Introduction

The administration of election in Nigeria is intimidating in its demand. There is the logistics nightmare under condition of appalling infrastructure which imperils the distribution of electoral materials. Then there is training of electoral personnel who run into several thousands, the huge cost of funding of the exercise and the ethical challenges of election management. Now that elections are almost impossible without the use of information and communication technology (ICT) even in countries with poor electricity supply the tas s involved are only better imagined (!ega, "#$$). %lectronic voting systems for electorates have been in use since the $&'#s when punched card systems debuted ((i ipedia, "#$$). Their first wide spread use was in the )*+ where , counties switched to this method for the $&'- presidential election. The newer optical scan voting systems allow a computer to count a voter.s mar on a ballot. /0% voting machines which collect and tabulate votes in a single machine are used by all voters in all elections in 1ra2il and India, and also on a large scale in the 3ene2uela and the )nited *tates. They have been used on a large scale in the Netherlands but have been decommissioned after public concerns. Internet voting systems have gained popularity and have been used for government elections and referendums in the )nited 4ingdom, %stonia and *wit2erland as well as municipal elections in Canada and party primary elections in the )nited *tates and 5rance ((i ipedia, "#$$). There are also hybrid systems that include an electronic ballot mar ing device (usually a touch screen system similar to a /0%) or other assistive technology to print a voter verified paper audit trail, and then use a separate machine for electronic tabulation. 6roponents of online voting have argued that it could increase voter turnout. 7owever, this is by no means certain. 8nly a minority of the )4 population has home internet access (9:;), and many of those who do not vote are unli ely to have ready access to computers (Technology, "##$). In addition, it could reduce expenses involved in setting up and staffing poll sites. 7owever, new voting arrangements would, at least at first, be in addition to existing systems. This would entail large additional costs and several years of government investment. +s such, ICT and election exercise are married in the hope that it will serve as the saviour of the laborious procedures of elections. The dramatic impact of the internet has led to discussion of e<democracy and online voting. *ome early enthusiasts declared that the internet could replace representative democracy, enabling everyone to vote on everything and anything at the push of a button. *uch visions oversimplified the democratic process. 8thers have argued that e<voting could reduce costs and increase turnout by ma ing voting more convenient. Internet voting can use remote locations (voting from any Internet capable computer) or can use traditional polling locations with voting booths consisting of Internet connected voting systems. Corporations and organi2ations routinely use Internet voting to elect officers and 1oard members and for other proxy elections. Internet voting systems have been used privately in many modern nations and publicly in the )nited *tates, the )4, *wit2erland and %stonia. In *wit2erland, where it is already an established part of local referendums, voters get their passwords to access the ballot through the postal service. =ost voters in %stonia

can cast their vote in local and parliamentary elections, if they want to, via the Internet, as most of those on the electoral roll have access to an e<voting system, the largest run by any %uropean )nion country. It has been made possible because most %stonians carry a national identity card e>uipped with a computer<readable microchip and it is these cards which they use to get access to the online ballot. +ll a voter needs is a computer, an electronic card reader, their I/ card and its 6IN, and they can vote from anywhere in the world. %stonian e<votes can only be cast during the days of advance voting. 8n %lection /ay itself people have to go to polling stations and fill in a paper ballot.

Statement of problem
In developing countries, particularly Nigeria which has very large number of voters voting exercise often becomes very difficult and frustrating. +s such results become in accurate. This pose a challenge to the universities in Nigeria and other information technology research institute to develop a way to solve this problem before it brings a total collapse of our democracy. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has tremendously changed our live in different areas where once problems are encountered? form transportation, to communication, to health sector and so on. If ICT can solve such tremendous problems so it can solve election problems.

Significance
The advantage of using e<voting system cannot be over emphasised. 1elow are listed a number of advantages of using e<voting system@ Convenience. 6eople are increasingly using the internet for transactions, and through its )4 8nline proAect, the Bovernment aims to deliver all its services to citi2ens online by "##:. 8nline voting would add to the convenience of being a citi2en. It may particularly appeal to younger voters (among whom voter turnout has tended to be particularly low). 8nline voting systems can identify if voters attempt to vote for the wrong number of candidates and notify them accordingly (this was a problem with punch cards in 5lorida in the "### elections). 8nline voting could allow more information to be displayed about candidates and their policies. 1ut this would conflict with existing laws about not campaigning in the immediate vicinity of a polling place and would need to be strictly supervised. It could reduce expenses involved in setting up and staffing poll sites. 7owever, new voting arrangements would, at least at first, be in addition to existing systems. This would entail large additional costs and several years of government investment.

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Aim
The aim of this proAect is to design and develop an online voting system, which when developed can solve NigeriaDs most notorious problem, EElection exerciseF.

Objective
/esign and development of user interface where voters can case their vote. /esign and development of +dministratorGsecurity interface where administrators can eep an eagle eye on computerGvoting activities during election. /esign and development of display board where users can see at realtime on the internet election activities. /esign and development of registration area where voters will be registered. /esign and development of /atabase bac end where all election data will be saved.

Scope
This proAect is designed in such a way it can be used for smaller election of not more than one hundred thousand voters. In essence, the system can effectively be used in )niversity elections, election of certain organisations, etc.

Methodology

5ig $.$@ 3oting protocol The voting system which will have registration section when eligible voter are screened and their information is stored on the database. This information will later be used in authenticating voters as they log in to cast their vote. (hen a voter casts his vote, the system will saves? the ballot, username, password, date, time and I6 address of the voter.

+dministrator will then be able to see the username, I6 address and time stamp with this administrator can sense if something wrong is happening. =oreover and administrator can bloc a certain computer from voting. To increase transparency, observers can open the notice board to see username, I6 address, time stamp and bloc ed computers at real<time.

Limitation
Typical of frontier systems? this proAect has some limitations. These limitations are? $. 3oter must have a networ connection. ". 3oters system must have a flash player to have access to some of the functionalities of the system li e the notice board. 9. The voting system is imitated to a maximum of one hundred thousand ($##,###) voters, beyond which system may have errors. -. 3oter must have a web browser installed on his system.

Expected result
This proAect is expected to produce a system that is capable of registering voters, authenticating them during election, allowing them to vote and managing other election protocols li e? time frame for election, preventing dubious acts, etc.

Wor s !ited
!ega, 6. +. ("#$$). Manual for Election official. Nigeria@ IN%C. Technology, T. 6. ("##$). e-Voting in UK. Hondon@ 6ostnote. (i ipedia. ("#$$, =ay #"). E-Voting. 0etrieved from (i ipedia@ http@GGwww.wi ipedia.orgGwi iGelectronicIvoting