FINGERPRINT VOTING SYSTEM

A mini project report for the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY

By :

1. M.Pradeep -R170447

2. K.Sreekanth-R170381

3. P.Naveen -R171050
In the stream of

Electronics and Communication Engineering

under the esteemed guidance of

B.Madan Mohan ,Asst.prof

Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies

(RGUKT)

RK Valley, Idupulapaya-516330, Kadapa (Dist)

Academic year 2021-2022

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Table of contents

S.No Chapter Page Number

1. Abstract 3
2. Literature review 4-6
3. Introduction 7
4. Objective 8
5. Methodology 8-9
6. Hardware 10-15
components
7. Schematic block diagram 16
& pin connection
8. Working principle
• Enrollment 17-21
• voting procedure
• Authentication
9. Result 22
10. Application & benifits 22-24
11. Disadvantages 25

12. Future Scope 25-26

13. Conclusion 27

14. Reference 27-28

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Abstract:

Biometric Finger print devices are used in the Electronic Voting

machine for voter verification. We have designed a finger print
based voting machine where there is no need for the user to carry
his ID which contains his required details. The person at the
polling booth needs only to place his Finger on the device, thus
allowing the acquisition of an on-spot fingerprint from the voter
which serves as an identification. This Finger print reader reads
the details from the tag. This data is passed onto the controlling
unit for the verification. The controller fetches the data from the
reader and compares this data with the already existing data stored
during the registration of the voters. If the data matches with the
pre-stored information of the registered fingerprint, the person is
allowed to cast his vote. If not, a warning message is displayed on
LCD and the person is barred from polling his vote. The vote
casting mechanism is carried out manually using the push buttons.
LCD is used to display the related messages, warnings and
ensuing results.

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Literature review:

A.Electronic voting in India

The Election Commission of India developed the country's EVMs

in partnership with two government-owned companies, the
Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL) and Bharat Electronics
Limited (BEL). Though these companies are owned by the Indian
government, they are not under the administrative control of the
Election Commission. They are profit-seeking vendors that are
attempting to market EVMs globally . The first Indian EVMs were
developed in the early 1980s by ECIL. They were used in certain
parts of the country, but were never adopted nationwide. They
introduced the style of system used to this day, including the
separate control and ballot units and the layout of both
components. These first-generation EVMs were based on Hitachi
6305 microcontrollers and used firmware stored in external
UVerasable PROMs along with 64kb EEPROMs for storing votes.
Second-generation models were introduced in 2000 by both ECIL
and BEL. These machines moved the firmware into the CPU and
upgraded other components. They were gradually deployed in
greater numbers and used nationwide beginning in 2004 . In 2006,
the manufacturers adopted a third-generation design incorporating
additional changes suggested by the Election Commission.
According to Election Commission statistics, there were
1,378,352 EVMs in use in July 2009. Of these, 448,000 were
third-generation machines manufactured from 2006 to 2009, with
253,400 from BEL and 194,600 from ECIL. The remaining
930,352 were the second-generation models manufactured from

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2000 to 2005, with 440,146 from BEL and 490,206 from ECIL .
(The first generation machines are deemed too risky to use in
national elections because their 15-year service life has expired ,
though they are apparently still used in certain state and local
contests.) In the 2009 parliamentary election, there were
417,156,494 votes cast, for an average of 302 votes per machine .
Ashok Kumar D., UmmalSariba Begum T., “A Novel design of
Electronic Voting System Using Fingerprint”, International
Journal of Innovative Technology & Creative Engineering
(ISSN:2045-8711),Vol.1,No.1. pp: 12 19, January 2011 Electronic
Voting System that will automatically perform authentication
validation and counting with the help of UIDAI. The proposed
electronic voting system can be implemented along with the
traditional election system. The proposed an approach that will use
the information provided by UIDAI in electronic voting system. Is
a Project Director at Contain Southampton, United Kingdom. His
generation on Biometric technology such as fingerprint. The
fingerprints are more secured technology. Those are use in smart
e-voting to secure voting process. Fingerprint are use to match the
voter data base otherwise voter cannot vote. The fingerprint
technologies are using Chris Roberts in voting system

B. Evaluation of Voting Equipment

In the recent years, voting equipment which were widely adopted
may be divided into five types.
1) Paper-based voting: The voter gets a blank ballot and use a pen
or a marker to indicate he want to vote for which candidate. Hand
counted ballots is a time and labor consuming process, but it is

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easy to manufacture paper ballots and the ballots can be retained
for verifying, this type is still the most common way to vote.
2) Lever voting machine: Lever machine is peculiar equipment,
and each lever is assigned for a corresponding candidate. The
voter pulls the lever to poll for his favorite candidate. This kind of
voting machine can count up the ballots automatically. Because its
interface is not user-friendly enough, giving some training to
voters is necessary.
3) Direct recording electronic voting machine: This type, which is
abbreviated to DRE, integrates with keyboard, touchscreen, or
buttons for the voter press to poll. Some of them lay in voting
records and counting the votes is very quickly. But the other DRE
without keep voting records are doubted about its accuracy.
4) Punch card: The voter uses metallic hole-punch to punch a hole
on the blank ballot. It can count votes automatically, but if the
voter‟s perforation is incomplete, the result is probably
determined wrongfully.
5) Optical voting machine: After each voter fills a circle
correspond to their favorite candidate on the blank ballot, this
machine selects the darkest mark on each ballot for the vote then
computes the total result. This kind of machine counts up ballots
rapidly. However, if the voter fills over the circle, it will lead to
the error result of optical scan.

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Introduction To Title:

Biometrics is the science and technology of measuring and

analyzing biological data. Biometrics refers to technologies that
measure and analyze human body characteristics, such as DNA,
fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, voice patterns, facial patterns
and hand measurements, for authentication purposes. The field of
biometrics was formed and has since expanded on to many types
of physical identification. Among the several human fingerprints
remain a very common identifier and the biometric method of
choice among law enforcement. These concepts of human
identification have lead to the development of fingerprint scanners
that serve to quickly identify individuals and assign access
privileges. The basic point of these devices is also to examine the
fingerprint data of an individual and compare it to a database of
other fingerprints.
In our project we have used fingerprint for the purpose of voter
identification or authentication. As the thumb impression of every
individual is unique, it helps in minimizing the error. A database is
created containing the fingerprint images of all the voters as
required. Illegal votes and repetition of votes is checked for in this
system with accurate coding. Hence with the application of this
fingerprint based EVM system elections could be made fair and
free from rigging. Further that the elections would are no longer a
tedious and expensive job.
The user interface is implemented using screen, which is mainly
used to print user instructions during the execution of the voting
process and the result.

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Objective of the Project :

Tampering with the election process is not uncommon, even in

some of the countries with strong rule of law. Ballot stuffing, voter
suppression, multiple voting and destruction of legitimately cast
ballot still covers the headlines of newspapers. Since every person
has the unique fingerprint in this world, their fingerprint can be
used to cast their vote with electronic fingerprint voting system.
The proposed system is offline version. The finger-print voting
system requires to register their fingerprint at the polling booth.
The person can now vote on the Election Day just by verifying
their identity using their fingerprint. The system uses Arduino and
fingerprint technology. Voting does not 2 only include political but
can be social, business and educational as well.

METHODOLOGY:

The aim and the objective are clearer due to the data and
information has been gathered from the previous literatures. The
design model is the result of the hardware and software
integration. The design model shows the prototypes, elements,
architecture and components of the system. However in order to
make this project successful the hardware and the software must
be well integrated and organized. Finding the answers to some
possible questions that may come up in the primary research is the
aim of the secondary research. In order to achieve successful
project, solution form the researcher is necessary. In order to

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develop fingerprint voting system, enormous research must be
done to find the suitable software that is capable to meet the
project requirements. Furthermore, some technical element has to
be taken into account during developing the hardware and
implementing the software into the hardware.

Hardware Components:

1.Fingerprint Module
2.Arduino UNO
3.LCD
4.Connecting Wires
5.Switches
6.Bread board

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1.Fingerprint Module:

Fingerprint identification is also known as dactyloscopy.

Fingerprint identification is the process of comparing two
examples of friction ridge skin impression from human fingers,
palm or toes . Today fingerprints are considered being one of the
oldest and popular among other biometric technologies. The major
hardware used in this system comprises of fingerprint sensor as
shown in figure , also known as biometric identification module.
This sensor produces a digital print of the ridges in the skin of the
fingers which could be uniquely defined for authentication. The
major application of biometric identification for this study purpose
is to read the fingerprint of users so that each image can be
uniquely defined and stored in its internal memory. These unique
images of fingerprint are assigned with unique numerical values
that can be easily be retrieved.

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2.Arduino UNO:

Vin:This is the input voltage pin of the Arduino board used to

provide input supply from an external power source.
5V:This pin of the Arduino board is used as a regulated power
supply voltage and it is used to give supply to the board as well as
onboard components.
3.3V:This pin of the board is used to provide a supply of 3.3V
which is generated from a voltage regulator on the board
GND:This pin of the board is used to ground the Arduino board.

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Reset:This pin of the board is used to reset the microcontroller. It
is used to Resets the microcontroller.
Analog Pins:The pins A0 to A5 are used as an analog input and it
is in the range of 0-5V.
Digital Pins:The pins 0 to 13 are used as a digital input or output
for the Arduino board.

Serial Pins: These pins are also known as a UART pin. It is used
for communication between the Arduino board and a computer or
other devices.The transmitter pin number 1 and receiver pin
number 0 is used to transmit and receive the data resp.
External Interrupt Pins:This pin of the Arduino board is used to
produce the External interrupt and it is done by pin numbers 2 and
3.
PWM Pins:This pins of the board is used to convert the digital
signal into an analog by varying the width of the Pulse. The pin
numbers 3,5,6,9,10 and 11 are used as a PWM pin.
SPI Pins:This is the Serial Peripheral Interface pin, it is used to
maintain SPI communication with the help of the SPI library. SPI
pins include:
1.SS: Pin number 10 is used as a Slave Select
2.MOSI: Pin number 11 is used as a Master Out Slave In
3.MISO: Pin number 12 is used as a Master In Slave Out
4.SCK: Pin number 13 is used as a Serial Clock
LED Pin:The board has an inbuilt LED using digital pin-13. The
LED glows only when the digital pin becomes high.

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AREF Pin:This is an analog reference pin of the Arduino board. It
is used to provide a reference voltage from an external power
supply.

3.LCD :

•Pin1 (Ground/Source Pin): This is a GND pin of display, used

to connect the GND terminal of the microcontroller unit or
power source.
•Pin2 (VCC/Source Pin): This is the voltage supply pin of the
display, used to connect the supply pin of the power source.

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•Pin3 (V0/VEE/Control Pin): This pin regulates the difference
of the display, used to connect a changeable POT that can
supply 0 to 5V.
•Pin4 (Register Select/Control Pin): This pin toggles among
command or data register, used to connect a microcontroller unit
pin and obtains either 0 or 1(0 = data mode, and 1 = command
mode).
•Pin5 (Read/Write/Control Pin): This pin toggles the display
among the read or writes operation, and it is connected to a
microcontroller unit pin to get either 0 or 1 (0 = Write
Operation, and 1 = Read Operation).
•Pin 6 (Enable/Control Pin): This pin should be held high to
execute Read/Write process, and it is connected to the
microcontroller unit & constantly held high.
•Pins 7-14 (Data Pins): These pins are used to send data to the
display. These pins are connected in two-wire modes like 4-wire
mode and 8-wire mode. In 4-wire mode, only four pins are
connected to the microcontroller unit like 0 to 3, whereas in 8-
wire mode, 8-pins are connected to microcontroller unit like 0 to
7.
•Pin15 (+ve pin of the LED): This pin is connected to +5V

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 •Pin 16 (-ve pin of the LED): This pin is connected to GND.
4.Switches:
A push button switch is a mechanical device used to control
an electrical circuit in which the operator manually presses a
button to actuate an internal switching mechanism

5.Breadboard:

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Schematic block diagram:

LCD

Arduino Fingerprint
Switches Uno Module

pin connection ofDY50 with fingerprint module

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Hardware Implementation of Embedded System:
In order to build a working prototype system, all the selected
components should be integrated. Before starting the hardware
integration, the schematic circuit was created which can be seen in
figure.The schematic diagram helps to understand and visualize
the connections between components.

The Working Principle of the System :

Prior to the voting process, fingerprints of all possible voters are

required to be registered to the system to give them access to cast
their votes during the voting process. Once the fingerprints are
registered, the voting process can be started where voters cast their
votes to desired candidate. The flow chart of working process of
finger print voting system is shown in fig.

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 Flowchart of working process of fingerprint voting machine.

Enrollment :
The portion of the code that execute enrollment of voters is shown
in mention under vote function. The code in structured inside
Enroll function.Count is the number given for the fingerprint and
its default value is set to 0. The value is increased and decreased
by pressing ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ switch respectively.

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 Flowchart of Fingerprint enrolment process
Before scanning the finger, a numerical equivalent value needs to
be assigned to the possible fingerprint so that the fingerprint can
be saved in a fixed unique integer value location and can be easily
accessed during the voting process. DY50 has internal memory of
512 bytes and is capable to store up to 162 different fingerprints
templates, therefore the unique numerical identification location to
the fingerprint can be manipulated by pressing ‘Up’ and ‘Down’
switch, pressing these buttons increases and decreases the
numerical value to be assigned to the fingerprint respectively.
After each possible number to be assigned ‘Select’ switch needs to
be pressed to authorize the action of assigning number to the
fingerprint. The process of registering a fingerprint into the system

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in shown in figure 18 in the form of flow chart. To execute these
functions in voting system microcontroller is programmed in C
language. The portion of the code that execute enrollment of
voters is shown in mention under vote function. The code in
structured inside Enroll function. Count is the number given for
the fingerprint and its default value is set to 0. The value is
increased and decreased by pressing ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ switch
respectively.

Messages shown in LCD during enrolment process.

Once the count is set to a unique number get FingerprintEnroll()
code function is called inside Enroll function to store finger being
scanned in sensor to a location inside senor memory with the
integer value as selected before. Under the execution of the code
for enrollment, first the number of finger id is displayed as set
before and user is instructed to place finger in the sensor by popup

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message in LCD. If the image is not read properly user is re-
instructed to place finger. Once the image is taken, the image is
analyzed using finger.getImage function as provided in ada fruit
library.

Voting Procedure :
After successful registration of fingerprints, users with registered
finger image are eligible to vote. The voting process is controlled
by the microcontroller as instructed by code.screen then displays
instruction to cast the vote if the voter authentication is passed.The
integral count of vote is increased and further stored in the
memory of microcontroller. The instructions displayed in screen
during voting process.

Authentication:
The eligibility of a voter to vote is limited to only one time for one
voting session, as the system is designed to deny multiple voting
by aborting access to vote for the same finger image more than
once. The portion of the code that checks the status of voter either
has already voted or not is defined inside the void loop. The status
is monitored by flag register, when the vote is casted the flag is
assigned to 0 integer, so if the same user tries to vote for second
time the flag value is evaluated before authorizing vote access to
vote, and if flag has value 1, the procedure is aborted. Thus, the
authenticity of the system is maintained.
Also, if a person whose fingerprint is not registered in the system
tries to vote the message ‘Finger Not Found Try Later’ is
displayed in LCD screen as show in fig. Thus, the person is barred
from voting.
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 Message in LCD denying voting

Result :
All the casted votes are collected and stored in memory and
analyzed at the end of the voting process. ‘Result’ displays the
result. Result function basically calculates the total count of votes
of each candidate by adding number of time switches allocated for
each individual candidate were pressed. Simultaneously, the result
is also stored in memory of Arduino so that it can be accessed
after the voting process .

Application and Benefits:

This biometric fingerprint system can make huge difference in
overall election especially in the developing or underdeveloped
countries wherepaper ballot system is still used and people have
very little faith in election process because of various irregularities
and corruption.
Effectiveness of This System in Context of Nepal:
Nepal, being a democratic country, elects leader through electoral
system. Nepal is among countries where paper ballot system is
still in use. With high level of corruption and very low
transparency, election often invites turmoil in the country.
Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election fraud, election
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manipulation or vote rigging, is illegal interference with the
process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of the
favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival
candidates, or both . Multiple voting by a person, ballot box theft
and vote rigging are also very common. Nepal being one of the
poorest country in the world, spent about 275 million euros in the
election in 2017. Fingerprint voting system, if implemented, could
solve many of Nepal’s electoral problems. Some advantages of
using this system are discussed below:
• Safe: It is an utmost important that the voting
process be secure and no one should be able to
tamper with the result before, during and after voting
process. Since the system is not connected to internet,
no online external influence can occur. Also, it is very
easy for security personnel to secure the device if
needed, since it is compact, and light compared to
many ballot boxes
• Cost: The conventional paper voting system used in
Nepal is very expensive because of papers and
printings, transportation, staff expenses and it takes
several days to count the votes. On the other hand,
the biometric fingerprint system is cheap, compact
and can store any amount of data with proper
upgrade.
• Accuracy and Reliability: The ink used to mark
people who have voted already can be erased with
modern technologies but the fingerprint voting
system erases the chance of multiple voting and it is
very precise. Also, there is a very slim chance of

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 errors happening from electronic system so, people
can rely on results to be accurate.
• Time Saving: It takes weeks to count the votes by
election personnel sometimes. This time frame is not
peaceful for that area so it is ideal to get result as
soon as possible. The manual vote counting technique
can be seen in figure 20. With electronic device
election results can be produced is minutes rather
than days or weeks.

The voters do not have to carry their ID with them

since the fingerprint acts as their ID when voting so
queues can clear faster. Unauthorized or voters not
enrolled in system before hand is not allowed to vote.

• Trees Conservation: Paper ballot system uses paper

for voting process which is printed in millions of
quantities. An example of sheer size of the ballot
paper is shown in the fig. 23. Little to no paper is
used in electronic voting so it helps trees
conservation.

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Disadvantages:

The risk of tampering is undeniable with any physical device. The

device is light and made up of plastic fiber, therefore can easily
break on impact. In such scenario, data might lose permanently or
would be difficult to retrieve. System and software can have glitch
and other problems that may result in delay or even halt the voting
process. Also, process of collecting fingerprint data of millions of
people is tough and time consuming. Illiterate people who have
not used electronic devices and are used to paper voting might
find it difficult to understand the voting process. Adequate pre-
election information or classes must be conducted which adds to
the election cost.

Scope For Upgrade:

The focus of the project was to design a fingerprint voting system

which makes the voting process swift, sound and eradicate
defrauding caused by manual voting process. Since the system
made in this project is just a basic prototype, there are certainly
huge scopes for upgrading with better funding and research. Some
ways this project can be upgraded are discussed below:

• It is possible to add a WIFI module to this system. Many

voting machines can then be connected with host server with
secure LAN. This will allow to store data in host server
placed at secure location in real time. Physical damaging the
device will not cause in loss of data since the data are now
transferred to host server in real time. An example of various
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voting machine connected to host server is shown in figure .
Also, a GSM module can be added to send the result to
various partakers.

Network of voting machine connected to server

• Although the prototype made in this thesis project aims to

facilitate safe and swift voting process, with some hardware
modification the same device can also be used for various
other things like finger print based access control, attendance,
billing, etc.
• Better components with higher functioning calibre can be
used to make the device more reliable in practical situations.
For example, the fingerprint module in this prototype can
accommodate only 162 fingerprint templates. This amount
can be increased to any number by adding an extra memory
space such as SD card.

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Conclusion :

To summarize, the prototype device was successfully able to

enroll the fingerprint of the voters in fingerprint module memory,
verify the status of voters (registration and multiple voting),
matching the new fingerprint input with saved fingerprint
template, authorize the voter to cast the vote and was able to
generate result. To conclude, the device is great alternative to
other lengthy election processes especially ballot paper voting
system. This can be implemented further cleanly and accuracly
with the help of advanced components and technologies.

Reference:
[1] Balaji, Speech of Shri V S Sampath, CEC for Defence Estates
Day Lecture 2014.
[2] R. Haenni, E. Dubuis, and U. Ultes-Nitsche, “Research on e-
voting technologies." Bern University of Applied Sciences,
Technical Report 5, 2008.
[3] G.V.L. N. Rao. Democracy at Risk! Citizens for Veri_ability,
Transparency & Accountability in Elections, New Delhi,
[4] Election Commission of India.
[5] A. K. Agarwala, D. T. Shahani, and P. V. Indiresan. Report of
the expert committee for evaluation of the upgraded electronic
voting machine (EVM). Sept. 2006.

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[6] Wikipedia. Results of the 2009 Indian general election by
parliamentary constituency Sanjay Kumar, Manpreet
Singh,”DESIGN OF A SECURE ELECTRONIC VOTING
SYSTEM USING FINGERPRINT TECHNIQUE”,IJCSI
International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 10, Issue 4,
No 1, July 2013
[7] Press Trust of India.

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