MBCSD-IoT: A Survey on Multi-Level Blockchain-Assisted SDN-Based IoT Architecture for a Secure and Scalable E-Voting System

Abstract

Contemporarydemocraticinstitutionsarecon- architecturalredundancyrequiredtowithstandmodernad- fronting unprecedented demands for electoral systems that simul-taneously guarantee security, transparency, and the capacity to accommodate millions of geographically distributed voters. Con-ventional paper-based balloting and first-generation electronic votingmachinesremainsusceptibletophysicaltampering,cen- versarial threats. Centralised server-based e-voting platforms introduced a further liability: a single compromised node can silently alter outcome-critical records, and the absence of an immutableaudittrailrenderspost-electionforensicanalysis tralisedarchitecturalfailures, andcyberintrusion, noneofwhich inconclusive. are adequately addressed by existing incremental improvements. This survey investigates MBCSD-IoT, a four-tier hierarchical architecture that fuses Blockchain, Software Defined Networking (SDN),andInternetofThings(IoT)infrastructureintoauni-fied,tamper-resistante-votingframework.Theproposeddesign Three independently mature technologies now offer the constituent elements of a fundamentally different design. Blockchain provides a distributed, append-only ledger whose cryptographiclinkagebetweenblocksmakesretrospectivedata partitionselectoralprocessingacrossBooth,District,State,and modificationcomputationallyintractable.SoftwareDefinedCountry levels, wherein each ascending tier appends traceable metadata to a cryptographically protected data packet. Voter identity and device legitimacy are established through Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and biometric verification, while SHA3-256hashingprovidesper-hopintegrityassurance.SDN- Networking separates the forwarding plane from the control plane, enabling a logically centralised controller to install op-timal forwarding rules across heterogeneous switches, thereby reducing latency and enabling real-time traffic policy enforcebasedflowmanagementateverytiereliminatesper-packetrout- ment.TheInternetofThingssuppliesthesmartendpoints— ing overhead and enables programmable DDoS mitigation. The survey reviews eleven representative prior works, characterises the research gap they collectively expose, and demonstrates throughexperimentalevaluationthatMBCSD-IoTachievesa 51.7 %gaininthroughput,an81.2%reductioninlatency,and voter-facing EVMs, biometric scanners, and relay nodes — through which physical electoral intent is captured, encoded, andpropagated.Noneofthesethreetechnologies,deployedin isolation, is sufficient for a production-grade e-voting system; an83.2%decreaseinpacketlossrelativetoconventionalIoTtheirintegration,however,addresseseachother’sresidualbasedvotingdeployments.weaknesses.

Introduction

This paper reviews and analyzes the MBCSD-IoT (Multi-Level Blockchain-Assisted SDN-Based IoT) framework, a secure electronic voting architecture that integrates Blockchain, Software Defined Networking (SDN), Internet of Things (IoT), Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), biometric authentication, and SHA3-256 hashing. The framework is designed to support large-scale democratic elections by providing secure, transparent, scalable, and tamper-resistant vote processing.

The architecture follows a four-tier hierarchy—Booth, District, State, and Country, mirroring real electoral administration. Votes are generated at IoT-enabled Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), authenticated through biometrics, encrypted using ECC, transmitted through SDN-managed networks, and stored on blockchain ledgers at each administrative level. The country-level blockchain serves as the final authoritative repository where automated vote counting is performed through smart contracts, eliminating human intervention.

Background Technologies

The framework relies on three core technologies:

• Blockchain provides immutable, decentralized, and auditable vote storage. Each block is cryptographically linked, making vote tampering computationally infeasible.
• Software Defined Networking (SDN) separates network control from data forwarding, enabling centralized traffic management, dynamic routing, congestion control, and DDoS mitigation.
• ECC and SHA3-256 Cryptography ensure confidentiality, authentication, and integrity. ECC offers strong security with smaller key sizes suitable for IoT devices, while SHA3-256 verifies data integrity at every transmission stage.

Literature Review Findings

The survey reviews eleven major studies on blockchain voting, SDN-IoT security, biometric authentication, and hierarchical architectures. Key findings include:

• Blockchain-based voting systems provide transparency and immutability but often lack network management and scalability mechanisms.
• SDN-IoT security frameworks improve traffic management and attack mitigation but generally do not support voting workflows.
• Biometric voting systems strengthen voter authentication but frequently rely on centralized servers, creating single points of failure.
• Existing hierarchical architectures focus on performance optimization without integrating blockchain and voting-specific security requirements.

The review identifies that previous research addresses only individual aspects of secure e-voting, while no solution fully combines blockchain, SDN, IoT, biometric verification, and multi-level administration.

Research Gap

The primary gap identified is the absence of a unified framework that simultaneously provides:

1. Multi-level electoral hierarchy.
2. Blockchain-based tamper-proof vote storage.
3. SDN-enabled traffic control and DDoS protection.
4. Secure voter and device authentication using cryptography and biometrics.

MBCSD-IoT is presented as the first framework integrating all these components into a single architecture.

Proposed MBCSD-IoT Architecture

The framework consists of:

• Booth-Level IoT EVMs: Equipped with biometric sensors, ECC encryption, SHA3-256 hashing, and wireless communication.
• District, State, and Country Nodes: Each maintains a blockchain instance, SDN controller, and validation mechanisms.
• API and Communication Stack: Uses Wi-Fi/LTE, TCP/IP, TLS/SSL, and MQTT protocols for secure communication.
• Hierarchical Data Propagation: Votes are validated, hashed, stored, and forwarded through each level until reaching the national blockchain.

Security Features

The framework addresses six critical election security requirements:

1. Voter Anonymity: Personal identities are not stored with vote records.
2. Vote Integrity: ECC encryption and SHA3-256 hashing prevent tampering.
3. Authorized Device Verification: Only registered EVMs can participate.
4. Double-Vote Prevention: Blockchain-based voter status tracking blocks repeated voting attempts.
5. DDoS Protection: SDN controllers detect and mitigate network attacks through traffic management and rate limiting.
6. Result Integrity: Smart contracts perform automatic vote counting, eliminating manual manipulation.

Operational Workflow

1. EVMs authenticate themselves using ECC-encrypted hardware identities.
2. Voters are authenticated through biometric verification.
3. Votes are encrypted, hashed, and transmitted securely.
4. District, State, and Country nodes validate and record votes on their respective blockchains.
5. Smart contracts automatically count votes at the national level and generate certified results.

Conclusion

ThissurveyhasexaminedtheMBCSD-IoTarchitecture a four-tier hierarchical fusion of Blockchain, SDN, andIoT technologies designed to address the security, scalability, and transparency deficiencies of conventional e-voting sys-tems. A systematic review of eleven prior works established that, while each constituent technology has been individually demonstrated at production quality, no prior system before MBCSD-IoT had integrated multi-level hierarchy, blockchain immutability, SDN-based network optimisation, and rigorous biometric-coupled cryptographic identity management withina single electoral framework. Thearchitectureachievesitssecurityobjectivesthrough acombinationofECCdeviceauthentication,biometric voter verification, SHA3-256 hop-by-hop integrity checking, and smart-contract automated counting — all anchored by blockchain instances maintained at each tier of the hierarchy. The performance evaluation against a conventional IoT base-line confirms throughput gains of 51.7%, latency reductionsof81.2%,andpacketlossdecreasesof83.2%,improvements attributable to the SDN control plane’s ability to pre-compute and install optimal forwarding rules before traffic arrives. Severaldirectionsremainopenforcontinuedinvestigation. butmustbereplacedbyGSM/LTElinksforspanningthe Large-scalesimulationstudiesinvolvingtensofthousands district-to-state and state-to-country hops in a national election. ofconcurrentvirtualvotingsessionsareneededtocharac-Theupperprotocollayers—TLS/SSLandMQTT—are terise system behaviour under realistic election-day loads and network-layer agnostic and do not require modification. toidentifyanysaturationpointsintheSDNcontrolleror Distance voting is supported through a two-step relocation blockchainconsensussubsystems.IntegrationofGSM/LTEprocedure.Avoterwhocannotattendtheirregisteredboothcommunicationforinterlevellinksmustbevalidatedwithnotifiestheelectionauthorityinadvance.Theauthorityuprespecttobothperformanceandprotocolcorrectnessunder dates the district blockchain to temporarily remove the voter variable cellular network conditions. The ECC-based crypto-fromtheirhomeboothregistryandcreatesatime-limited graphic suite should be evaluated against post-quantum alter-entryatthedesignatedremotebooth.Thisensuresthatthe natives—suchaslattice-basedkeyencapsulationmechanisms biometric authentication at the remote booth succeeds and that — in anticipation of the eventual deprecation of elliptic curve the double-vote prevention flag is correctly shared across both algorithmsbyfuturequantum-capableadversaries.Finally,a the original and remote district nodes. user-studyevaluationofthevoter-facingEVMinterfaceand In connectivity-impaired areas, EVMs operate with an en- the biometric authentication flow is essential before national-cryptedlocalbufferthataccumulatesvotesuntilnetwork scaledeployment,asusabilitybarriersattheboothlevel directlyaffectvoterparticipationratesandthelegitimacyof the electoral outcome.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Hemalatha K, Druti N, Chandana J P, Akash Gowda, Srushti J. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.