All you need to know about Blockchain-based Voting Systems

Blockchain voting is a voting method in which citizens cast ballots via the blockchain network. A blockchain-based voting system seeks to address one of the primary issues that beset traditional paper-based voting methods: voter fraud.

 

What is Blockchain Voting?

 

Blockchain technology's immutability, transparency, and security make it ideal for distributed governance and voting projects. As a result, it's not surprising that there is growing research and interest in implementing a blockchain voting system in election polls.

 

Blockchain technology was initially used for financial transactions, but it has subsequently grown to serve other purposes. As a secure network, a blockchain can be extremely beneficial for any form of data transmission operation.

 

Blockchain is a sort of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that utilizes computer science, cryptography, and mathematics. A blockchain is essentially a piece of ever-growing code that runs on a global network of computers known as "nodes." Nodes check, manage, and store data or financial transactions. Furthermore, blockchain networks use financial incentives, making it more advantageous to support rather than control the network.

 

Blockchain is designed to be fundamentally secure and ensure that original information is unchanging, serving as a single source of truth and a tracking tool for all data stored. When applied to voting, this could imply the possibility of unaltered votes, more transparency, increased internet accessibility, and more organized voting processes.

 

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How Does Blockchain Voting Work?

 

The voting process may appear straightforward, but the labor behind the scenes is complex. The governing authority must first agree to permit and implement a blockchain-based voting system, as well as ensuring that individuals understand the step-by-step ballot-casting procedure. Blockchain-based voting systems are also expected to adhere to a set of criteria for secure, transparent, and credible elections, such as those established by the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network.

 

For blockchain voting to be effective, there must be a means to verify that the voters are citizens of that particular country. This can be troublesome because it requires citizenship identification from a centralized authority in order to vote on a decentralized network. However, identity verification is necessary to prevent people from voting several times.

 

For a blockchain-based voting system to work effectively, the governing authority must first approve its implementation and educate individuals on the specifics of casting ballots. These systems are supposed to follow the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network's recommendations for secure, transparent, and credible elections.

 

The blockchain can store any form of transaction, including financial transactions, contracts, and votes. It has the potential to alter many industries, making them more efficient and safer.

 

This voting technique, which is based on the Ethereum blockchain, was used at the movement's territory delegate elections in 2016. During the experiment, each voter received an email including a link to a blog post on Belem co-founders Romain Rouphael and Côme Jean Jarry. The encrypted link will be sent using a special app or other methods.

 

This voter database is accessible to all voters. On this page, voters were asked to choose one of two options. After the vote was registered, each participant received an email confirming its registration on the blockchain. Voters may therefore confirm that their vote was counted in the same way as cryptocurrency users can verify that their transactions were completed.

 

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Implications of Blockchian in Voting

 

To vote digitally, people use electronic devices such as voting machines or internet browsers. while voting with a polling machine, we use the term e-voting, and while voting with a web browser, we use the term i-voting.

 

If blockchain voting becomes more popular and accessible to the general public, it will have far-reaching ramifications. It might radically alter the way democracy works.

 

1. Increased transparency in the voting process.

 

The main advantage of blockchain voting is improved transparency. Right now, you don't know what happens to your vote after you cast it. You trust the poll workers to count it correctly. However, there is no way to ensure that your vote was tallied.

 

On the blockchain, you may be able to track your vote and ensure that it was sent to the correct location. Even if it did not contain your personal information, your vote would be recorded on the blockchain for the rest of history.

 

2. Reduced fraud and election rigging.

 

Increased transparency has the secondary effect of reducing fraud. Blockchain identity verification makes it more difficult to scam the system or vote in the wrong jurisdiction. Furthermore, in nations where tyrants manipulate elections, blockchain technology has the potential to restore true democracy. Of course, launching a blockchain voting system requires support from the current government. However, over time, blockchain may become an international voting standard, with the global community campaigning for blockchain governance in all states.

 

3. Everyday Voting in Real Time

 

If blockchain makes voting transparent, we can track and count votes in real time. This means that elections can take place in significantly shorter time frames. Furthermore, if they are digital, they will require less investment in polling infrastructure. As a result, elections might be called with short notice in order to vote on a referendum fast.

 

This might profoundly transform daily existence. Consider voting on how traffic in your city should be routed today or whether to raise taxes to fund a new park in your neighborhood using your phone. Voting might become more targeted, even neighborhood-specific. There would be little cost to vote more frequently, maybe making voting a daily occurrence.

 

4. Corporate Governance and Autonomous Organisations

 

Blockchain voting has the potential to help more than just government entities. Employees and shareholders can also vote on internal company ideas. It is even possible to conceive ownerless corporations in which every decision is made openly by shareholders.

 

5. Increased voter engagement.

 

An important advantage of blockchain voting could be increased engagement. If blockchain enables digital voting from your smartphone or computer, voting will be as simple as logging in and casting your ballot in a few minutes. This is likely to raise voter turnout dramatically, resulting in more direct democracy. Alternatively, it could lead to voting fatigue, in which people realize they preferred elected representatives to handle policy for them.

 

Wrapping Up

 

If done correctly, blockchain voting can boost turnout while making elections more accessible and transparent. Citizens can vote using personal computers or mobile phones if their identification is verified.

 

The network quickly validates vote counting in real time, making voting records easily verifiable. Blockchain voting saves time and money while laying the groundwork for direct democracy. Blockchain voting, on the other hand, remains in its early phases.

 

Votes cast through a blockchain-based voting system are not completely anonymous, as voters may use transaction data to determine how they voted. This type of voting system is also vulnerable to denial-of-service attacks, which prohibit voters from voting on time.

 

With the potential of extremely bad key management and catastrophic failures, blockchain voting has a long way to go before it is widely adopted.

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