## 4 Methodology and System Design  
In this section, the design and the setup of the proposed VoteChain system are presented. VoteChain is a blockchain-based e-voting system developed to improve the current voting process in the state of Palestine. VoteChain is designed to provide protection against fraud and manipulation. VoteChain preserves the privacy of voters and ensures that their votes remain confidential while allowing for audits, transparency, and accountability by tracking all voting activities. The system is protected against unauthorized access and manipulation, offering secure voting from any location at any time. It ensures the accuracy and authenticity of all data, and by distributing authority across multiple nodes, it avoids any single point of failure, making the system more resilient and secure. VoteChain incorporates a user-friendly web-based interface that makes voting simple for voters while ensuring the election process remains secure. It prevents double voting to keep the process fair and trustworthy. For administrators, there is a special interface to manage voters, districts, and candidates, making it easy to oversee the entire system smoothly. The comprehensive design of VoteChain's interfaces ensures seamless interaction for both voters and administrators, reinforcing the system's overall effectiveness. VoteChain promotes inclusivity by encouraging broad voter participation and supports the principle of equal voting rights. The architecture of VoteChain (see Figure 1) facilitates fair competition among candidates while preserving voter anonymity, thereby advancing an unbiased electoral process. Figure 1 presents the architecture of the VoteChain system, designed to secure the voting process. The User Interface (UI) and Front-End Security are critical components that assist voters and administrators in managing elections. The UI serves as the interaction portal, where voter credentials are authenticated using secure methods, such as username/password and One-Time Password (OTP) authentication. This not only secures the voting process but also enhances user experience by ensuring compliance with system policies. Access Control Management defines and manages user roles, ensuring that only  
Figure 1: Architecture of the proposed e-voting system. authorized individuals can execute specific actions. Additionally, this module manages the definition of voting transactions and initiates the mining process for the blockchain. The E-Voting Transaction Management Level ensures the confidentiality of each vote by generating cryptographic hashes and transaction IDs. It also maps transactions onto the blockchain while incorporating voter credentials from the user interface. VoteChain's decentralized security is strengthened by a mining mechanism that uses multiple virtual nodes, which makes the system more resistant to tampering. The Ledger Synchronization Level is responsible for keeping the local application in sync with the multichain ledger, ensuring that all votes are securely recorded on the blockchain using cryptographic hashes. This level also calculates the voting results using smart contracts and announces them at the end of the voting period. All voting-related data, including vote counts, voter registration details, and transaction histories, are stored as permanent records on the blockchain. The ability to access and query this data is crucial for real-time election monitoring, audits, and transparency. Currently, VoteChain relies on basic blockchain query tools to access transaction logs, smart contract events, and block data through APIs provided by platforms like Ethereum. This allows stakeholders to track election progress and verify votes without compromising voter privacy. To boost efficiency and scalability, VoteChain incorporates advanced blockchain query services such as vql and vchain+.