College Voting System

A Java-based Voting System for College Elections using OOP, JDBC, Swing UI, and a simplified blockchain for secure vote recording.

🎯 Features

• User Authentication - Secure login and registration for Admin/Student roles
• Election Management - Full CRUD operations for candidates (Admin only)
• Secure Voting - Blockchain-based vote recording with SHA-256 hashing
• Result Processing - Real-time election results with visual progress bars
• Role-Based Access - Separate dashboards for Admin and Student users
• Professional UI - Modern Swing interface with comprehensive validation

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Java 17+ (Java 24.0.2 tested)
• MySQL Server (localhost:3306)
• MySQL Connector/J (mysql-connector-j-9.4.0.jar included)

Running the Application

Option 1: Using PowerShell Script (Recommended)

.\run.ps1

Option 2: Manual Compilation and Run

# Compile
.\compile.ps1

# Run
java -cp "out;resources;mysql-connector-j-9.4.0.jar" app.Main

📋 Setup Instructions

1. Database Setup

Run the SQL schema to create the database:

mysql -u root -p < schema.sql

Or execute schema.sql in MySQL Workbench.

2. Configure Database Connection

Update resources/db_config.properties with your MySQL credentials:

db.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/voting_system
db.user=root
db.password=your_password

3. Run the Application

Use the run.ps1 script or manual commands above.

📁 Project Structure

Voting System/
├── src/main/java/
│   ├── app/              # Application entry point
│   ├── dao/              # Data Access Objects (Database layer)
│   ├── model/            # Domain models (User, Candidate, Vote, Blockchain)
│   ├── service/          # Business logic layer
│   ├── ui/               # Swing UI components
│   └── util/             # Utility classes (Hashing, Validation, Config)
├── resources/
│   └── db_config.properties  # Database configuration
├── docs/                 # Original project documentation
├── documentation/        # UI and setup documentation
├── out/                  # Compiled classes (generated)
├── schema.sql           # Database schema
├── run.ps1              # Run script
├── compile.ps1          # Compile script
└── README.md            # This file

📚 Documentation

• Run Instructions - Detailed setup and usage guide
• UI Enhancements - Complete list of UI features
• UI Flow Diagram - Visual application flow
• Completion Summary - Project overview
• UI Checklist - Implementation checklist
• User Manual - End-user guide
• Test Cases - Testing documentation
• Project Report - Academic project report

🎨 Application Features

For Students

• View all candidates with department information
• Cast vote with confirmation (one vote per student)
• View live election results
• Secure logout

For Admins

• Manage Candidates - Add, edit, delete candidates with table view
• View Results - Detailed election results with percentages
• System Information - View system capabilities and security features

🔒 Security Features

• Password hashing with SHA-256
• Email validation with regex
• One vote per student enforcement
• Blockchain integrity verification
• Role-based access control

🛠️ Technologies Used

• Java 17+ - Core programming language
• MySQL - Database management
• JDBC - Database connectivity
• Swing - GUI framework
• SHA-256 - Cryptographic hashing
• Blockchain - Vote integrity

📝 Usage

1. Register a new account (Admin or Student)
2. Login with your credentials
3. Admin can manage candidates and view results
4. Students can cast votes and view results
5. All votes are recorded on a blockchain for integrity

🐛 Troubleshooting

See Run Instructions for detailed troubleshooting steps.

Common issues:

• ClassNotFoundException: Ensure MySQL connector JAR is in project root
• SQLException: Verify database is running and credentials are correct
• Compilation errors: Run .\compile.ps1 to see detailed errors

👥 Contributors

• Academic Project - College Voting System

📄 License

This is an academic project for educational purposes.