Data encryption in an Electronic Ballot Box

Brazilian Elections rely on an Electronic Ballot Box (EBB). It is based on a PC motherboard, containing a small keypad and a LCD display which shows messages and candidate's pictures. One of the main issues in the voting process is security against fraud. We describe here the implementation of IDEA data encryption algorithm in hardware in order to improve its security. The algorithm was described in VHDL and synthesized in a FPGA.