International Journal of Database Theory and Application Vol.9, No.7 (2016), pp.281-290 http://dx.doi.org/10.14257/ijdta.2016.9.7.24 ISSN: 2005-4270 IJDTA Copyright ⓒ 2016 SERSC A Structured and Layered Approach for a Modular Electronic Voting System: Defining the Application Layer Emeka Reginald Nwogu 1 and Chinedum E. Ihedigbo 2 1 Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria 2 Computer Science Department Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria okeynedum@yahoo.com, nwoguemeka@gmail.com Abstract This work is the first of a series of works that discussed a model for solving the problem of non-modularity in electronic voting systems. It analyzed and described the system from a structured and layered perspective; with the system layered in order to achieve modularity. First, was the description of similar models and architectures that have been previously proposed by other authors on related subjects and how good their models have been. Our proposed system was structured into three layers that include Application, Security Service and Network Access layers. However, in this work, focus was more on describing the Application layer, which is further split into two sub-layers, namely the Application Hardware and Application Software sub - layers. A couple of components and modules that make up this layer were carefully outlined, reviewed and discussed. Keywords: E voting, Layer, Modular, Application, Security Service, Network Access 1. Introduction Electronic voting has recently enjoyed more popularity and publicity, especially as many nations are now exploring the possibility of owning and deploying such system. This system makes the organization and execution of national elections somewhat hitch free. Citing [11], electronic voting system (also known as e – voting) is an electronic system which uses electronic ballot that would allow voters to transmit their secure and secret voted ballot to election officials over the computer. [18] also in their discussion of an electronic voting (e-voting) system posited that the system is one in which the election data is recorded, stored and processed primarily as digital information. Lastly, [13] described e-voting system as one that allows the eligible voter to cast their vote via a computer normally connected to the internet or intranet from any location. Though electronic voting has evolved over the years in their designs, starting from the days of the punched cards to the present day Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting system; it has continued to suffer lack of standardization and protocol definition. This unarguably, has made it impossible for system designers and manufacturers to pursue a generic viewpoint to e –voting system design. As [1] puts it, it appears that each researcher in the field of Electronic Voting Systems contributes to some particular aspect but rebuilds the whole system when they wish to implement this rather specific contribution. This issue has made the e –voting systems un-maintainable and un-scalable Similarly, the most disturbing issue with most of the systems that have been developed and deployed so far has been the issue of non-modularity in these systems. According to [19], Modularity is the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined. [12] defined modular products as systems of components that are loosely coupled. Loose-coupling on the other hand has been defined in computing and systems design as one in which each of its components has, or makes use of, little or no