A biometrics-generated private/public key cryptography for a blockchain-based e-voting system

Abstract

Voting aims to provide the best decision or select the most selected option for the largest group of voters. Malicious parties gaining access, and otherwise tampering with election results, or the votes make this effort counterproductive. To alleviate this, this study examined the introduction of blockchain. The transparent and immutable nature of the blockchain makes this data impossible to alter and allows the election results to be transparent. To further increase the transparency of the system while keeping voters anonymous, a biometric based cryptography was introduced. The biometric was introduced as the source for the private key for each voter while a public was generated to act as the identity of the voter. The biometric trait of each individual is unique and cannot be forged, hence the identity of the voter is secured. The public key available cannot be traced by to the private key, hence, identity of the voter is anonymous. The system showed an encouraging performance after testing.

Keywords

• Biometrics
• Cryptography
• Blockchain
• E-voting system
• Private key