Automated SSG Election System of Valerio P.

Palmares National High

School

Project Proposal Presented to

Hecel L. Borja /Assistant Professor 1
Northern Iloilo State University
Batad Campus
Batad, Iloilo

In Partial Fulfilment
Of the Requirements for the Subject System Integration and Architecture
(SIA101

By
Renalyn M. Balogal

February, 2024
Table of Contents

Contents
Pages

Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION

Project Context 2

Purpose and Description of the Project 3

Objectives of the Study 4

Scope and Limitations of the Project 4

Significance of the Study 5

Chapter II – REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Theoretical Background 6

Related Literature 7

Related Studies 9

Chapter III – TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Technicality of the Project 15

Details of the technologies to be used 15

How the project will work 18

References 19
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

The computer, an extraordinary creation of human ingenuity, has revolutionized

the world in countless ways and stands as a pillar of modern automation. From its
inception, computers have been at the forefront of driving automation across industries,
transforming the way we work, manufacture, and interact with technology. With their
remarkable processing power, storage capacity, and ability to execute complex
algorithms, computers have become indispensable tools in automating repetitive tasks,
streamlining processes, and enhancing productivity on an unprecedented scale. By
harnessing the power of computers, automation has become a driving force behind
increased efficiency, accuracy, and reliability in various sectors. From assembly lines in
manufacturing plants to data analysis in finance, computers have taken on the role of
intelligent assistants, seamlessly integrating with human operators to optimize
operations, reduce errors, and deliver consistent results. Through automation,
computers have not only improved productivity but also provided opportunities for
innovation and the exploration of new frontiers in fields such as artificial intelligence and
robotics.

Furthermore, the impact of computer-driven automation extends beyond the

industrial realm. In our daily lives, computers have automated mundane tasks,
simplifying and enhancing our experiences. From smart homes that can adjust lighting
and temperature based on our preferences to voice-activated personal assistants that
can manage our schedules and answer our queries, computers have become integral
parts of our households, making our lives more convenient and connected.

As we look to the future, the potential of computers and automation remains

boundless. Advancements in machine learning, robotics, and Internet of Things (IoT)
technologies are paving the way for even greater levels of automation, transforming
industries and reshaping the way we live and work. With computers at the core of this
transformative process, the possibilities are endless, promising increased efficiency,

1
improved decision-making, and the potential for discoveries that will shape the world for
generations to come.

The election process allows the general population to choose their

representatives and express their preferences for how they will be governed. Naturally,
the integrity of the election process is fundamental to the integrity of democracy itself.
The election system must be sufficiently robust to withstand a variety of deceptive
behaviors and must be sufficiently transparent and comprehensible so that voters and
candidates can accept the results of an election. Election fraud and delayed process of
electoral selection were common problems in any kind of voting system. Voting is a
method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an
opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. It is often found in
democracies and republics. Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is a term
encompassing several different types of voting, embracing both electronic means of
casting a vote and electronic means of counting votes. Electronic voting is often seen as
a tool for making the electoral process more efficient and for increasing trust in its
management. Properly implemented, e-voting solutions can increase the security of the
ballot, speed up the processing of results, and make voting easier. However, the
challenges are considerable. If not carefully planned and designed, e-voting can
undermine confidence in the whole electoral process.

Valerio P. Palmares National High School is using the traditional way of voting for
the set of SSG officers. A paper-based ballot is used as a way to vote during Election
Day. In this study, the researchers aim to develop a computer-based voting system that
is accurate, reliable, and easy to use during the election of student representatives and
to provide relevant and accurate information needed after the election process.

Project Context

The Valerio P. Palmares National High School (VPPNHS) is using the traditional
way of voting in their election process where students will have to line up and register
their name before they can vote. The students will collect their ballot, write their chosen
candidate, submit their ballot, and have their fingernails inked. The counting of

2
processes is another problem. After the given election period, the members of the
electoral board will have to count the votes manually which is a very tedious task and is
prone to errors. Thus, manual counting may result in inaccurate and unreliable results.

In this study, the researchers aim to develop an efficient, accurate, and reliable
computer-based voting system for the students that could track ballots, speed up the
counting of ballots, and can facilitate electoral fraud. The design of the electronic voting
system will be based on the electoral process adopted by the school. The system can be
made fully accessible to any computer; information on the student candidates such as
their pictures and accomplishments, the student can identify and determine easily their
respective candidate.

The software includes important features such as user’s log access, voter’s page,
admin page, database maintenance, and help assistant. Thus, this project will focus on
how to design and develop a computer-based voting system adopting the direct
recording electronic voting to be used by the school during the election period

Purpose and Description

The main purpose of this project is to develop automated voting software that is
user-friendly and reliable. The Automated Voting System will be developed by the
researcher for VPPNHS. The proposed project “Automated Voting System is a computer-
based software that enables voters to vote smoothly, comfortably, and peacefully during
student government elections. The Automated VOTING SYSTEM enables users to
interactively view profiles of the candidates and choose their candidates on an electronic
screen, through buttons, a mouse-based GUI, or by simply using an input device to
make their choices. The system will focus on the school’s election which will allow voters
to vote using a computer and the system will provide accurate voting results.

The features of the system will focus on log-in/log-out services, administrator’s

page, voter’s page, database maintenance, and help assistance. Log-in/Log-out Services
refers to one of the features of the proposed system that will prompt users to enter their
user ID and password to be able to access the student voter’s page and the school
administrator’s page. Voter’s Page is used by the student voters to view candidates’

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party lists and candidates' profiles and cast their votes during the election period.
Administrator’s Page is used to register and validate new voters, existing voters, and
candidates’ records, and generate election voting results. Database Maintenance refers
to one of the features of the system wherein the administrator can update voters’
records, and candidates’ records, manage data and transaction log files, and back up
the system. Help Assistant, which contains instructions on how to use the system.

The proposed project can generate the following outputs, these are user’s log
report, candidate party list, and election tabulation results. The proposed project offers
several benefits for the school administration and the student voters which include the
following: voters can easily cast their votes, voters can choose their candidates through
an electronic screen or computer monitor with a click of a mouse, speeds up the
counting of votes, increase the security and reliability of elections, computer can count
an unlimited number of ballots, and the system can automatically generate the results to
determine the winning candidates.

Objectives of the Study

General Objectives

The main objective of this project is to develop a computer-based voting system,

an Automated Election System for Valerio P. Palmares National High School to use
during the election of student representatives.

Specific Objectives

Specifically, this project aims to:

1. Provide voting software that is fully accessible through the Local Area Network
(LAN) of the school.
2. Provide a direct recording voting system where voters view ballots on a
computer monitor and make choices using an input device.

3. Provide results of the election that are fast, reliable, and accurate.

4. Provide a help guide feature to guide voters on how to use the system.

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Scope and Limitations of the Study

The coverage or the scope of the study is that it will provide the Voter's ID, and
password generated by the system of each student so the student can use their
provided voter ID and password not just once but as long as they are staying in the
school. For logging in, the voter's ID number is the username, and the password is
generated and it will be set by the user. A valid voter's ID and password per person will
be used to vote and their voter ID and Password are permanent until they are active on
campus. It will act as the main security to the voting system. The voters can view the
candidates and vote through PC. The voters can also view their details and they can
request edits, the voters can also view the status of the election like unofficial tallies and
they will receive a notification that the election has been finished.

This study is limited only to the faculty, staff, and students of Valerio P. Palmares
National High School. Authorized personnel only can access to update the profile of
candidates and students. This system can only be used using a local server and the
admin can edit the profile of the candidate. The voter can only vote ONCE per year.

Significance of the Project

This study is beneficial to various groups of people, institutions, and other

coming elections.

The Proponents. Would benefit them as researchers for this would serve as their
training tools in creating a program system to use as an effective strategy to have a
faster, more reliable, and secured election.

The SSG (Supreme Student Government). This study will minimize the effort and
work of the SSG officer because this system will automatically get the result of the
election.

The Institution. This system will provide an efficient and secure election of the new
student officers of the Institution.

Candidates. This system provides security that can assure candidates to have a fair
election.

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Students (Voters). This system provides accuracy and security that can assure they
will have a fair and correct result of the election.

Future Researchers - this study will serve as a future reference and guide to the
students who will conduct a study to help them get an idea for the system that they are
going to make in the future.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the review of the related literature and studies that will
enable the researchers to acquire basic information and references in the present study
and the technical background which will discuss the technicality of the project, details of
the technologies to be used, and the relevance of the project.

Theoretical Background

This study is anchored on, “Automation, Big Data and Politics: a Research
Review.” International Journal of Communication, vol. 10, University of Southern
California, Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, 2016, pp. 5032–55.

This research review focuses on the concept of big data, which refers to large
amounts of information collected from numerous individuals using various devices. It
goes beyond just the size of the data and encompasses datasets that can be searched,
combined, and analyzed with other datasets. Communication scholars, who are
interested in the exchange of information, are increasingly adopting big data methods in
their research. However, some scholars have begun to critically examine the implications
of big data in academia and society as a whole. Big data is generated through
interactions with communication technologies like social media, search engines, and the
Internet, and it comprises communication artifacts such as photos, targeted profiles,
social network content, and metadata. In response to potential ethical and
methodological issues, communication scholars have engaged in critical studies to
highlight how the collection and use of big data may perpetuate social inequality. Dalton
6
and Thatcher (2014) raise five key questions to explore the historical conditions that led
to the emergence of big data, the control and motivations behind its production and
analysis, the subjects involved in big data and the knowledge they produce, the impact
of big data on spaces and landscapes, and the potential for big data to contribute to the
production of alternative forms of knowledge.

The researchers based their study on the above-mentioned theory specifically on

the study of automated SSG Voting because of its relevance. This theory purports that
the concept of big data, refers to large amounts of information collected from numerous
individuals using various devices, thus making it re-searchable.

Related Literature

Electronic Voting

According to Wikipedia.org (2012), Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is

a term encompassing several different types of voting, embracing both electronic means
of casting a vote and electronic means of counting votes. It can include punched cards,
optical scan voting systems, and specialized voting kiosks (including self-contained
direct-recording electronic voting systems, or DRE). It can also involve the transmission
of ballots and votes via telephones, private computer networks, or the Internet.
Electronic voting technology can speed up the counting of ballots and can facilitate
electoral fraud.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voting)

Benefits of Electronic Voting System for Voters

According to www.vaalit.fi (2008), electronic voting presents numerous

advantages over traditional paper ballot voting. The advantages of an electronic voting
system can be divided into advantages for the voters and advantages for the authorities.
Advantages of electronic voting for the voters include: electronic voting speeds up the
voting process and increases the security and reliability of elections where the electronic
vote is transported safely, reliably, and fast into the centralized electronic ballot box.
Further, in electronic voting, it is not possible to make voting errors by mistake, because
the identification information of the chosen candidate will appear on the screen before
7
the vote is confirmed. Another advantage for the voter is that there is no ambiguity in
interpreting an electronic vote. When traditional paper ballots are used, unclear
numbers may sometimes cause problems.

(http://www.vaalit.fi/sahkoinenaanestaminen/en/etuja.html)

Benefits of Electronic Voting System for Authorities

According to www.vaalit.fi (2008) advantages of electronic voting for the

authorities are as follows: electronic voting reduces and simplifies the work of the
authorities significantly; electronic voting leads to notable cost savings through reduced
personnel; reduces cost for example various forms and documents are no longer
needed; electronic votes can be counted fast and reliably, and the result of the vote will
be ready almost immediately.

(http://www.vaalit.fi/sahkoinenaanestaminen/en/etuja.h

Direct Recording Electronic voting

Haupt (2008) described a different voting process that could be considered

“electronic voting”. According to Haupt, there exists a paper-based system that uses
computers to count the actual ballots; however, the original paper ballot is still intact.
Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting is a voting machine that does not use a paper
ballot like the paper-based electronic voting machines. Instead, people choose their
candidates and proposals through an electronic screen, either through buttons or
through a more modern approach, a touch screen. DRE voting machines also have the
advantage of never running out of paper ballots at a polling center, since the computer
can count an unlimited number of ballots.

(http://voices.yahoo.com/electronic-voting-good-bad-2085596.html)

The Voting Process

On February 25, UP Diliman(UPD) held its first campus-wide computerized

University Student Council (USC) elections. The open-source voting system, called
“Halalan”, was created by the UP Linux Users Group (UnPLUG), a student organization
at the College of Engineering (CoE). The colleges provided the computers for the

8
elections. The voting process started with students presenting their IDs or Form-5s to
attending poll clerks, who checked the list of valid voters. Students on the list then
received their passwords from the poll clerks and proceeded to unoccupied voting
stations. Using their student numbers and the passwords provided as login information,
they opened their electronic ballots and marked the boxes of their chosen candidates.
Once they clicked the confirm button, their votes were final and they were automatically
logged out. The system allows voters to log in again but only to check their votes, not
change them. The first working prototype of Halalan was created in January 2005 and
presented to UPD student councils and student publications later that month at the
Palma Hall Lobby. Its first application in the USC elections was at the CoE and the
School of Statistics in 2007. A year later, the College of Business Administration, the
College of Mass Communication, and the School of Library and Information Science also
adopted the system.

(http://iskwiki.upd.edu.ph/index.php)

Related Studies

According to computer experts from the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) 2000,
electronic voting is introduced for the Bundestag election. The German electronic voting
is regulated by §35 of the Bundeswahlgesetz (BWG) and the
Bundeswahlgeräteverordnung. The electronic voting machines used are the ESD1 and
ESD2 from the (Dutch) company Nedap/HSG Wahlsysteme GmbH. For the Bundestag
elections of 2005, electronic voting machines were utilized in about 30 constituencies,
which consist of almost 2000 (1831) of the 80.000 polling stations and more than two
million voters. However, there are ideas to introduce a new type of electronic voting.
The city of Hamburg had planned to use electronic voting for the state parliament
election in 2008. The Nedap computers can be manipulated and misused. They also take
the view that electronic voting machines were undemocratic as only small elite of
computer experts can check them, while every citizen can control a traditional election.
For them the use of electronic voting machines has no advantage because the safer you
make the computers, the more expensive they become. As a result, the CCC demands
the prohibition of electronic voting machines.
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http://www.elections.fgov.be/fileadmin/user_upload/Elections2011/fr/presentation/
bevoting1_gb.pdf (2000)

According to independent group of international experts with experience of

analyzing e-voting systems around the world. (May 2014) The e-voting system places
complete trust in the server that counts the votes at the end of the election process.
Votes are decrypted and counted entirely within the unobservable “black box” of the
counting server. This creates an opportunity for an attacker who compromises this
server to modify the results of the vote counting.

The researchers demonstrated that they can infect the counting server with
vote-stealing malware. In this attack, a state-level attacker or a dishonest election
official inserts a stealthy form of infectious code onto a computer used in the pre-
election setup process. The infection spreads via software DVDs used to install the
operating systems on all the election servers. This code ensures that the basic checks
used to ensure the integrity of the software would still appear to pass, despite the
software having been modified. The attack’s modifications would replace the results of
the vote decryption process with the attacker’s preferred set of votes, thus silently
changing the results of the election to their preferred outcome.
https://estoniaevoting.org/findings/summary/ (2014)

According to Madise, 2006 e-Voting, in the wider definition recommended by the

Council of Europe, is the use of electronic means in one or several means of election
procedures. In this sense, e-Voting has existed in Estonia for years: the lists of the
voters were already processed electronically, and in 2002 the National Electoral
Committee started using the Internet to transfer data However, since the focus of this
overview is the actual voting, these developments won’t be discussed further. The
possibilities of implementing e-voting have been discussed in Estonia since 2001.

The Estonian system uses a security architecture that may have been adequate
when the system was introduced a decade ago, but it is now dangerously out of date.
Since the time the system was designed, state-level cyber-attacks have become a very
real threat. Recent attacks by China against U.S. companies, by the U.S. against Iran,
and by the telecoms demonstrate the proliferation and sophistication of state-level

10
attackers. Estonia itself suffered massive denial-of-service attacks in 2007 attributed to
Russia.

Estonia’s system places extreme trust in election servers and voters’ computers — all
easy targets for a foreign power. The report demonstrates multiple ways that today’s
state-level attackers could exploit the Estonian system to change votes, compromise the
secret ballot, disrupt elections, or cast doubt on the fairness of results.

http://www.elections.fgov.be/fileadmin/user_upload/Elections2011/fr/presentation/
bevoting1_gb.pdf

According to the University of the Philippines-Diliman the Philippines prepares for

its first automated national elections in May (2010), which has implemented automated
voting for all its local student university-wide elections since 2009. While the framework
of the U.P. Diliman voting system (dubbed “Halalan”) requires no paper ballots and is
thus radically different from that which will be utilized in our own national polls, it may
be a source of inspiration and future lessons as our country adjusts to the prospect of
an automated electoral future.

The current Study Manager of Halalan, Rystraum Gamonez, a second-year

Computer Science student at the U.P. College of Engineering explained that Halalan was
developed after members of his campus organization, the UP Linux Users Group
(UnPLUG), were watching a typically prolonged tabulation of paper ballots for the
University Student Council election, wondering whether an automated voting system for
the campus was possible. They scoured the Internet for available election software for
their purposes, only to find none. To their credit, they decided then to develop one
themselves, and the software they developed was used, first in local College of
Engineering elections, then by three other colleges in their own local council elections,
before it was finally adopted by the entire university for the student council elections of
2009. The efforts of the developers of Halalan have hardly remained anonymous. For
developing the Halalan software, UnPLUG won an award during the 2006 Software
Freedom Day, a worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software initiated by
Software Freedom International and co-sponsored then by IBM. The prize — an IBM
Power5 server which is currently used as the central server for Halalan.

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 Perhaps the most notable feature of the Halalan system is its utilization of open-
source software. The code is freely available online (you can download it here), under a
GNU General Public License that generally allows for its use by anyone for commercial or
non-commercial purposes. It is free for use by a large homeowner’s association in
Paranaque, a university in Buenos Aires, or a local government in Tanzania without fear
of trampling on any intellectual property rights or paying any fee to the developers. The
code may also be modified for idiosyncratic purposes, though under the license, any
derivative of the original code should be licensed under similar terms and conditions as
the original.

The system of course could not run on software alone. In order that it could run,
it would require a network of computers connected to a web server (such as Apache)
and a database server (such as MySQL). Any computer would do – it need not be a
dedicated election machine – so lang as it could be connected to the network. In the
case of UP Diliman, an array of desktops or laptops (as may be available to the
individual colleges) is situated in the voting precincts, each logged on to an IP address
on the university-based DILNET server.

Voting in UP Diliman proceeds in the following manner. The student goes to the
precinct, and presents to the poll clerk her/his student ID (or Form 5). Once the poll
clerk is satisfied that the voter is enrolled and thus eligible to vote, the voter is given a
password taken from a list of pre-prepared computer-generated passwords. The voter
heads to the computer, and is confronted by a browser screen. As required by the
browser, the student logs in her/his student number and the previously supplied
password. If the log-in is successful, the student is led to the online ballot, which
features the contested positions, the names of the candidates and their respective
parties. Using a mouse, the voter clicks on the empty boxes beside the names of their
candidates of choice, thereby marking the same. (There is also, in the UP system, a box
for “Abstain”) Clicking the box does not automatically record the vote, as the voter has
the choice to review her/his ballot and changing votes before finally confirming the
same. Confirming the ballot and thereby finalizing the votes requires the voter to go to
the end of the ballot and undertake two steps: (1) typing in a Captcha code which
ensures that the ballot was accomplished through human selection; and (2) clicking on

12
the “Confirm” button. Once the ballot has been confirmed, the votes are immediately
recorded on the central server.

Assuming that these hurdles could be overcome in the future, is there a need to
amend our laws for automated voting? Republic Act No. 9369, which is the current
mandate for the COMELEC to adopt an automated election system, permits the use of
either a “paper-based or a direct recording electronic election system as it may deem
appropriate and practical for the process of voting, counting of votes and
canvassing/consolidation and transmittal of results of electoral exercises”. (See Sec. 6)
“Direct recording electronic election system” is defined as “a type or automated election
system that uses electronic ballots, records, votes by means of a ballot display provided
with mechanical or electro-optical component that can be activated by the voter,
processes data by means of a computer program, record voting data and ballot images,
and transmits voting results electronically”, a definition that plainly accommodates the
Halalan system. With only a few refinements in the software perhaps, it seems quite
feasible for the COMELEC to adopt the Halalan system for future elections, provided that
the benchmark of appropriateness and practicality (i.e., a stable nationwide computer
network) is also met.

https://lawinnovations.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/halalandiliman/

According to Swierenga, S. J., & Pierce, G. L. 2012, usable voting systems are
key to a successful voting experience for everyone, but are especially important for
persons with disabilities. Voting systems need to be designed so that these voters can
effectively interact with a voting system in a reasonable amount of time and without
discomfort. The overall goal of the research was to develop a suitable, rigorous test
protocol for a Voting System Test Laboratory (VSTL) to conduct usability conformance
testing of accessible voting systems with persons who are blind, have low vision, or
have dexterity impairments in order to ensure that they can vote independently. We first
conducted a gap analysis and formal study of existing conformance tests and
methodologies for conducting usability tests for accessibility. We then developed and
refined tests and protocols appropriate to the selected demographic groups, before
conducting and analyzing dry runs of the test protocol using multiple voting systems to

13
get expert timings. The materials that were developed are intended to be used in pilot
testing. http://usability.msu.edu/research/studys/accessible-voting-systems (2012)

According to Inocencio V. Ferrer Memorial School of Fisheries Automated Voting

System (Soledad, Lamis, Valenzuela 2010) their voting system is seemingly simple, and
its advantages scream out at you. If implemented without hitches, it allows for fast,
virtually instantaneous tabulation of votes.

The electronic voting system provided a background on the basics of

online/automated elections, the components needed to make it possible, the methods
that would be employed to guarantee the integrity safety of the votes, a discussion on
the general feasibility as grounded to the advantages and disadvantages of the
technology, and everything was then contextualized to fit the circumstances of the
election.

One of the reasons our electronic voting system has been praised so highly is
that it’s designed around the idea that all parties, citizens and election commissions are
able to audit the electoral process at every stage, including before an election has even
begun.

Every country has different needs. That’s why every electronic voting solution we design
is different. Having said that, whatever system we design to meet your country’s laws
and requirements, we can guarantee one thing – that it will lead to fast, legitimate
results. http://www.smartmatic.com/voting/electronic-voting/ (2010)

According to Chaum D. (n.d) (Secret – Ballot Receipts and Transparent Integrity)

presents a very interesting scheme, whereby voters could get receipts for their votes.
This receipt would allow them to know if their votes were included in the final tally or
not, and to prove that they voted without revealing any information about how they
voted. The security of this scheme depends on visual cryptography developed by Naor
and Shamir, and on voters randomly choosing one of two pieces of paper.

http://www.vreceipt.com/article.pdf (2010)

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CHAPTER III
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

This chapter explains the technicality of the project, details of the project used
and how the project is applied. Automated SSG Election System of Valerio P. Palmares
National High School will help the SSG officers, adviser, and students to have a fast,
reliable and accurate election process. The design of this is user-friendly. The user shall
select the function he/she want to perform.

Technicality of the Project

The Automated SSG Election System of Valerio P. Palmares National High School
will help the SSG officers, adviser, and the students (voters) to have a faster and fair
election.
Detail of the Technology Used
The computer is a powerful machine created by human in keeping abreast with
technology. It is the best tool to use to create an application like Automated SSG

15
Election System of Valerio P. Palmares National High School and can perform calculation
with accuracy and speed.

Hardware
Computer hardware includes the physical part of a computer, such as the case,
central processing unit, random access memory, monitor, mouse, keyboard, computer
data storage, graphics card, speaker and motherboard. By contrast, software is the set
of instructions that can be stored and run by hardware. The hardware capabilities of an
object identify the hardware requirements of a platform necessary for the object to
execute correctly. The example of this requirements might be the identification of code
requires the MM or SSE features that are available on some x86 architectures.

Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz 3.10 GHz

Memory : 8.00 GB (7.87 GB usable)
Hard Disk : 1TB ST1000LM015
CD/DVD ROM : HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GU90N
Monitor : ASUS-V519DE
Motherboard : ASUS H8IM-A
Mouse : A4TECH N-400-2
Keyboard : A4TECH KRS-8572

Software to be used

Software
Is a set of instructions, data or programs used to operate computers and execute
specific task. It is this opposite of hardware, which describes the physical aspects of a
computer. Software is a generic term used to refer to applications, scripts and programs
that run on device.

Windows 10
The latest version of operating system created by Microsoft Corporation
succeeding Windows 8. It is user- friendly OS. This can handle applications from

16
Windows Store just like what Google Play offers to their android devices. This OS is
modernized as it adopts Touch Screen Technology (depending on the device used).
12
Visual Basic 6.0
The front- end of the application. The .NET framework of Visual Basic is the latest
framework used to create Windows applications and software. The added feature to this
framework is to create an online and offline application capable to be installed to latest
operating system created by Microsoft Corp. Through enhanced support for ActiveX Data
Object (ADO), Visual Basic 6.0 makes it easy for developers to access data from almost
any store, including messaging servers and proprietary databases. ADO support also
enables the creation of applicants that rely on server databases and support mobile and
remote users.

Microsoft Access 2016

The back- end of the application. Microsoft Access can store large amount of
data for desktop applications. It creates objects such as tables, queries, forms, reports
and modules. It also supported by ADO, ODBC, and .NET Framework. Access allows you
to manage your information in one database file. Within Access there are four major
object: Tables, Queries, Forms and Reports. The Navigation pane is a list containing
every object in your database. For easier viewing, the object are organized into groups
by type. Microsoft Access forms provide a quick and easy way to modify and insert
records into your databases. Microsoft Access has capabilities to answer more complex
request or Queries. Access queries provide the capability to combined data from multiple
tables and place specific conditions on the data retrieved.

17
How the Project will Work

18
Figure 1.Architectural Diagram of the System

This diagram illustrates the users input to the system and the output information
to the users. System Administrator and the student voters are the users of the system.
The system can provide the following to the users: user’s log report, log changes report,
candidates’ party list, election final results, and list of candidates chosen by the voter.

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 Figure
2. Splash
Screen
This
screen
window
loads the system. It shows the title of the system and a progressive bar. After loading,
the main screen automatically appears.

Figure 3.Log-in Screen

This screen window loads after the splash screen it requires username and
password of the user. By entering the correct username and password will take you to
the main screen and when the user enters the wrong username and password the
message box will appear that you enter the wrong username or password. By clicking
the button cancel the program will automatically exit.

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 Figure
4. Main
Screen

This form
displays
the main
screen, it consists of menu bar for the “Admin Page” used to register and validate new
voters, existing voters, and candidates’ records, and generate election voting results.
“Voters Page” used by the student voters to view candidates’ party lists and candidates'
profiles and cast their votes during the election period. “Help Assistant” which contains
instructions on how to use the system and “Database Maintenance” one of the features
of the

system wherein the administrator can update voters’ records, and candidates’ records,
manage data and transaction log files, and back up the system.

Figure 5. Dashboard

This form displays the Dashboard, it is the main User Interface of this Automated
SSG Election System.

21
Figure 6. Add Voters Screen

This form displays the ‘Add Voters screen’, its function is to add new voter with
the personal data of the students. This includes: First name, Last name, Password,
Mobile Number, and then the photo to be added to his profile. After adding the personal
data you can now then click the ‘Save’ button to save the input data.

Figure 7. Add Candidates Screen

The "add candidates" screen facilitates the registration process by allowing

administrators to input the necessary information about the candidates. This includes
their First name, last name, positions they are running for, photos, and their platforms.

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 Figure 8. Add /Remove Position Screen

The "add/remove position" screen enables the administrator to manage the

positions available for candidates to run for in the election. It allows them to add new
positions that may have been created or remove positions that are no longer relevant or
needed.

Figure 9. Ballot Preview Screen

The "Ballot Preview" screen function in an automated SSG (Student Government)

election system allows administrators, candidates, and voters to preview the ballot
before the actual election takes place.

References
23
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