What is a Decentralized Voting Application?
We can define an application which is a Decentralized Voting System using Blockchain as a project that involves voting contact. In simple words, we can describe it as an application one creates on blockchain technology, usually with the help of Solidity. It helps in voting anonymously on the Blockchain for different and specific candidates. Since the app is on the Blockchain, it is most secure and safe and helps maintain optimum privacy. The essential aspects of a Decentralized Voting System using Blockchain are contract, structure, mapping and modifier.
Steps to Create a Decentralized App For The e Voting System
- Install Truffle
The first aspect that you must do is install Truffle globally. As it is one of the essential tools for creating a decentralized voting application, it becomes the first step to installing it. When you want to use Truffle commands, you have to run them in any existing project.
- Structuring the directory
A few components must be a part of your directory structure, which are as follows.
- Contracts: It includes a folder that contains all the Contracts.
- Migrations/: It is the folder that consists of the migration files. It assists you in deploying smart contracts into the blockchain when you want to develop a blockchain based application for e voting system.
- src/: It includes HTML/CSS and javascript for your application
- Truffle.js: The file for Truffle Configuration
- Build/: To see this folder, you must compile all your smart contracts. It consists of the building artifacts. Therefore, you must ensure never to modify these files. The build artifacts explain the function and structure of your contacts. And offers information to Truffle Contracts and web3 about how to interact with your Smart Contracts in the blockchain to create an online voting system using blockchain.
Also Read About – Decentralized Autonomous Organization Examples
Now, let us look into the steps for coding you need to create a decentralized app for e voting system.
- Writing the Smart Contracts
The most popular language for writing your smart contracts is Solidity. Remember that the key is to keep your smart contract as simple as possible. Simplicity is the fundamental aspect. It is because complexity leads to an increase in the chances of making mistakes. And whatever you do to create a dapp for e voting system will be on the blockchain forever. Thus, ensuring that it is simple will ensure flawlessness. The following factors will be present in the contract.
- State Variables:
The state variables are the ones that store values that are presently permanently on the blockchain to create an app for e voting using blockchain.
- Functions:
They are the executive roles of smart contracts and help interact with the blockchain. They include different levels of visible visibility externally as well as internally. Remember that a transaction is necessary whenever you want to change the value of the state of a variable. It is also possible to make calls to the blockchain, which will be free from any costs because these changes will degenerate—the costing occurs in the form of Ether.
- Events:
Logging off the value which passes into the event occurs whenever you call an event . It appears in the transaction’s log. It allows JavaScript callback functions or reserve promises to see e specific values that the creators want to pass back after completing a transaction. It has a particular reason: every time one carries out a transaction, the transaction log returns.
- Struct Types:
It has a remarkable resemblance to a C struct that can help in creating an application for e voting using blockchain. Structs enable one to have multiple variables under ideal for multiple attribute aspects. Candidates will only have their name and party, but one can integrate more attributes.
- Mappings:
they resemble hashmaps or dictionaries where it holds key-value pairs. there will be the use of two mappings.
Apart from these five components, a few more times are more complex than them. These five components include a significant number of structures that a smart contract will usually utilize to create an online voting system using blockchain.
- Instantiating web3 and contract
The above aspects would complete our smart contract. therefore the following step requires you to run your test blockchain and deploy the contract onto the blockchain to create a dapp for e voting system. You would also need a means for a medium to talk or communicate with it, and the medium will be web3.js.
However, before initiating your test blockchain you must create a file with the name 2_deploy_contracts.js inside the folder /contracts. It will help you understand the need for the inclusion of your voting smart contract when one migrates. To initiate the development in the blockchain, you will have to reach out to your command line and run the following -truffle develop.
It will be living on your command line. You must compile it to bytecode first for the EVM execution. You will be using execution because you will be using solitary, a compiled language to Solidity. It is a compiled language to develop a blockchain based application for e voting system.
Your next step includes seeing a folder named build/. You can find this folder in your directory. The folder consists of the build artifacts, which are the fundamental aspects of the inner functioning of Truffle. Therefore you must and sure not to cause any damage or change to them. The following step will be migrating the contract.
It is a truffle script that enables the creators to alter the state of the applications contract while developing them. The creative must remember that their contract is deployed to a specific address on the blockchain. Therefore whenever they integrate any changes to their contracts, it locates at a particular different address. Migration also enables you to move the data around.
Now the smart contract is on the blockchain forever. However, it would be best to remember that truffles develop Refreshes whenever you stop them. The next part of the code will be at the bottom of js/app.js. One must also ensure that while creating a Decentralized Voting Platform through these steps, one must use web3.0 version 0.20.1.
- Adding functionality
The last step is to make a Secure and Anonymous Voting app and write the interface for the app. It includes the essentials for every web application, such as CSS, HTML and Javascript. Let us first look into how to create an HTML file to make a Secure and Anonymous Voting app.
It is a simple page that includes the input form for the user id and the buttons for voting and counting the cast votes. When one clicks the buttons, it will lead to the calling of the particular function that votes and find the number of votes for the candidates. There are three essential elements which are as follows: candidate box, message, and vote box. These elements hold the checkboxes for each candidate, a message and the number of votes, respectively. There will also be included for importing JQuery, Bootstrap and app.js.
Following this, you will have to interact with the contract or communicate to implement the functions for voting. Counting the number of votes each candidate cast is essential for creating a Blockchain-based E-voting System. The code we offered to you in the previous step for creating a web server instance is also present here. First, you will have to import the necessary libraries and other elements, which include web3 and Truffle Contracts. The Truffle Contracts will be essential for building a Blockchain based E-voting System.
There are essentially two ways to communicate with the functions. Transactions and calls. We can define a transaction as a write operation, and it will be a broadcast for the whole Network, and the miners will be crossing it. In the US, it will cost Ether. one must ensure performing a transaction if they are changing a state variable because it will change the state of that particular Blockchain. On the other hand, a call is a read operation that stimulates a transaction but discards the change in the state; therefore, it will be free from costing Ether. It is an ideal way of calling getter functions.
Instance.functionName(param1, param2), with instance, Is the code that will help you make a transaction with Truffle Contracts. The transaction will enable returning a promise with the transaction data as its return value. Therefore when one produces a value in the smart contract function, and you carry a transaction with that same particular function, it will not return that specific value.
Three functions are fundamental for building a Decentralized Voting Platform. They are as follows.
- App.start()
You call it immediately when you care for a web3 instance. To get Truffle Contracts to work, you must set the provider to the web3 instance you have created and then set defaults.
- App.vote()
Based on which checkbox someone checks, the function will vote for a specific candidate. You will have to ensure whether the user has provided its userID, which is their identity. When they don’t, a message displays to tell them to do so. Also, you must ensure that every voter votes for at least one candidate.
- App.numberOfVotes()
It will help you find the votes the voters cast for each candidate. It also displays the number of votes.
Advantages of Blockchain Based e Voting System
- Safe platform
- Helps remain anonymous
- Increases voter turnout
- Reduces organizational costs
- Ease of accessibility as voters can vote from anywhere
Disadvantages of Blockchain Based e Voting System
- Past transactions are visible to anyone
- Tampering is easy
- Time consuming
Final Words
Voting throating a decentralized application is the safest and the most secure. Therefore, now, you can also create a decentralized application and readily utilize it for e-voting. The above discussion includes the straps essential for creating a DApp for e-voting, and following the discussion will help you make the most efficient dApp for e-voting.
