TWI900537B - Voting system, voting program - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a voting system that allows re-vote during a predetermined period and prevents manipulation after the vote is confirmed. A voting system 100 uses a distributed ledger 10 for performing voting by performing transfer of a voting token 50 from a voting account to a voted account via a network 9, the voting system 100 including: an token issuing means 21 for issuing a voting token 50 for the voting account generated by an account generation means 32; a transaction information storing means 22 for storing transaction information Tx for a predetermined period that is used to transfer the voting token 50 from the voting account to the voted account; and a recording means 23 for recording the transaction information Tx that has been recorded in the transaction information storing means 22, in the distributed ledger 10 at the end of the predetermined period.

Description

Voting system, voting program

This invention relates to a voting system and a voting program.

Voting systems are widely known that allow people using PCs or portable terminals to answer questionnaires or express their opinions via a network such as the Internet. Some have proposed further employing a distributed ledger system in such voting systems to prevent tampering or to verify identity through electronic signatures (e.g., see Patent Documents 1 to 4).

As one of the aforementioned use cases, shareholders can change the voting method multiple times after voting once, as long as the voting period is within a certain time limit.

However, simply allowing votes to be altered creates the problem of being unable to simultaneously prevent tampering and verify identity.

[Prior Art Literature]

[Patent Literature]

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 6511201

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Gazette No. 2018-517208

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Publication No. 6325152

Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2019-95884

The present invention was developed in light of the aforementioned problems. Its purpose is to provide a voting system that allows for re-voting during a voting period and makes it difficult to tamper with a finalized vote.

To address the aforementioned issues, the voting system of the present invention utilizes a distributed ledger and conducts voting by transferring voting tokens from a voting account to a voted account via a network. The voting system comprises: a token issuing means for issuing a voting token to the voting account generated by account generation means; a transaction information storage means for retaining transaction information used to transfer the voting token from the voting account to the voted account for a predetermined period; and a recording means for recording the transaction information recorded in the transaction information storage means to the distributed ledger upon expiration of the predetermined period.

According to the present invention, a voting system can be provided that allows re-voting during the voting period and is difficult to tamper with once the vote is finalized.

9: Internet

10: Blockchain (distributed ledger)

20,20’: Server

21,21’: Methods of issuing tokens

22,22’: Means of maintaining transaction information

23,23’: Deadline Management Methods (Recording Methods)

24,24’: Agenda Memory Department

30: Portable Terminal

31: Voting App

32: Account Generation Methods

33: Signature Methods

34: Private key (voting account)

40:Database

41: Means of providing shareholder information

50: Voting Token

100,100’: Voting System

Qy(Q1y,Q2y,Q3y,Q4y,Q5y): Account used for voting

Qn(Q1n,Q2n,Q3n,Q4n,Q5n): Account used for voting

Tx: Transaction information

Tx1: Voting Transaction

P: User

Figure 1 shows an example of the overall structure of a voting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 shows an example of the functional configuration of the voting application shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows an example of the functional configuration of the server shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows an example of the operation of the voting system shown in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the voting system shown in Figure 1.

Figure 6 shows an example of the operation of the voting system shown in Figure 1 when the deadline expires.

Figure 7 shows an example of the voting confirmation operation of the voting system shown in Figure 1.

Figure 8 shows an example of another implementation of the voting system of the present invention.

As a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG1 shows an example of the overall structure of a voting system 100 for conducting voting via a network 9 such as the Internet.

In this embodiment, the voting system 100 is described as a system in which a user P, who is a shareholder, votes by answering yes/no on multiple issues at a shareholders' meeting, etc. However, the system is not limited to this configuration.

Voting system 100 comprises: a portable terminal 30 for using a voting application (App) 31; a server 20 managed by the administrator of voting system 100; a database 40, also managed by the administrator of voting system 100 and storing shareholder information; and a blockchain 10 that records voting results in a distributed ledger format.

The portable terminal 30 is a portable terminal owned by a user P, such as a smartphone or tablet, that can use the voting application 31. Each portable terminal 30 has a communication function that allows it to connect to the server 20 via the network 9.

As shown in Figure 2(a), the voting application 31 includes: account generation means 32 that generates a private key 34 to create a voting account, and signing means 33 that uses the generated private key 34 to sign a voting token 50 (described later) to create transaction information Tx.

After a user selects Yes/No for multiple issues using radio buttons, as shown in Figure 2(b), and then confirms their selection by pressing the voting button shown in Figure 2(c), voting application 31 signs voting token 50 using signature means 33 and transfers it to the voted account corresponding to each answer. The portable terminal 30 can be any terminal used by user P, and may be a PC (personal computer).

The voting application 31 can be a so-called web application (web app) running on a web browser on the server 20 side, or it can be an application installed on the portable terminal 30. "Using the voting application 31" means displaying the application as usable between the portable terminal 30 and the server 20. If the voting application 31 is on the server 20 and the user operates it using the portable terminal 30, the portable terminal 30 functions as the application operation unit for the voting application 31.

As shown in Figure 3, the server 20 includes a token issuing unit 21 for issuing voting tokens 50 and a transaction information storage unit 22 for temporarily storing signed transaction information Tx sent from the voting application 31.

The server 20 also has a time limit management means 23 for broadcasting the signed transaction information Tx stored by the transaction information storage means 22 to the blockchain 10 at the end of a predetermined period.

The server 20 is provided with an issue storage unit 24 for storing a plurality of issues Q1 to Q5, which in this embodiment functions as an account for voting.

The issue memory 24 stores, in the form of addresses, the account Qy (Q1y, Q2y, Q3y, Q4y, Q5y) of the voting account to be voted on by the voting token 50 in the case of "Agree" and the account Qn (Q1n, Q2n, Q3n, Q4n, Q5n) of the voting account to be voted on by the voting token 50 in the case of "Oppose" for each issue Q1 to Q5 (e.g., issues to be voted on by shareholders).

The database 40 stores stock information such as the number of shares held by user P. The database 40 includes shareholder information assigning means 41 for associating voting accounts with the shareholder information of user P, who is the owner.

This database 40 can be a database managed by a trust bank or the like that stores shareholder information, or any other database that provides shareholder information from a trust bank.

The shareholder information providing means 41 identifies user P based on the login ID used by user P when logging into the server 20, and then transmits the number of shares held by user P to the server 20.

In this embodiment, blockchain 10 is a private chain formed by a limited number of participants and a distributed ledger system that records transaction information Tx signed by the private keys 34 corresponding to the voting accounts of multiple users P.

The above disclosure does not limit this embodiment. In addition to private chains, blockchain 10 can also be a public chain, consortium chain, or other distributed ledger systems.

In addition, blockchain 10 can utilize not only Ethereum, which uses an account-based coin calculation, but also UTXO (unspent transaction output) blockchains such as NEM (New Economic Blockchain).

The following describes the specific operation of the voting system 100 configured in this manner.

The following explanation assumes that, in this implementation, the trust bank or other entity managing shareholder information has already sent a notification by mail to each user P.

The notification contains information on how to access the voting application 31 using the portable terminal 30, as well as login information such as each user P's ID and password.

The above disclosure does not limit the method of notification; notification may also be issued by an entity other than a trust bank or by the operator of voting system 100.

Assume that user P has already installed the voting application 31 required to use the voting system 100 on their respective portable terminals 30.

Although this embodiment describes a single shareholder vote, the voting application 31 can also generate separate accounts for shareholder votes for multiple years or multiple companies, and perform the same process for each shareholder vote to conduct multiple shareholder votes.

As shown in FIG4 , user P logs in to the voting application 31 using the ID and password that were previously notified as login information (step S100).

If the login information is correct, the voting application 31 generates an account (i.e., a public key and a private key 34) using the account generation means 32 (step S101).

Then, the voting application 31 requests the token issuing means 21 of the server 20 to issue a voting token 50 to itself (step S102).

Based on the login information, such as the ID and password, entered by user P when logging into the voting application 31, the server 20 queries the database 40 for user P's shareholder information and confirms whether the user has not voted and the number of shares held (step S103). Simultaneously, the address of the voting account generated by the account generation means 32 is stored.

The database 40 uses the shareholder information assigning means 41 to associate the voting account identified in step S103 with the shareholder information of user P, who is the owner. Furthermore, the database 40 notifies the server 20 of the number of shares held by the queried voting account (step S104).

The token issuing means 21 issues a voting token 50 to the voting account based on the number of shares held notified in step S104 (step S105).

At this time, the issued voting tokens 50 correspond to multiple issues Q1 to Q5, respectively, serving as five different coins corresponding to, for example, five issues.

In this embodiment, the voting token 50 can be implemented as a token created in accordance with specifications such as Ethereum's ERC20, or can be generated by creating other new tokens or virtual currencies.

In step S105, the token issuing means 21 transfers various types of voting tokens 50 to voting accounts according to the number of shares held obtained from the database 40.

As shown in Figure 5, the voting token 50 is signed using the private key 34 of each voting account on the voting application 31 to create a voting transaction Tx1 (step S106).

This voting transaction Tx1 is used to transfer data from the voting account to the voting accounts Qy and Qn, which are pre-set in the issue memory 24 on the server 20 and correspond to issues Q1 to Q5, respectively. The voting transaction Tx1 is temporarily retained to complete the pseudo-voting process (step S107).

In the present invention, by transferring voting tokens 50, for example, if user P selects Yes on issue Q1, they can "vote" with voting token 50 for issue Q1 to the account being voted on Qy. Similarly, if user P selects Yes on issue Q2, they can "vote" with voting token 50 for issue Q2 to the account being voted on Qy. The accounts being voted on Qy and Qn can be common regardless of the issue, and the voting token 50 type can be changed to distinguish the issue being voted on. Alternatively, the accounts being voted on Qy and Qn can be separated for each issue.

Because such voting tokens 50 are associated with user P's shareholder information and issued to the voting account of the voting application 31, they are difficult to copy. Furthermore, the number of voting tokens 50 is determined by the number of issues and the number of voting rights.

With the above configuration, the number of votes cast by user P can be confirmed by counting the voting tokens 50 corresponding to each issue held by the voting accounts Qy and Qn.

At this point, the transfer of voting token 50 to the voting account has not yet been broadcast to blockchain 10. Therefore, although there is a voting transaction Tx1 used to transfer voting tokens from user P's voting account to the voting accounts Qy and Qn in the issue memory 24, this voting transaction Tx1 is in a pseudo-voting state that can be deleted or corrected.

The transaction information storage means 22 temporarily stores the voting transaction Tx1 (step S108).

The voting transaction Tx1 stored in the transaction information storage means 22 is in a pseudo-voting state that can be deleted or revised, as mentioned above.

The voting application 31 determines whether user P has a new voting instruction (step S109).

When user P wishes to change his or her vote, voting application 31 re-executes step S107 to rewrite the voting transaction Tx1.

Specifically, the transaction information storage means 22 saves the latest voting transaction Tx1 signed with the same voting account (i.e., the same private key 34) to overwrite the old one.

On the other hand, if there is no new voting instruction in step S109, the voting application 31 remains in standby mode until the predetermined deadline expires (step S110).

After user P completes voting in steps S106-S108 but the predetermined voting period has not yet expired, the server 20 can display the voting results of the pseudo-voting state by comparing the signed voting transaction Tx1 stored in the transaction information storage device 22 with the number of shares held by user P.

Therefore, the voting application 31 can also display the calculation result of the number of voting tokens 50 in the fake voting state.

Next, we will explain the actions of the voting application 31, server 20, and blockchain 10 after a vote is cast using the voting application 31 and the predetermined deadline has expired.

At the end of a predetermined period (e.g., voting day), the deadline management means 23 reads the voting transaction Tx1 stored in the transaction information storage means 22 (step S201) and sends the signed voting transaction Tx1 to the blockchain 10 (step S202).

Blockchain 10 writes the voting transaction Tx1, making the voting transaction Tx1 final.

Therefore, the deadline management means 23 functions as a recording means for recording the transaction information Tx recorded in the transaction information storage means 22 on the blockchain 10 at the end of the predetermined period.

Here, in addition to recording the transaction information Tx on the blockchain 10 at the end of the scheduled voting day, the deadline management means 23 can also broadcast the voting transaction Tx1 stored in the transaction information storage means 22 at each predetermined period, for example, using a crawler bot.

The timing of broadcasting transaction information Tx can be determined during design or arbitrarily determined by the user of server 20.

After the predetermined period determined by the deadline management means 23 has expired, the voting application 31 can display not only the counting results of the voting transaction Tx1 in the pseudo-voting state, but also the finalized voting results based on the voting transaction Tx1 recorded in the blockchain 10. In this case, the portable terminal 30 and the server 20 function as voting result display means for displaying the voting results.

Reading the voting results from the blockchain 10 as described above will improve accuracy compared to simply displaying the voting results based on the number of temporarily stored voting tokens 50.

This structure will help enhance the transparency and credibility of voting results.

Alternatively, the voting results can be displayed by counting the number of voting tokens 50 held by each of the voting accounts Qy (Q1y, Q2y, Q3y, Q4y, Q5y) and Qn (Q1n, Q2n, Q3n, Q4n, Q5n) in the issue memory unit 24.

In this embodiment, voting system 100 utilizes a distributed ledger to conduct voting by transferring voting tokens from a voting account to a voted account via a network. Voting system 100 includes: token issuing means 21 for issuing voting tokens 50 to voting accounts generated by account generating means 32; transaction information storage means 22 for retaining transaction information Tx used to transfer voting tokens 50 from the voting account to the voted account for a predetermined period; and expiration management means 23 for recording the transaction information Tx recorded in transaction information storage means 22 on the blockchain 10 at the end of the predetermined period.

With this structure, voting transaction Tx1 can be stored in the transaction information storage device 22 for a "predetermined period," meaning that votes can be changed before the voting day. Furthermore, at the end of the "predetermined period," voting transaction Tx1 is broadcast to the blockchain 10, finalizing the voting result.

In this embodiment, the voting system 100 retains the voting transaction Tx1 stored in the transaction information storage means 22 in an overwritable manner for a predetermined period of time.

With this structure, votes can be changed while the voting transaction Tx1 is stored in the transaction information storage device 22 within the "predetermined period," that is, before the voting day.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, shareholder information assigning means 41 is provided, and the token issuing means 21 determines the number of voting tokens 50 to be issued based on the shareholder information of user P obtained by the shareholder information assigning means 41.

With this configuration, voting tokens 50 are issued to voting accounts in voting application 31 after being associated with user P's shareholder information, making them difficult to copy. Furthermore, the number of voting tokens 50 is determined by the number of issues and voting rights. Therefore, the number of votes cast by each user can be confirmed by summing the voting tokens 50 held by each voting account Qy or Qn.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the voting transaction Tx1 is signed using the private key 34 of each voting account and then stored in the transaction information storage means 22.

With this structure, votes can be changed while voting transaction Tx1 is stored in the transaction information storage device 22 for the "predetermined period," that is, before the voting day.

The program used in the voting system 100 of this embodiment is a voting program using blockchain 10 for voting accounts Qy and Qn via the Internet.

The voting process of this embodiment includes: a generation step S101 for generating a voting account for voting; a token issuance step S105 for issuing a voting token 50 to the voting account; a temporary storage step S108 for temporarily storing the voting transaction Tx1 containing the voting token 50 signed by the voting account; and a recording step S202 for broadcasting the voting transaction Tx1 and recording it on the blockchain 10 at the end of a predetermined period.

With this configuration, voting system 100 allows for further voting during the voting period, and once the vote is finalized, it is difficult to tamper with it.

When voting is conducted using such a voting system 100, only blocks signed with the private key 34 can be viewed in a discernible state on the blockchain 10.

Private key 34 is a voting account generated when user P initially logs into voting application 31. The combination of user P and private key 34 cannot be obtained from blockchain 10. This ensures the anonymity of user P in elections or surveys where one person, one vote is common.

However, especially in special voting types such as shareholder voting, there may be cases where, for example, listed companies may disclose shareholder information including the number of shares held.

In other words, as long as the total number of votes cast using a certain private key 34 on blockchain 10 can be calculated, it is possible to infer who user P is.

Therefore, as a second embodiment of the present invention, in voting system 100, account generation means 32 can generate a plurality of voting accounts for user P based on the shareholder information obtained by shareholder information assignment means 41.

Specifically, in step S101 of the first embodiment, the voting application 31 can create multiple pairs of private keys 34 and public keys for a single user P, each serving as a voting account.

With this structure, instead of using the shareholder information of user P, a voting token 50 is assigned to each voting account (private key 34) for each type.

Therefore, the voting token 50 will not be signed with the same private key 34, so it will be difficult to infer the identity of user P using only the public information in the blockchain 10.

In this second embodiment, since the private key 34 is managed only in the voting application 31, user P can vote without paying special attention to the division of voting rights used.

In voting using multiple voting accounts, as described above, each vote is typically signed with a different private key 34, potentially increasing the computational processing time of the voting application 31. However, in the second embodiment, the voting transaction Tx1 is not immediately recorded on the blockchain 10 but is temporarily stored in the transaction information storage device 22. Therefore, in this embodiment, the voting application 31 can first display a notification indicating the end of voting on a display intended for user P, and then perform the signatures using the multiple accounts in the background. This approach prevents usability degradation and helps enhance user P's anonymity.

Furthermore, as a third embodiment of the present invention, the shareholder information providing means 41 and the database 40 can be omitted.

In this way, the method 41 for providing shareholder information is omitted, which can be thought of as a voting system 100' for use in, for example, a questionnaire or an election.

In the case of an election, the notice distributed from the municipality to each voter as a polling station admission ticket simply states the method for obtaining the voting application 31 using the portable terminal 30 and the login information such as the ID and password of each user P.

FIG8 shows an example of the overall structure of a voting system 100' for conducting voting via the network 9.

In this embodiment, the voting system 100 is described as a voting system in which a user P, acting as a voter or respondent to a questionnaire, answers Yes/No to multiple questions.

Voting system 100' comprises a portable terminal 30 with a voting application 31 installed, a server 20', and a blockchain 10 that records voting results in a distributed ledger format.

The portable terminals 30 are owned by user P, who has installed the voting application 31. Each portable terminal 30 has a communication function that allows it to connect to the server 20' via the network 9.

The functional configuration of the portable terminal 30 is the same as that described in the first embodiment, so its description will be omitted as appropriate.

As shown in Figure 8, the server 20' includes a token issuing means 21' for issuing voting tokens 50, and a transaction information storage means 22' for temporarily storing signed transaction information Tx sent from the voting application 31.

The server 20' also has a time limit management means 23' for aggregating and broadcasting the signed transaction information Tx stored by the transaction information storage means 22' to the blockchain 10 at the end of a predetermined period.

The server 20' is equipped with an issue storage unit 24', which is used to store a plurality of issues Q1 to Q5, which function as voting accounts in this embodiment.

The issue memory 24' stores, in the form of addresses, the account Qy (Q1y, Q2y, Q3y, Q4y, Q5y) of the voting account to be voted on by the voting token 50 in the case of "yes" and the account Qn (Q1n, Q2n, Q3n, Q4n, Q5n) of the voting account to be voted on by the voting token 50 in the case of "no" for each issue Q1 to Q5 (e.g., issues to be voted on by shareholders).

In the third embodiment, the token issuing means 21' issues only one voting token 50 to each user P for each category of issues Q1-Q5.

That is, if there are five issues, a total of five types of voting tokens 50 are allocated to the voting account created in the voting application 31 for each issue.

With this structure, user P can vote on each of the questions Q1-Q5.

This will allow one person to cast one vote, making changes before the deadline easier and impossible after the deadline, thus facilitating early voting for parliamentary elections.

Furthermore, in an election, rather than generating voting accounts Q1y, Q1n, ... corresponding to the Yes/No answers to, for example, issues Q1-Q5, voting accounts are generated for each candidate in a particular constituency. In this case, the issue memory unit 24' generates multiple voting accounts corresponding to each candidate.

The operation and structure of voting system 100' overlap with those described in the first and second embodiments, so their description will be omitted.

The above description is based on the preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this specific embodiment. Unless otherwise specified in the above description, various modifications and alterations can be made within the scope of the present invention as described in the patent application.

For example, the deadline management means 23' can also broadcast the voting transaction Tx1 stored in the transaction information storage means 22' at each predetermined period, for example, using a crawler bot.

The timing of broadcasting transaction information Tx can be determined during design or arbitrarily determined by the user of server 20'.

Blockchain 10 can be a private chain or a public chain.

Using a public chain as blockchain 10 will further enhance its resistance to tampering and ensure the transparency and credibility of voting results.

The effects described in the embodiments of this invention are merely the best examples of the effects produced by this invention. The effects that can be produced by this invention are not limited to those described in the embodiments of this invention.

9: Internet

10: Blockchain (distributed ledger)

20: Server

21: Methods of issuing tokens

22: Means of maintaining transaction information

23: Deadline Management Methods (Recording Methods)

24: Agenda Memory Department

30: Portable Terminal

31: Voting App

40:Database

41: Means of providing shareholder information

50: Voting Token

100: Voting System

P: User

Claims (5)

A voting system employs a distributed ledger and transfers voting tokens from a voting account to a voted account via a network, thereby conducting voting. The voting system comprises: token issuing means for issuing voting tokens to the voting account generated by account generating means; transaction information storage means for temporarily storing transaction information of the voting token signed by the voting account for a predetermined period, the transaction information being used to transfer the voting token from the voting account to the voted account; and recording means for recording the transaction information recorded in the transaction information storage means in the distributed ledger upon expiration of the predetermined period. The transaction information stored in the transaction information storage means during the predetermined period is stored in a rewritable manner for the same voting token. The voting system as described in claim 1 comprises: shareholder information assigning means for associating the voting account with the shareholder information of the owner of the voting account; and token issuing means for determining the number of voting tokens to be issued based on the shareholder information obtained using the shareholder information assigning means. The voting system as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the transaction information is signed by each of the voting accounts and then stored in the transaction information storage device. The voting system as described in claim 1 or 2, comprising: shareholder information assigning means for associating the voting account with the shareholder information of the owner of the voting account; and account generating means for generating a plurality of voting accounts for the owner based on the shareholder information obtained using the shareholder information assigning means. A voting program employing a distributed ledger is provided for conducting voting on voting accounts via a network. The voting program comprises: a generation step of generating a voting account for conducting the voting; a token issuance step of issuing a voting token to the voting account; a temporary storage step of temporarily storing transaction information of the voting token signed by the voting account; and a recording step of broadcasting the transaction information and recording it in a distributed ledger at the end of a predetermined period. The temporarily stored transaction information is retained in a rewritable manner for the same voting token.