Design And Construction Of An Electronic Voting Machine Using A Microcontroller

ABSTRACT

Electronic voting machine is an efficient and fast solution that allows people to choose their representative in a systematic manner. It is a simple device that has replaced the conventional ballot papers used to record votes. Also, in large populations, the ballot system failed, whereas EVMs proved to be successful and reliable. This project describes a real-time voting machine that is designed using the microcontroller AT89C51 and the software program used is written in assembly language. It is a real-time operating device that produces lesser errors and is easy to operate. Once the votes are cast, the result can be produced in no time just by pressing the result button.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER PAGE

TITLE PAGE

APPROVAL PAGE

DEDICATION

ACKNOWELDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE

1.0     INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

• PROBLEM STATEMENT
• AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT
• APPLICATIONS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE PROJECT
• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
• SCOPE OF THE STUDY
• DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

CHAPTER TWO

2.0     LITERATURE REVIEW

• OVERVIEW OF ELECTRONIC VOTING
• THE IMPORTANCE OF THE E-VOTING SYSTEM
• REVIEW OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF VOTING SYSTEM
• IMPACT ON TURNOUT

CHAPTER THREE

3.0     METHODOLOGY

3.1     BASICS OF THE SYSTEM

3.2      BLOCK DIAGRAM OF EVM

3.3     CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

3.4     WORKING OF EVM

3.5     MAIN UNITS OF EVM

3.6     POWER SUPPLY UNIT

3.7     MICROCONTROLLER UNIT

3.8     PROGRAM CODE

3.5     WORKING PRINCIPLE

3.6     CIRCUIT OPERATION

3.7     DESCRIPTION OF COMPONENTS USED

3.7     POWER SUPPLY UNIT

CHAPTER FOUR

• TESTING AND RESULTS

4.1     CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURE AND TESTING

• CASING AND PACKAGING
• TESTING OF SYSTEM OPERATION
• RESULTS
• ISSUES OF EVM
• NEED FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER FIVE

• CONCLUSION
• RECOMMENDATION
• REFERENCES

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                               INTRODUCTION

1.1                                     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Nowadays “Electronic voting machine” has become an effective voting tool. Flawless voting is ensured by the Electronic voting machine. This is the reason it became more widespread. People are made sure that their vote is secured. One more feature is that it avoids any kind of malpractice or invalid votes. Talking about economic benefits, this system is more economical as the consequent expenditure incurred on manpower is saved. Also, it is user-friendly, it means voter feels convenient because he/she has to press only one key of the respective candidates to vote.

The electronic Voting Machine maintains all the traditional ballot paper voting system characteristics while making voting a lot more expedient. It also saves a lot of time and manpower being fast and absolutely reliable.

In addition to this, EVM helps maintain the voting secrecy and the result is 100% tamperproof. EVMs have been of great use to India since they were first introduced in 1982 and subsequently became very popular as well. It is highly user friendly as it provides the result with just a button and also, the voters have only to press one button to cast their vote. The AT89C51 microcontroller used is a high performance, low power 8bit microcomputer with 4K Bytes of programmable flash memory.

EEPROM memory is used to store the voting sum. The advantage of this memory is that it keeps data in memory even after power is turned off. The microcontroller provides the following features: 128 bytes RAM, -32 I/O lines, two 16-bit counters/timers, full- duplex UART serial channel and an on-chip oscillator and clock circuit. The Idle Mode halts the CPU while allowing the RAM, serial port, timers, and interrupt system to continue operating.

1.2      PROBLEM STATEMENT

Traditional method of voting have problems such as security and counting problem Electronic voting machine has now replaced the traditional mechanism of voting due to several advantages like security, automatic counting etc. This project presents a way to develop an electronic voting machine which displays the count of votes on a 16×2 LCD interface. A user can get his/her vote register through a set of switches (one for each candidate). After every cast of vote, the subsequent count can be seen on LCD. The circuit uses AT89C51 microcontroller and the code for the project has been written in C.

1.3      AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim of this work is to build an electronic voting machine which displays and counts number of votes on a 16×2 LCD interface. The objectives of the project are:

1. To save voting time
2. To save labour involve in counting votes

• To ensure fair and free election by ensuring that voters will not vote for more than once.

1.4      APPLICATIONS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE PROJECT

1. It is economical
   2. Less manpower required
   3. Time conscious, as less time required for voting & counting
   4. Avoids invalid voting
   5. Saves transportation cost due to its compact size
   6. Convenient on the part of voter.

1.5                                   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of this study is in the value of implementing the new system.  The study will activate democracy and ensure that the popular choice emerges victories in any local government election conducted in Nigeria.

1.6                                  SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study covers building an electronics voting machine using AT89C51 microcontroller. The electronic voting machine displays the count of votes on a 16×2 LCD interface. A user can get his/her vote register through a set of switches (one for each candidate). After every cast of vote, the subsequent count can be seen on LCD. The circuit uses

1.7                                  DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

Ballot Paper:        Material with which voters used to cast their votes.

Ballot Box:            A container in which voters drop their votes

Ballot:                   A vote recorded in an election.

Collation Centre:  A designated location where results are collected.

Computer:            An electronic device that stores data, processes data and produces an output as information.

Democracy:          This is the government of the people for the people and by the people.

Election:               The act of choosing by voting one of the candidates for a position.

NSIEC:                 Nigeria State Independent Electoral Commission

Home Page:          The front door to a website.  Normally contains links to other sites or pages.

Poll:                     The process of voting at an election.

Poll Station:         A centre or venue where voters cast their votes.

Rigging:               To manipulate election result in favour of another person.

Voter’s Card:        This is a card given to a voter to ascertain that he has the right to vote.

Votes’ Register:     This is a register containing the data of eligible voters completed by the election officials.

1.7                                 BENEFITS OF THE STUDY

Electronic voting technology intends to speed the counting of ballots, reduce the cost of paying staff to count votes manually and can provide improved accessibility for disabled voters.