The level of research that e-voting has attracted is a testimony of its importance as a key element in the implementation of e-government. It is argued that the ease with which voting can be performed will increase participation and enhance accountability. This convenience however, generates a set of specific requirements, not least the ability of the underlying distributed system to model the behaviour of manual systems. More specifically, the elimination of direct physical intervention entails a careful management of the implications of virtual participation. The scope of this work concerns the identification and integration of specific mechanisms for addressing issues of security, privacy and accountability. The aim of this paper is to present a case study on the design and implementation of an e-voting prototype system, and to provide a context for the selection and deployment of relevant mechanisms.