Distributed Ledger Voting Platform Using Homomorphic Encryption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electronic voting systems face security and privacy challenges due to lack of transparency and inadequate privacy guarantees, leading to potential vote alteration and unauthorized access to voter information.
Innovation Solution
A distributed ledger platform, potentially blockchain-based, employs smart contracts, homomorphic encryption, and zero-knowledge proofs to ensure transparent, secure, and anonymous voting by encrypting votes and authenticating users, eliminating the need for a central trusted authority and providing public verifiability of voting results.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a distributed ledger platform with smart contracts and encryption is implemented, then security and privacy are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the voting process into distinct functional modules: user authentication via smart contracts, vote encryption using homomorphic encryption, transaction validation through consensus mechanisms, and result tallying. Each module operates independently with defined interfaces, managing complexity through functional decomposition while maintaining end-to-end security and privacy guarantees
Solution Approach 2:
The distributed ledger acts as an intermediary layer between voters and the voting authority, eliminating the need for centralized trust. Smart contracts serve as automated intermediaries that enforce voting rules, authenticate users, and manage vote aggregation without human intervention, reducing both complexity and security risks associated with centralized systems
2Reliability
If votes are encrypted and user authentication is implemented, then privacy is improved, but measurement precision of voting results decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the mathematical parameters of vote representation by using homomorphic encryption schemes where votes are encoded as encrypted numerical values. These encrypted values can be mathematically manipulated (added, multiplied) in ciphertext form, allowing the system to compute voting results from encrypted inputs without decrypting individual votes, thus maintaining both privacy and result accuracy through algebraic transformations of the vote parameters
3Reliability
If a centralized trusted authority is eliminated, then security is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple security functions into the distributed ledger infrastructure: user authentication, vote validation, result tallying, and audit logging are all combined into the blockchain's native capabilities through smart contracts. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate centralized authority systems while distributing trust across the network, reducing architectural complexity despite the decentralized nature
Solution Approach 2:
The voting system becomes self-service through automated smart contracts that perform authentication, validate vote formats, detect duplicates, and aggregate results without human intervention. The distributed ledger automatically maintains the audit trail and enforces voting rules, eliminating the need for centralized administrators and reducing operational complexity while enhancing security through code-based enforcement
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a distributed ledger platform for electronic voting and/or polling. In one example, an embodiment provides for receiving a request to commit a transaction to a distributed ledger in the distributed ledger system. The transaction may include one or more encrypted votes, a cryptography authentication proof, and/or an input validation proof. Another embodiment provides for executing a smart contract to (i) authenticate a user identifier associated with the transaction based on the cryptography authentication proof and (ii) validate the one or more encrypted votes based on the input validation proof. In an instance in which the smart contract authenticates the user identifier and validates the one or more encrypted votes, a data block associated with the transaction is added to the distributed ledger.