MOBILE ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM: INCREASING VOTER PARTICIPATION

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1 MOBILE ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM: INCREASING VOTER PARTICIPATION A. Folaponmile, A. T. Suleiman and Y. J. Gwani Computer Engineering Department, Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, Nigeria Abstract The use of Permanent Voters Card (PVC), a step ahead of the traditional voting system led to time wastage and disenfranchisement of some people. Today, the development and widespread use of information technology (IT) is reflected in the way and manner people live, transact business, interact etc. It is paramount that the benefits of IT be brought to have its full impact in our electoral processes. We therefore propose an electronic voting system (EVS) using GSM which is also known as m-voting. This scheme is therefore tagged Mobile Electronic Voting System (MEVS) which allows people to cast their votes from remote places. This has numerous advantages over the traditional method. One of the advantages of m-voting is increased voter participation. People who would normally have been disenfranchised due to the demanding nature of their jobs, location or relocation, disabilities and other factors, would now have the opportunity to cast their votes as their physical presence would no longer be needed. From the results of test running the scheme, it is evident that the scheme can be used to increase voter participation in any election since individuals would be able to vote from the comfort of their homes, offices and other remote places once their phone numbers have been pre-registered. Keywords:Electronic voting, Mobile electronic voting system, voter participation. Introduction The 2015 general elections in Nigeria which saw the use of Permanent Voters Card popularly known as PVC was a step ahead of the traditional voting system in that accreditation of voters produced a more reliable result, however it led to time wastage and disenfranchisement of some people. Figure 1, reveals great difference between number of registered voters and those that actually voted. The traditional voting method involves voters queuing up to be accredited and later cast their votes using ballot papers by thumb printing on the logo of the party of their preferred candidate. After the voting is concluded, the electoral officers in the polling centers hand count the votes in the presence of party agents and the voters that are present, a process which is time consuming and inefficient. The traditional method of voting is subjected to security risk of voters and electoral officials, the electoral materials could be snatched, tampered with, or even stolen with some of them arriving very late at the centers where they are needed. Today, the development and widespread use of information technology (IT) is reflected in the way and manner people live, transact business, interact etc. It is paramount that the benefits of IT be brought to have its full impact in our electoral processes. We therefore propose an electronic voting system (EVS) using GSM which is also known as m-voting. This scheme is therefore tagged Mobile Electronic Voting System (MEVS). This has numerous advantages over the traditional method. One of the advantages of m-voting is increased voter participation. People who would normally have been disenfranchised due to the demanding nature of their jobs, location or relocation, disabilities and other factors, would now have the opportunity to cast their votes as their physical presence would no longer be needed. A study into the participation of voters over the years since democracy returned to Nigeria in 1999 clearly shows that majority of people who are of voting age do not register and majority of the people who registered do not vote eventually. This study is illustrated in figure 1.

2 NUMBER OF PERSONS JORIND 13(2) December, ISSN ,000,000 90,000,000 80,000,000 70,000,000 60,000,000 50,000,000 40,000,000 30,000,000 20,000,000 10,000, YEAR voting age population persons registered total vote cast Figure 1: disparity between voting age, registered persons and total vote cast. Source: It is evident from figure 1 that over the years, the number of persons who eventually voted is far less than the number of persons who registered, it could also be deduced that a reasonable proportion of persons who are of voting age do not register. Invariably, it is seen that the present system does not encourage larger number of people to register and eventually participate in the voting exercise. The reasons behind this are differs but a common adage says that it is insanity for someone to continue the same procedure and expect a different result. We therefore propose a system that will encourage the participation of a higher percentage of eligible voters to register and eventually participate in the actual voting. We however introduce electronic voting using mobile devices. This will bridge the wide gap between the people who register and the people who eventually participate in the voting exercise. This is done using smaller geographic environment and populace as test bed, the result which could be extrapolated to a wider coverage such as the nation. With the successful introduction of the NIMC, PVC and SIM card registration we believe that the stage is set for the adoption of electronic mobile voting in Nigeria. What is electronic voting? Many authors have described electronic voting in different forms. Some of these are stated in this paper. In Kuye et al(2013), electronic voting system is described as a system which uses electronic ballot that would allow voters to transmit their secure and secret voted ballots to election officials over the computer. Monali et al(2012) defined electronic voting as any voting method where the voter s intention is expressed or collected by electronic means. Shinde and Priti(2013) maintained that Electronic Voting System automates and simplifies the process of election and is based on the use of computers and portable computerized devices. As stated in Idike (2014), Electronic Voting System is one of several forms of automated voting methods which employ computer technology devices, to improve several aspects of the electoral process. In most cases, it allows the conduct of elections without using the traditional ballot paper and box for making a choice at an election. It incorporates largely paperless voting methods prominent among which are electronic voting machines (EVM), internet voting, telephone IVR voting, digital TV voting, electronic kiosk voting, etc. The system provides

3 for increased efficiency, anonymity, scalability, speed, audit and accuracy, which are major attributes of a good electoral system. Electronic voting system therefore is a system in which some or all of the electoral process from registration, authentication, voting to display of result is done using electronic means. Advantages of electronic voting using GSM Sabo, Siti and Rozita (2015) maintained that adopting robust IT policies and programs is the most effective solution to the problems of weak democratic institutions in Nigeria. The comparative advantage of e-voting over the conventional voting system is obvious. The electronic voting system is said to have numerous advantages some of which are: 1. Increased participation of voters: Since people can vote remotely within the convenience of their homes, offices and location, participation is greatly enhanced. A lot of people do not perform this civic duty due to the stress involved in moving from the comfort of their homes to the polling centers where they have to stand in long queues for prolonged period of time. Materials and methods 2. Cost effective: The traditional method of having thousands of polling stations scattered all over the country which involves enormous logistics to be deployed, transportation of personnel and materials which invariably increases cost is eliminated. One centralized collation center is needed this to a large extent reduces the cost of conducting an election. 3. Saves time: with GSM based electronic voting, a lot of time is saved in compiling and computing of results since these processes are carried out using computer systems therefore, the result of the election conducted will be available as soon as the exercise is concluded. 4. Safety of lives and electoral materials: The risks associated with road travel such as road traffic accidents and late arrival of electoral materials due to unforeseen delays during deployment to polling centers is eliminated. 5. Greater accuracy: The chart in figure 1 shows that in 1999, the number of people that registered is greater than the number of people that are of voting age, with GSM based electronic voting system this anomaly cannot occur, therefore, there is enhanced accuracy in the whole electoral process with the use of GSM based electronic voting system. Mobile Unit GSM Modem MCU PC Figure 2: Block diagram of MEVS Figure 2 represents the block diagram of the electronic voting scheme using GSM (MEVS). It consists of a mobile unit, a GSM Modem, a Microcontroller (MCU) and a Personal Computer (PC). The modem receives votes from each voter through SMS from the Mobile Unit. The modem communicates with the microcontroller through commands. The microcontroller validates the text message by ensuring that the SMS is from a preregistered number and then performs specific task on it. The microcontroller used in this case is the PIC18F4520. The data of the voters who are eligible to vote are stored in the memory of the personal computer. The personal computer is interfaced with the microcomputer by means of HyperTerminal communication system through a serial port. The voters have to pre-register their numbers because only votes sent by these registered numbers will be considered as valid otherwise it is an invalid vote.

4 Operation, implementation and testing of proposed system (MEVS) In other to test run the proposed scheme, a smaller scale is presented in which the results can be extrapolated to the entire nation. It is believed that a smaller population test bed will bring about ease of implementation, evaluation and assessment; therefore, the system has been developed for an arbitrary association whose executives are determined through election. Arbitrary contestants and phone numbers have been used to test run the scheme. The SMS were sent from different areas of Kaduna, which are Tudun Wada and Ungwar Rimi in Kaduna North, Sabo in Kaduna South and Ahmadu Bello way in Kaduna Metropolis. This is a good representation of voters in different geographical locations. In most associations, the various positions contested for include that of Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary General, Asst Sec Gen, Financial Secretary, Treasurer, and PRO. These various positions can be representative of various political parties when used for national elections. There are two contestants for each position in which one contestant could represent the candidate for presidential election and the other could represent the one for national house of assembly but this would call for a little modification of the program. Figure 3, shows the GSM receiver module comprising mainly of the GSM modem and the microcontroller. The GSM module receives text messages (SMS) from the pre-registered numbers. In this case, those eligible to vote are the members of the association a scenario that can be likened to persons who have attained the age of 18 years when it is considered on a national scale. The circuit diagram is shown in Figure 4. The operation of the scheme is illustrated using the flowchart in figure 5. The flowchart describes how the voting machine works, when the GSM receiver module is powered, the system initializes, after this, a ready to vote message is displayed showing that a voter can now cast his or her vote. When the vote is casted, the machine performs checks to reconcile the number of the voter with that in the database on the PC, when this is done the message signifying that the vote had been casted is displayed. The result is displayed on the election result console on the PC. Figure 3: The GSM Receiver Module This is the GSM Receiver Module serves as interface between the PC and the Mobile Unit and it comprises mainly of the GSM Module and the Microcontroller.

5 Figure 4: Circuit diagram of MEVS START INITIALIZE SYSTEM SMS RECEIVED IS USER NUMBER REGISTER NO YES VOTE ACCEPTED INVALID VOTE PROCESS VOTE DISPLAY RESULT Figure 5: Flowchart of MEVS STOP

6 The program for the microcontroller has been written in C # programming language and is displayed in Appendix I. The PC graphic user interface (GUI) has been designed using VISUAL C STUDIO. It is a rich, integrated and development tool used for windows applications as well as modern web application and cloud services. It includes a code editor supporting the code completion component and accepts plug-ins that enhances the functionality at almost every level, including adding support for source-control systems. The GUI consist of the administrative login details where an administrator can lunch the interface with an administrative username and password for enhanced security of the scheme (figure 6a), allows users to be pre-registered (figure 6b), User s details which are inputted and stored in the database on the PC and displays the election result (figure 6c). Figure 6a: GUI for administrator s login Figure 6b: GUI for voter s registration Figure 6c: GUI for election result console The MEVS was tested and was found to be in proper working condition. SMS sent from mobile devices and received by the modem are processed by the microcontroller and the result displayed on the PC. The PC stores the database of all eligible voters which in this case are academic staff of the institution. For the microcontroller to properly handshake with the PC via the serial connector, MAX 232 IC is used as shown in Appendix II.Interfacing the GSM receiver module to the PC allows for better flexibility in its operation. Discussion of results

7 Ten numbers were pre-registered and used from various colleges of the institutions to cast votes for five different positions as a way of test running the scheme. All 10 pre-registered numbers participated in voting indicating 100% participation in the voting exercise. The result for the 10 numbers used to test run the proposed scheme is presented below. Figure 7, shows the screen shot from the result console generated for the 10 numbers used in voting for the positions of chairman, vice chairman, sec. gen, auditor and fin sec. The votes were sent from the various colleges located in the different areas in Kaduna. For the purpose of clarity the results have also been presented the tabular form as shown in table 1, and in a chart as shown in figure 8. The candidate with the higher number of votes is declared winner. Although the system can accommodate all the positions, only five of them have been used thus far for the purpose of test running the scheme. Figure 7: Screen shot of result from the result console Table 1: Result presentation in tabular form for two contestants Position Chairman Vice chairman Sec. Gen Auditor Fin Sec Asp A Asp B Total votes

8 Chairman Vice chairman secretary Gen Auditor Fin Sec ASP A ASP B Figure 8: Bar chart showing the results for two contestants Conclusion From the results gotten, it is evident that the scheme can be used to increase voter participation in any election since individuals would be able to vote from the comfort of their homes, offices and other remote places once their phone numbers have been pre-registered. The security of lives and property would also be enhanced as movement to and from voting centers would no longer be required neither would there be the need to move electoral materials to various polling centers. The authenticity of the result is guaranteed as the results are computed electronically and computational time is greatly reduced Recommendation Although this work considers the security of the votes from the administrator s end, it is recommended that the security on the entire network be enhanced by way of introducing other data security measures to the scheme. This is therefore recommended for further work. References Idike A. N. (2014), Democracy and the Electoral Process in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects of the E-Voting Option, Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (AJHSS), Vol. 2, Issue 2, pp Available online at retrieved on 02/07/2015 Kuye C.O., Coker J.O., Ogundeinde I.A. and Coker C.A. (2013), Design and Analysis of Electronic Voting System in Nigeria, International Archive of Applied Sciencies and Technology, Vol. 4, Issue 2, pp Available online at retrieved on 02/07/2015 Monali, R. D., Jai K. S., Mukesh T. and Anubhuti K. (2012 ), Implementation of Intelligent Polling System Using GSM Mobile, International Journal of Computer Technology and Electronics Engineering (IJCTEE), Vol 1, Issue 2. Sabo A., Siti A.J.A. and Rozita A. (2015), Issues and Challenges of Transition to e-voting Technology in Nigeria, Public Policy and Administration Research, Vol 5, No. 4, pp Available online at retrieved on 02/07/2015 Shinde S.M. and Priti S., (2013), Biometric GSM Voting System, International Journal of Technical Research and Applications (IJTRA), Vol. 1, Issue 4, pp Available online at retrieved on 02/07/2015

9 Appendix 1 Program Source Code for the Microcontroller //this program is #include <reg52.h> #include < stdio.h > #include < ctype.h > #include < string.h > #include <Lib_Delay.c> #include <Lib_Uart.h> short count; /*some useful definitions */ #define CR 0x0d #define LF 0x0a #define ESC 0x1b #define BEEP 0x07 #define CZ 26 /* Some helpful defines */ #define SPACE 0x20 #define COMMA 0x2C #define FULLSTOP 0x2E //////////////////////////////////////////////// /////////////////////////////////////////////// unsigned int New_Sms_(void) { char Data_; count=0; Out_Path=Serial_Com_Port; //this goes to the serial com port printf("at+cmgr=1\n"); //send read command to the gsm modem do{data_=getkey();}while(!isgrap h(data_));//read the first non printable characters Sms_Content[count]=Data_; for(count=1;count<11;count++) //read return packets from the modem Sms_Content[count]=getkey(); count=0; if(strncmp(sms_content,"ok",2) ==0)return 0; //check if a new sms has arrived while(getkey()!=','); //this mark the begining of the phone number string Data_=getkey(); //extract dummy char // Data_=getkey(); for(count=0;count<14;count++) //read and extract the gsm number from the modem Sms_Phone_No[count]=getkey(); count=0; ////////////////////////////////////////////////// ///////////////////////// while(getkey()!=lf&&count<100 )count++; //wait till the end of first line count=0; /*extract the content of new sms recieved*/ do{ Data_=getkey(); Sms_Content[count]=Data_; count++; }while(isgraph(data_)&&count<15); //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /////////////////// count=0; Delay_ms(100); //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////// //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ///// void Gsm_Init(void) { Out_Path=Serial_Com_Port; printf("ate0\n"); while(getkey()!='o'); while(getkey()!='k'); Delay_ms(500); printf("at\n"); while(getkey()!='o'); while(getkey()!='k');//waiting for modem response Delay_ms(500); printf("at+cmgf=1\n"); while(getkey()!='o');

10 while(getkey()!='k');//waiting for modem response Delay_ms(500); //printf("at+cpms=\"me\"\n"); //while(getkey()!='o'); //while(getkey()!='k');//waiting for modem response //Delay_ms(500); } void main(void) { P1=0x00; Uart_Init(9600); //initialise serial communiction // Delay_ms(5000); //wait awhile for the gsm modem to initialize // Delay_ms(5000); //wait awhile for the gsm modem to initialize Out_Path=Serial_Com_Port; Gsm_Init(); //initialise the gsm modem and deactivate sms notification Delay_ms(1000); printf("at+cmgd=1\n"); Delay_ms(3000); //wait awhile for the gsm modem to initialize while (1) { New_Sms_(); printf(sms_content + Sms_Phone_No); Delay_ms(1000); } }