A mobile web based electronic voting system : a case study of Strathmore University student council
Date
2015
Authors
Omondi, Gregory Peter
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
Paper ballot voting system brings with it a number of problems such as: slow rate of counting
and tabulation of casted votes, inaccurate results due to human error, poor presentation of the
ballot papers, inconvenience for the voter to cast a vote, poor participation and turnout, fraud in
polling stations and during the transmission and tabulation of result, increase in spoilt ballot,
increase in the long term costs of production and distribution of ballot papers.
This dissertation aims at the following research objectives: to investigate how electronic voting
systems are implemented around the world, to develop a mobile web based electronic voting
system and to test and evaluate the developed mobile web based electronic voting system.
The dissertation presents a secure mobile web based electronic voting system, a case study of
Strathmore University student council elections. The system is inspired by the Estonian Internet
voting system architecture with major changes; it can be customized and implemented for a
variety of elections such as: large institution elections, party elections, parliamentary elections
or even the national elections.
The mobile web based electronic system is secured by use of secure socket layer protocol,
hashing, public key encryption and secure electronic transmission Protocol. These helped
achieve the following security properties: authenticity, confidentiality, integrity, verification,
and anonymity.
The researcher reviewed relevant literature that was used in designing of the system prototype,
this was then followed by a system testing that aimed at measuring the efficiency, effectiveness,
ease to learn, interactivity and convenience of the system to the voters. The system testing
targeted the Strathmore University students who interacted with the system and filled in
questionnaires. The respondents found the system to be very effective, very efficient, extremely
easy to learn how to use, very good to interact with, very useful and extremely convenient.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters of Science in Mobile Telecommunication Innovation
Keywords
Electronic voting system, Strathmore University student council, Mobile web