YeabsiraTewodros/Online-Voting-System

Online Voting system for Ethiopian fair and periodic election # Online Voting System A secure and anonymous voting system built with Node.js, Express, and PostgreSQL for Ethiopian political parties. ## Features - **Secure Authentication**: Admin and voter login with bcrypt password hashing - **Anonymous Voting**: Voters can cast votes without revealing identity - **Admin Management**: Super admin can manage admin accounts and toggle voting periods - **Real-time Results**: Live vote tallying and results display - **Voter Registration**: Admin-controlled voter registration process - **Session Management**: Secure session handling with express-session - **Environment Configuration**: Sensitive data stored in environment variables ## Technologies Used - **Backend**: Node.js, Express.js - **Database**: PostgreSQL - **Frontend**: EJS templates, HTML, CSS, JavaScript - **Authentication**: bcryptjs for password hashing - **Session Management**: express-session - **Environment Variables**: dotenv ## Prerequisites - Node.js (v14 or higher) - PostgreSQL (v12 or higher) - npm or yarn ## Installation 1. **Clone the repository**: ```bash git clone cd black-box-vote ``` 2. **Install dependencies**: ```bash npm install ``` 3. **Set up the database**: - Create a PostgreSQL database named `ethiopian_vote` - Run the database schema: ```bash psql -d ethiopian_vote -f database.sql ``` or simply run node init_db.js 4. **Configure environment variables**: - Copy `.env.example` to `.env` (if available) or create `.env` file - Update the following variables: ``` DB_USER=your_postgres_username DB_HOST=localhost DB_NAME=ethiopian_vote DB_PASSWORD=your_postgres_password DB_PORT=5432 PORT=3000 ``` 5. **Initialize the database** (optional, for testing): ```bash node init_db.js ``` ## Usage 1. **Start the server**: ```bash npm start ``` 2. **Access the application**: - Open your browser and go to `localhost` 3. **Admin Setup**: - Use `insert_admin.js` to create initial admin accounts - Login as admin to manage voters an …