NextGenVote: A Trusted Blockchain-Based System for Secure Digital Voting

Abstract

Even in this day and age, when digital technologies are becoming more and more prevalent, it is still extremely important for democratic systems to maintain the honesty and openness of their voting procedures. This article introduces NextGenVote, a decentralised online voting platform developed to address the security, transparency, and confidence issues traditional electronic voting systems face. Automation of election operations, including voter registration, candidate administration, ballot casting, and result computation, is achieved through smart contracts written in the Solidity programming language. The system is built on the Ethereum blockchain. MetaMask is a React-based frontend that uses Web3.js to connect to the blockchain. MetaMask is responsible for ensuring that user authentication and transaction signatures are secure. Therefore, to prevent unauthorised manipulation, the platform utilises a role-based access control approach that clearly distinguishes between administrative capabilities and voter credentials. NextGenVote assures that election results are tamper-proof, traceable, and auditable. It was deployed and tested in a local blockchain environment powered by Ganache. The system provides a solid foundation for scalable, secure, and transparent digital elections by eliminating centralised intermediaries and relying solely on processes executed on the blockchain.