A Smart Contract-Driven Blockchain Architecture for Secure Digital Voting

Abstract

In democratic systems, secure and transparent voting mechanisms are essential to maintain public trust and electoral integrity. Traditional paper-based and centralized electronic voting systems often face challenges such as limited transparency, risk of data manipulation, and dependence on centralized authorities. To address these issues, this project proposes a decentralized blockchain-based voting system designed to enhance security, transparency, and reliability. The system is developed on the Ethereum blockchain, where each vote is recorded as an immutable transaction to prevent tampering or duplication. Smart contracts written in Solidity automate essential election functions including voter registration, vote validation, and result computation. A web-based interface built using React.js and Web3.js enables secure interaction with the blockchain, while wallet-based authentication ensures that each authorized user can cast only one vote The system is implemented and tested in a controlled environment to evaluate performance, accuracy, and resistance to double voting.

Introduction

Traditional voting systems—both paper-based and centralized electronic voting machines—face challenges such as limited transparency, susceptibility to manipulation, delayed counting, and dependence on centralized authorities. These issues can undermine public trust and election integrity.

To address these concerns, this project proposes a Blockchain-Based Voting System built on the Ethereum platform. By leveraging blockchain’s decentralized and immutable ledger, the system ensures tamper-resistant vote recording, transparency, and enhanced security. Smart contracts automate election processes such as voter registration, vote validation, and result computation, eliminating the need for manual supervision.

System Overview

The proposed system integrates:

• Ethereum Blockchain for decentralized vote storage

• Solidity Smart Contracts for enforcing election rules

• React.js Frontend for user interaction

• Web3.js for blockchain communication

• MetaMask for secure voter authentication

Votes are recorded as immutable blockchain transactions, ensuring that once cast, they cannot be altered or deleted. The system enforces a strict one-person-one-vote rule and prevents double voting.

Comparison with Traditional Voting Systems

Compared to paper voting and centralized Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), blockchain-based voting offers:

• High transparency through public ledger verification

• Strong tamper resistance via cryptographic immutability

• No single point of failure due to decentralization

• Automated vote counting using smart contracts

• Cryptographically verifiable auditability

Literature Review Insights

Previous research highlights blockchain’s suitability for voting due to:

• Decentralization and immutability

• Smart contract automation

• Improved auditability and fraud prevention

However, challenges such as scalability, privacy preservation, transaction speed, and future quantum threats remain areas of ongoing research. This project builds upon prior work by implementing a functional Ethereum-based decentralized voting application evaluated in a controlled environment.

System Architecture

The system follows a layered modular architecture:

1. Frontend Layer – User interface for voters and administrators (React.js)

2. Blockchain Interaction Layer – Communication with Ethereum via Web3.js

3. Smart Contract Layer – Election logic enforcement using Solidity

4. Development & Testing Environment – Truffle framework and Ganache CLI for simulation

5. Wallet & Identity Management – MetaMask for secure authentication and digital signatures

This separation ensures scalability, maintainability, and secure execution of election logic.

Key Features

• Secure voter authentication

• Immutable vote storage

• Automatic real-time vote tallying

• Decentralized data storage

• Administrative dashboard for election lifecycle management

• Resistance to double voting

Results and Evaluation

The system was tested through simulated election scenarios. Key findings include:

• Accurate voter verification and access control

• Permanent and tamper-proof vote recording

• Automated and error-free vote counting

• Transparent and auditable election results

• Reliable transaction processing suitable for institutional-level deployment

Conclusion

The Blockchain-Based Voting System presented in this work demonstrates the effectiveness of integrating decentralized technologies and structured authentication mechanisms to modernize the electoral process. Unlike traditional voting systems, the proposed architecture ensures transparency, immutability, and privacy through blockchain-based record management and decentralized storage mechanisms. The system enables secure voter registration through OTP-based verification, automated vote recording through smart contracts, and real-time result computation without manual intervention. Each vote is permanently stored on the blockchain ledger, preventing modification or deletion after confirmation. The enforcement of the one-vote-per-voter rule ensures fairness and integrity throughout the election lifecycle. Experimental evaluation confirmed accurate vote handling, prevention of duplicate voting, tamper resistance, and smooth system operation. The modular layered architecture enhances maintainability and supports scalability for institutional and large-scale election environments. By eliminating centralized control points and reducing manual dependency, the system strengthens electoral trust and minimizes fraud risks. Overall, this work validates blockchain technology as a reliable framework for secure, transparent, and efficient digital voting systems, providing a foundation for future advancements in electronic governance.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Smit Pingale, Vedanshi Gosalia, Divya Karotra, Riya Gajra, Sangita Bhoyar. 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.