electoral process [10].
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2.4 Examples of Existing Voting Systems 2.4.1 Makerere University e-voting System According to the Department of Innovations and Software Development (DISD), School of Computing and Informatics Technology [11], In March 2009, Makerere University office of the Dean of Students approached DISD and requested that an application be developed that could help to alleviate, among other things, election rigging, loss of votes, disparities in regard to how many voters registered and the number of votes counted and any other election malpractices that have plagued the university over the years. The system was supposed to be used in the Makerere University Guild elections. A prototype of the system was used in the Guild Representative Council Elections at the Halls of Residence where the students were electing student leaders. Basing on this, the system was enhanced and is now ready to be used in the entire Guild elections. Because of the projects success, Makerere University Administration asked the Department to maintain it for future election that shall be conducted at the University. The system had the following capabilities; 1. It does instant counting; counts the voters who ha ve voted instantly 2. Instantly counts the voters who have voted for a particular candidate 3. Gives overall count and tallies the votes for each candidate 4. Can provide option of manual counting of votes by printing the ballot papers that were ticked in case one doubts its results 5. It totally eliminates the involvement of human force during the counting and tallying the results 6. In less than a minute, the winner is known
2.4.2 Mobile Voting in Estonia Estonia is a small country hidden away on the shores of the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland. Despite its small size and population, it has already made a significant contribution to the communications world, being home to much of the R & D that has gone into the skype application now used by some 370 million people globally.
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In 2008, Estonia became the first country to allow voting in nationwide general elections to be done online. The online turnout wasn’t very great – only about 3.5% of registered voters – but it signaled again that the country holds its own when it comes to technology. Now, Estonia has again landed itself in the global technology spotlight. Its parliament voted to allow voting via mobile phones – Mobile Voting. Though it won’t actually implement the process until the 2011 general elections, it is the first country to pas s such a law. Estonia’s mobile penetration rate was rated at more than 120% in 2008. The first question that comes to mind is regarding the security of such endeavor. Following 2009 elections, officials said there were no instances of hacking, fraud, or other malicious activity with the online voting process [12].
2.4.3 The EU CyberVote Project In September 2000, the European Commission launched the CyberVote project with the aim of demonstrating fully verifiable on-line elections guaranteeing absolute privacy of the votes and using fixed and mobile Internet terminal. The project involved partners from industries: EADS Matra Systèmes
&
Information
of
France,
Nokia
Research
Centre
of
Finland,
and
British
Telecommunications of the United Kingdom, universities: K.U.Leuven Research & Development of Belgium, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven of The Netherlands, and potential users: Freie Hansestadt Bremen of Germany, Mairie d'Issy-les-Moulineaux of France, Kista Stadsdelsnämnd of Sweden. The CyberVote project involved the development of an e-voting system that was tested in different elections in 2002-2003. The first test was held on 11 December 2002 in the French town of Issy-lesMoulineaux. 860 voters have elected their representatives to the city boroughs' counsels electronically. The second test took place in Germany on 13-15 January 2003 at the Bremen University. The trial covered the elections of the three University's representative bodies: the university council, the councils of the different university departments and the student council with a total of 47 voters casting their votes electronically. The last test took place in the Swedish Kista with the participation of the elderly citizens in Kista. Much work was needed to attract voters aged over 55. The trial was open all day during the week of 27-31 January 2003. At the end of that period, 226 voters had participated in the electronic votin g.
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Other countries that have employed mobile voting systems in some of their referenda and elections include; Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UK and USA [3].
2.5 Comparison between the Existing Voting Systems and the Proposed Mobile Voting System The table below illustrates the comparison between the existing voting systems in use and the proposed mobile voting system. Table 1: Comparison between the existing systems and the proposed MVS Identifying attributes
MVS
MUK e-Voting
Estonia’s Mobile Voting
Web support
Yes
Yes
No
Area applied
University level
School/Hall level
Country-wide
Languages used
Java, HTML, HTML, PHP and PKI, Python, C, HTML PHP, AJAX and MySQL and PHP MySQL
Technology Used
Web application
Web based
GSM chip and Software
Customizable
Yes
No
No
Hardware dependent
No
No
Yes
Security
More secure
Secure
Most secure
2.6 Conclusion A socioeconomic and technological look into the future predicts that most business transactions, client support services will be mobile-aided. The imminent response from mobile users through the use of mobile phones will provide the inexpensive voting option as this technology will promote mass participation and it will ensure secure voting. Therefore the need to ensure democracy and to support voting process through the relevant mobile technologies is paramount now than ever before.
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Chapter 3 Methodology 3.1 Data Collection Techniques 3.1.1 Interviews Interviews are a forum for talking to people and they may be structured, unstructured or semistructured. We conducted interviews with the stakeholders; the School cabinet ministers to identify and specify functional and non-functional requirements to determine requirement specification. Our interviews were both semi-guided and unguided and also contained both closed and open ended questions as we obtained the data mainly about the operation of the existing system; its problems, strength, information flow and processing of the current system.
3.1.2 Documentation Review We reviewed the relevant documents, guides and laws governing the voting system in use for the past years. We also studied the processing methods used to come up with the accurate records. The most preferred sources of our documents reviews were in the form of the Constitution of Uganda, other books of literature, internet resources and journals. We were able to gather information on concepts and challenges of the current voting system. We also examined reports from the manual system which helped us to identify the inputs, processes a nd outputs of the system.
3.2 System Analysis and Design 3.2.1 System Analysis Systems analysis is the process of identifying and summarizing data with the intent to extract useful information and develop conclusions. In system analysis requirements were determined. The requirements included functional and nonfunctional base on the system study. 12
3.2.2 System Design 1. Process Modeling: This was achieved by use of Data Flow Diagrams to show processes and
external entities in the system and the end product was a detailed description of processes involved (process models). The information used in building the Data Flow Diagram was obtained from the Data Dictionary. 2. Data Modeling: This was achieved using Entity-Relationship Diagrams to show the data
requirements and model. This yielded the structure of relations in the relational schema (database).
3.3 System Implementation Tools This is whereby the physical realization of the database and the application design was done. This involved the implementation of both the database and the application programs. It was achieved using the Data Definition Language (DDL) of the selected Database Management System (DBMS).
3.3.1 Implementation Tools In the implementation stage, the following tools were used; WAMP/Apache server, MySQL, PHP, AJAX, JavaScript, Notepad++, Windows operating system, and NetBeans (as the development environment). 3.3.1.1 WampServer/Apache Server
WampServer is a free server bundle that uses Apache server. When installed on the system, it includes Apache, MySQL, and PHP. Apache is a popular web server that many ISPs and individuals use to host web pages. We installed Apache on our system as a web server. Pages were stored in the system’s special folder which was accessible on the network via the machine’s IP address. In order for pages to be viewed on the Internet, the files were stored in the www directory. 3.3.1.2 PHP
Hypertext Preprocessor is an open source server side programming language extensively used for web scripts. It is a popular server-side scripting language designed specifically for integration with HTML, and is used (often in conjunction with MySQL) in Content Management Systems and other web applications. It is available on many platforms, including Windows, Unix/Linux and Mac OS X, and any open source software. We built our content management system using this tool.
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3.3.1.3 MySQL
MySQL is an open source Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) that uses Structured Query Language (SQL), the most popular language for adding, accessing, and processing data in a database. Because it is open source, anyone can download MySQL and tailor it to their needs in accordance with general public license. MySQL is noted mainly for its speed, reliability, and flexibility. We used MySQL because it is designed as a multi-tasking/ multi-user database, which is one of the main requirements for a database. 3.3.1.4 HTML
HTML, referring to Hypertext Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. It provides a means to describe the structure of text-based information in a document by denoting certain text as links, headings, paragraphs, lists, among others and to supplement that text with interactive forms, embedded images, and other objects. HTML is written in the form of tags, surrounded by angle brackets. HTML can also describe, to some degree, the appearance and semantics of a document, and include embedded scripting language code which can affect the behavior of Web browsers and other HTML processor. We used Notepad++ environment to construct both HTML and PHP pages that served on the content management system. 3.3.1.5 Java
Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. It is the underlying technology that powers state-of-the-art programs including utilities, games, and business applications. The use of technology to support business processes and policies in place attracts the innovations of embedded systems. We wrote java applications (MIDlets) that were to be embedded in mobile phones or simulated to support the voting processes of mobile voting system. 3.3.1.6 AJAX
Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) is of late the most dynamic approach to real-time running of web applications. This tool enabled us to display in real-time the votes each candidate scored during the election process along with the respective chart to graphically represent the voting results.
14
3.4 System’s Testing and Validation 3.4.1 Testing This is the process of executing application programs with the intent of finding errors, using careful planned test strategies and realistic data the system will be methodically and rigorously tested to uncover faults in the application programs and the database structure. The faults were corrected and the process was repeated until the system was proven to be working according to users’ specification and performance requirements. This was achieved by: i.
Testing the system performance, efficiency, disk space and its throughput to ensure proper functioning of the system.
ii.
Checking the compatibility of the system with different operating systems for example Windows XP, Linux and Windows 7.
iii.
Testing for security issues like resistance to remote attacks and authentication procedures.
3.4.2 Validation The validation process for the Mobile Voting System provided a high degree of assurance that specific processes consistently provide products which met predetermined specifications and quality attributes. It involved identifying compliance to quality management procedures, life cycle definition, specifications,
for
example;
user
requirements
specification
and
functional
specification,
documentation controls and various items of documentation for example user manuals and administrator documentation and testing procedures.
15
Chapter 4 System Study, Analysis and Design 4.1 System Study From the data gathered about the existing systems through interviews and review of existing documents (documentation review), we found that manual voting systems are widely used in Makerere University elections. Further analysis of the manual voting system yielded a flow chart that shows the manual voting process right from registration of candidates and voters to declaration of the winning candidate. Figure 4.1 below shows manual voting process
4.1.1 Workflow for the Voting Process
Figure 4.1: Flowchart for the manual voting process 16
4.1.2 Weaknesses of the Existing Systems The existing manual and electronic voting processes have disadvantages or weaknesses as described below; 1. No option for voters who may not be readily available for poll-site voting since they may be sick, busy at their work places or their hom es are far from the polling stations. 2. Manual voting, counting and tallying of votes may take a long time to accomplish. Official results are not declared until after 48 hours of vo te counting and tallying. 3. Auditing of manual votes is also a burden since it may require critical analysis of ballot papers, boxes, votes and other voting material used in the voting process. 4. Miscalculations in the counting and tallying process may arise since humans are prone to making errors in such manual processes. 5. The existing electronic system was weak and prone to attacks hence hackers could manipulate the voting processes due to poor encryption of voting data.
4.2 System Analysis Data collected was analyzed in order to identify user, functional, non-functional, software and hardware requirements that guided the design and implementation of the Mobile Voting system to automate the manual voting process.
4.2.1 User Requirements These are statements, in a natural language, of what services the system is expected to provide and the constraints under which it must operate. Below are the user requirements for the system; 1. Allow mobile users to cast their votes efficiently and effectively 2. Process user’s tasks as fast as possible 3. Provide a user friendly interface with interface metaphors, mapping, affordances, constraints, visibility, feedback and other user friendly qualities of an interface. 4. Be able to provide error control and recovery process to a user in case errors are committed in data entry; so as to allow for error-free and accurate data input. 5. The user shall expect predictable results/information from the system after a given request. This information shall also be consistent.
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6. Users shall be able to access the system at any time during the voting period, that is, the system shall provide high reliability during the voting period.
4.2.2 Functional Requirements These are statements of services the MVS should provide, how the system should react to particular inputs and how the system should behave in particular situations. 1. The system shall authenticate all users provided correct credentials are supplied. 2. The registrar shall be able to register voters and candidates using th e system. 3. The system shall generate a voter’s register after all voters and candidates a re registered. 4. The system shall send e-ballots to mobile voters on request. 5. The system shall dynamically count and tally vote s during the voting process. 6. The returning officer and the voters shall be provided with a view of the vote results on a web page.
4.2.3 Non-Functional Requirements These are requirements that are not directly concerned with the specific functions delivered by the system. They relate to emergent system properties such as reliability, response time and storage capabilities of the system. 1. The system shall provide fast processing to all user requests. 2. The system shall provide platform independence. It shall be developed using platform independent programming languages like JAVA, scripting languages like AJAX, PHP and the markup language HTML. 3. The system shall be built on the principle of the 3-tier (Model-View-Controller) architecture. In this architecture, the modification of any layer shall not affect the consequent layers of the system. 4. The system shall conform to all the voting etiquette and standards ratified in the constitution of Uganda and the Electoral Commission Act.
4.3 System Design The MVS system design defines the architecture, components/subsystems, modules, interfaces and data for the system to satisfy specified requirements. It defines a physical/diagrammatical representation of the system and what processes are involved. However, it does not show how the 18
processing takes place. In system design the following tools and techniques were used; process modeling and data modeling.
4.3.1 Process Modeling In process modeling a Context Diagram (Figure 4.2) and the Level 1 DFD (Figure 4.3) were modeled. The context diagram shows the overall context of the system and how it interacts with the external entities while the Level 1 DFD shows the major sub processes identified in the MVS. Data obtained from the DFD and context diagram are collectively used to yield the data dictionary. 4.3.1.1 Context Diagram for the Mobile Voting System
Login
Login
Returning Mobile
k c a b d e e F / k c A n i g o L
Voter
Login feedback t o l l a b d n a
Voting System
Cast vote
Vote count/tally and Results
Ack of vote Login
Registrar
Login feedback Voter + candidate registration Figure 4.2: Context Diagram for the Mobile Voting System
19
Officer
Key Symbols
Symbol
Name
Process
Data flow
Data Report
D
Data Store
External Entity
20
4.3.1.2 Level1 DFD for the Mobile Voting System
Figure 4.3: Level1 DFD for the Mobile Voting System
21
4.3.2 Description for the level1 DFD The tables below give a description of all design objects used in developing the system. They include Processes, Data flows, Data stores, Data reports and the External entities involved in the system. 4.3.2.1 Description for Processes
Table 2: Description of Processes Process
Description
Authentication
Validates authentic users to access the system, and blocks unauthorized access
Candidate Registration
Registration of participating candidates
Voter Registration
Registration of voters
Process Voter’s Register
Generates the voters register
Voting
Formats voter’s choice for storage and tallying
Vote Tallying
Tallies the votes counted
4.3.2.2 Description for Data Stores
Table 3: Description of Data Stores Data store
Description
User data
User’s credentials eg username, password, etc
Candidate data
Details about a candidate eg name, position etc
Voter data
Details about a voter eg voter ID
Votes
Stores the votes cast
4.3.2.3 Description for Data Reports
Table 4: Description of Data Reports Data report
Description
Voter’s Register
Shows all valid (registered) voters
Tally Report
Shows the vote tally results
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4.3.2.4 Description for External Entities
Table 5: Description of External Entities Entity
Description
Voter
Mobile user who uses a mobile interface to login, requests for ballots and cast his/her vote
Registrar
Registers voters and candidates and generates the voter’s register
Returning Officer
Announces results (The outcome of voting). Also audits the voting outcome, and generates an audit report.
23
4.3.3 Architectural Design for the System The architectural design shows how the MVS is comprised of the different subsystems namely Data Collection, Data Processing, Data Storage and Data Display. The figure below shows an architectural diagram of the mobile voting system.
Figure 4.4: Architectural Design for the System
4.4 Data Modeling From the information obtained from the data dictionary, a data model was built. This was done by identifying data requirements for the MVS database, identification of entities and their attributes making up the system and relationships between these entities. From this an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) was obtained.
24
4.4.1 Data Requirements Below are the data requirements that were based on to obtain entities for the MVS database;
1. Candidate
Data to be stored by the candidate (aspirant for one of the positions being elected for) entity include; voter ID (student number), candidate Name, position ID, election ID, Number of Votes and photo. 2. Voter
Students and candidates are both voters. Information about voters include; voter ID, First Name, Last Name, Course ID, Gender, Hall ID, Password and Status. 3. Position
Each candidate aspires to be elected for one position. The Position entity stores the Position ID and Position Name. 4. Course
A voter at Makerere University can pursue only one course. Information to be obtained from the course entity is Course ID and Course Name. 5. Hall
Besides the courses, students also are attached or reside in halls. The Hall entity stores the Hall ID and Hall Name. 6. Vote
A voter casts vote to candidate, which is later tallied. The Vote entity stores the voter ID, candidate’s voter ID and position ID.
25
4.4.2 Identification of Entities and the Associated Attributes Table 6: Identification of Entities and Associated Attributes Entity
Attributes
Voter
voterID firstName lastName courseID hallID gender password status
Candidate
voterID candidateName positionID noOfVotes photo
Position
positionID positionName
Course
courseID courseName
Hall
hallID hallName
Vote
voteID voterID positionID candidateID
26
4.4.3 Modeling Relationships between Entities Relationships between entities identify all possible associations between the entities. It also gives the corresponding multiplicities (participation and cardinality). The result is an ERD.
Figure 4.5: Relationship between Voter and Course Each course is offered by 1 or more voters and each voter can offer 1 and only 1 course.
Figure 4.6: Relationship between Voter and Hall Each voter resides in 1 and only 1 hall, but each hall can accommodate 1 or more voters.
Figure 4.7: Relationship between Candidate and Position Each position is contested by 1 or more candidates and each candidate contests for 1 and only 1 position.
Figure 4.8: Relationship between Voter and Vote. A voter can cast only one vote and a vote is casted by 1 and only 1 voter.
Figure 4.9: Relationship between Candidate and Vote A candidate can get 0 or many votes and each vote is cast to 1 and only 1 candidate. 27
Figure 4.10: Relationship between Vote and Position A vote is made for 1 and only 1 position and each position can have 0 or more votes.
4.4.4 The Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) The ERD below shows the entities, their attributes and the relationships between these entities. The relationships further indicate the multiplicities between these entities.
Figure 4.11: The ERD for Mobile Voting System 28
4.4.6 Mapping ERD to Relational Schema 4.4.6.1 Candidate
Table 7: The Candidate table Field Name
Data Type
Constraint
candidateID
int(10)
Primary Key, Not null
candidateName
varchar(50)
Not null
positionID
int(10)
Foreign Key, Not null
noOf Votes
int(10)
Null
photo
text
Null
4.4.6.2 Voter
Table 8: The Voter table Field Name
Data Type
Constraint
voterID
int(10)
Primary Key, Not null
first Name
varchar(20)
Not null
last Name
varchar(20)
Not null
hallID
varchar(5)
Foreign Key, Not null
course ID
varchar(5)
Foreign Key, Not null
gender
char(1)
Null
password
varchar(40)
Not null
status
int(1)
Null
4.4.6.3 Course
Table 9: The Course table Field Name
Data Type
Constraint
courseID
varchar(5)
Primary Key, Not null
courseName
varchar(30)
Not null
29
4.4.6.4 Position
Table 10: The Position table Field Name
Data Type
Constraint
positionID
int(10)
Primary Key
positionName
varchar(50)
Not null
4.4.6.5 Hall
Table 11: The Hall table Field Name
Data Type
Constraint
hallID
varchar(8)
Primary Key, Not null
hallName
varchar(20)
Not null
4.4.6.6 Vote
Table 12: The Vote table Field Name
Data Type
Constraint
voteID
int(10)
Primary Key, Not null
voterID
int(10)
Not null
positionID
int(10)
Not null
candidateID
int(10)
Not null
30
Chapter 5 System Implementation 5.1 Introduction This section describes the implementation of the design models in of the system and also shows the different results generated by the system. Therefore screenshots of the system will be displayed to show how the system displays results given a command .
5.2 System Functions This section specifies the functions the system provides to all its users and external entities. It gives functions the system provides to the mobile user, registrar, and the returning officer.
5.2.1 Functions provided to all Users. The system allows for authentication of users and security by prompting for usernames and passwords and also having an option of password recovery.
5.2.2 Functions provided to the Voter. The system enables the mobile voter to request for an e-ballot, cast his/her vote during the voting period, log the voter out in case of a network failure or in the occasion of a voter receiving phone call, and provide feedback to the user after each request.
5.2.3 Functions provided to the Registrar. The system allows the registrar to register voters and candidates and later generate a report – the voter’s register.
5.2.4 Functions provided to the Returning Officer. The system will count and tally votes being cast, and provide a view of the candidates’ progress and the entire voting process on web display. These are done in real time and enable the returning officer to view the progress. 31
The system also provides the returning officer with a report depicting the final outcome of the voting process.
5.3 System Map
1. 2.
Mobile User
3. 4. 5. 6.
1. 2. Login
Registrar 3. 4.
1. 2. 3. Returning Officer
4. 5.
Authenticate the user Send the user an e-ballot as a feedback of a successful login Provide feedback on login failure Enable the voter to cast vote using the e-ballot Provide feedback on a successful or failed voting attempt Logout the user incase of network failure or receives a call during voting
Authenticate the registrar Provide a web interface for the registrar to add voters to edit voter register and to manage candidates and the respective Provide a voter’s register report to the registrar Provide feedback on all action performed by the registrar
Authenticate the returning officer Count and tally votes in real time Provide a real time view of the voting progress on a web interface Print a report on the voting outcome Provide feedback to the returning officer on success and failure of any tasks he/she performs
Figure 5.1: System Map showing functions provided by the system to each user 32
5.4 System Requirements System requirements include hardware and software requirements that will be sufficient for the smooth operation of the system.
5.4.1 Hardware Requirements These are the minimum hardware requirements of hardware resources required for the system. To ensure faster processing of data, a system (server) with processor speed of at least 1GHz, 512MB RAM and storage space of at least 20GB to handle all cast votes, ballots and registered candidates and voters. The mobile phone on the other hand has to be java enabled to support the application developed that presents the voter with an electronic ballot. The mobile phone should have a minimum storage space of 320 kilobytes either on the phone’s memory or the phone’s memory card. The table below summarizes the hardware requirements; Table 13: Hardware Requirements Hardware
Minimum requirements
Reason
CPU Speed
1GHz
Moderate
RAM
512MB
Moderate
Disk Space
20GB
Enough
FSB
32bit
Moderate
Bandwidth
100Mbps
Enough
Phone Memory
320kB
Moderate
A 3G – capable mobile phone
3G, GSM - capable
Essential
5.4.2 Software Requirements The system will require supporting software on which it will run. The software requirements range from operating systems to some utility software. The system runs on predominantly Windows Operating Systems including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Since the system was built using platform independent languages, it can be configured to run of some Linux distributions.
33
MySQL will be required to interpret SQL queries/commands that were used in the implementation of the database and data retrieval form the database. WampServer will be used on windows Operating Systems to process all requests and display results on web pages. A number of web browsers can be used for this system which include; Mozilla Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, Opera Browser and Google Chrome. The Phone should be java-enabled and should implement at least CLDC 1.0 and MIDP 2.0. These can be summarized in the table below; Table 14: Software Requirements Software
Minimum requirements
Reason
Web server
WampServer
Freeware
Database Management System
MySQL
Freeware
Web browser
Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera
Free and available
Mini, Google Chrome Operating System
Windows XP, Windows Vista,
Available
Windows 7 Mobile Phone (JTWI platform)
MIDP 2.0
Required
CLDC Version 1.0
Required
34
5.5 Sample Screenshots 5.5.1 The Election Administration Pages
Figure 5.2: The Mobile Voting System’s login page and Homepage. Figure 5.2 shows the homepage that allows all election officials to login into the system in order to
access their pages and perform their tasks. For the samples below, we will use the registrar’s options when he/she logs in. The Login page also has some interesting components like enabling one to recover their passwords in case they have forgotten. Alert messages are displayed in case of wrong username or password supplied during login. The homepage is also provides a link for the voter to check the voter register to verify their details and also a link to view the election results when elections are in progress.
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Figure 5.3: The Edit Voter Register Page. Figure 5.3 shows a page where the registrar can select the voter he/she wants to edit, and also allows
the registrar to delete unauthentic or invalid registered voters.
5.5.2 The Election Results Page
Figure 5.4: The Election Results Page. 36
Figure 5.4 shows the results page. This page dynamically displays results as the voting progresses.
The user navigates through the various positions to see the result per position by clicking the links of each position on the left-side panel.
5.5.3 The Mobile Voter’s Interfaces
Figures 5.5 – 5.8: The Mobile Voter’s Login & Authentication Interfaces. Figure 5.5 illustrates the mobile interface for which a voter is prompted to login with his/her correct
voter ID and password. Figure 5.6 shows an error message a voter gets when he/she tries to login without supplying either
detail of his/her voter ID or password. Figure 5.7 shows an error message prompted to an unregistered user when he/she tries to login as a
voter. Figure 5.8 shows a confirmation interface for correct voter login upon the voter supplying the correct
voter ID and password.
Figures 5.9 – 5.12: The Mobile Voter’s Electronic Ballot Interfaces. Figure 5.9 shows an electronic ballot from which a voter chooses a candidate to vote for.
37
Figure 5.10 shows a confirmation message to a voter to confirm his/her choice of voting a candidate.
The voter can change his/her mind to vote for another candidate by selecting ‘cancel’ or proceed by selecting ‘yes’ to accept the selected choice of candidate. Figure 5.11 shows an acknowledgment to voter upon successfully voting for all candidates of his/her
choice. Upon which the voter will click finish to end the voting process and automatically logout. Figure 5.12 shows an alert message denying a voter who has voted from re-logging into the system
to vote again.
5.6 System Testing and Validation Results We carried out system testing with an aim of finding out errors that were in the system. We also performed system Validation to ensure that the system conformed to the then defined user needs and requirements. We presented the system to some of the users so as to get feedback about the system performance in relation to their requirements.
5.6.1 System Testing Results The test results were got from the different testing phases that were conducted during system implementation. The system was tested in the unit level and integration level. During unit test, unit modules were tested to ascertain that they functioned as individual units. During integration test, the unit modules were linked together and tested to ascertain that they worked together as a system. The authentication of the system could only allow administrative users to access the system information and make the necessary changes. We created one administrative account called Election Officer, in which case was used for testing all administrative tasks. All administrative options were tested exhaustively. Hence the system was declared satisfactory to the user needs. We also tested the system to see whether it was capturing valid data, this was done by putting wrong data and then the system responded by alert messages displaying the type of error. Testing and validation was done successfully.
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5.6.2 Validation Results We used some experts in the area of database systems to check whether the system conformed to the standards of similar systems under defined operating conditions. Further tests on validation were carried out on the system to verify that it met the specified user requirements. We presented the system to the users so as to get feedback about the system performance as to whether the system met their needs or requirements. The users were satisfied with the system and concluded that the system was simple to use allowing users to navigate through the system with ease. The system was fast in responding to the different calls. The authentication procedure that we implemented in this system could only allow the approved users to access the system else an alert message was prompted to the unauthorized users.
39
Chapter 6 Summary, Recommendations and Conclusion 6.1 Summary This project was aimed at improving on the speed, ease and transparency of the electoral process. There was need to guarantee improved quality of service, reduced election malpractices, increased efficiency in tallying, increased voter participation, decreased invalid votes and voting errors; prevent a digital divide, and allow for better voter registration management. We looked at other systems alike and compared them with our system and realized some services were not offered by those systems. So this system is generally a mobile based with a web-based application that allows for voting over a mobile device and tallying of results displayed over the web. Many people both the voters and election officials will benefit from further development in this area since there is need to influence the progress of electronic voting, mass voter participation and ensure the transparency, freedom and fairness of the whole election process.
6.2 Recommendations We recommend that this system should be used by the electoral bodies such as Makerere University Guild Election Commission, the Electoral Commission of Uganda because we believe that the system can administer the election processes fairly, effectively and efficiently.
6.3 Conclusion This project was rewarding as it enabled us have a better insight of real world problems and how to go about with solving them. We are also happy that the goals we set at the beginning have been met as the system is fully functional as proposed.
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1.
Appendices Appendix I:
Interview Guide
Questions asked during the interview: Voter Registration
Who is in charge of registering voters? How do you keep voter records? Where do you keep the voter register? What are the requirements a voter should meet in order to be registered? What criteria do you use to annul an ineligible registered voter?
Voting Process
Who are officials involved the voting process? What are the procedures followed in the voting process? What are the possible irregularities that may emerge during the voting process? How are these irregularities handled?
Votes Tallying and Declaration of Results
Who tallies votes? How is vote tallying done? How are the results recorded and stored? What is the procedure for declaring the winner? How are results’ complaints handled?
43
Appendix II:
Pseudo code Pseudo code for Registrar’s login
Initialize Parameters to access data (username and password) If Parameters are equal to null Alert box, please enter a username and password Else Go to registrar’s page
Pseudo code for Registering Candidates
Initialize Parameters to user data If Parameters are equal to null Alert box, Please fill in all the required fields Else Select position from the side panel Click add new candidate Enter candidate’s voter ID. Click on add candidate. Then it’s added to the database
44
Appendix III: Other Screenshots
The Register Voter page
45
The Edit Position Page.
The Edit Candidate Page.
The Returning Officer’s election results page 46
