Blockchain voting is gaining in popularity in the United States despite the fatal defeat of the mobile vote in Iowa Democratic Caucus earlier this month. Companies that are at the forefront of blockchain technology realize the potential of the products they develop to not only change the global economy, but also the way voters cast their ballots.
This week Kaspersky Lab, a cyber security company that monitors the crypto industry and emerging digital assets, has done just that. The company unveiled a new type of blockchain-based voting machine using the Polys system, which was released in November 2017 and was designed as an effective and secure way to vote online.
Although Kaspersky is headquartered in Moscow, the company has offices in the United States and around the world. Following reports of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, U.S. citizens may see some of these innovations as alternative ways to vote in future elections.
The prevention of electoral fraud through Blockchain-based voting systems has already been investigated by several governments. The first country to use such a system in elections was Sierra Leone, which in 2018 recorded about 70% of the votes cast on the blockchain basis. Recently, the Chief Election Commissioner for India announced that their citizens will vote under the blockchain system.
As the United States and other countries continue to rely on paper ballots in many elections, the alternative developed by Polys can offer voters the convenience of performing their civic duties in the comfort of their own homes, while maintaining the security of crypto transactions.
According to Polys, voters will receive unique QR codes or tokens. These can be scanned, allowing them to cast their vote on one of the new voting machines.
In terms of crypto, elections conducted using this system would work like distributed accounting technology; the vote would be encrypted and the connection between the voter who cast it would be verified. Voters would then be able to confirm that their vote was registered on the blockchain.
This method reduces the likelihood of fraud by checking that each voter would only receive one vote for each election or preliminary vote. It would also eliminate the need for multiple polling stations in urban centres where internet connections are more reliable, which would further reduce costs.
