Online voting presents several technological risks that must be considered to ensure secure and reliable elections:
Security Vulnerabilities: Online voting systems are vulnerable to hacking, malware, and denial-of-service attacks, which can compromise the integrity of the election results by altering or discarding votes undetectably (Weinstein, 2000). These risks persist even with the use of secure websites and digital certificates.
Lack of Transparency: Many e-voting systems use proprietary software that is not open to public scrutiny. This lack of transparency can lead to undetected manipulation of votes and raises concerns about the reliability of the systems (Bishop & Wagner, 2007).
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Solution: Blockchain Voting
Blockchain Risks: While blockchain is proposed as a secure solution for online voting, it introduces new risks such as scalability issues, privacy concerns, and transaction speed problems, which could hinder the effective use of such systems (Park et al., 2021).
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Authentication Issues: Ensuring that only authorized voters cast votes and that their votes remain anonymous is a challenge. Weak authentication systems could allow unauthorized individuals to vote or interfere with voter privacy (Arbaugh, 2004).
Server Security: While communication between the voter and server may be encrypted, server-side security vulnerabilities can lead to breaches where sensitive data, including votes, are manipulated or exposed (Gupta et al., 2023).
the challenge