YOUR LAST TRIP TO THE POLLS?
When you vote today (and you WILL vote, yes?), whether by paper ballot or electronic machine, you may be exercising that right in that way for what might be the last time in your life.
That is, if we come to our senses soon and start voting in blockchain.
You don’t have to be a 400-lb. guy in his mother’s basement to know our voting structure is flawed. Voting is another one of those institutions — like banking — that was never designed to be digital, and is structurally ill equipped (thanks to our reliance on central databases) to work in a hackable digital world.
And now, no matter what officials do to safeguard each state’s tally, we’ve been coaxed into mistrusting the results because… well, because they MIGHT be inaccurate. Or subject to fraud. Or compromised by foreigners or the opposing party. Anyone unhappy with a result can claim rigging and deceit and be believed because to trust those internet-connected slot machines would be madness.
It seems that our officials aren’t even trying hard to keep us safe. A recent article in WIRED detailed one researcher’s ability to buy used voting machines on eBay with hard drives intact, voting information overflowing, and personal information at the ready. Complete with feeble “do not tamper” stamps next to security screws that secured nothing.
Critics of “blockchain” mobile voting say we’re not there yet, and they are right. In fact, recent experiments (including in West Virginia in this midterm election) aren’t really blockchain secure. Voters are voting by smartphone app, and the RESULTS are being stored in blockchain. Which means the vote — before officials get to it — is hacky as Hell. It’s like bagging and sealing the blood evidence from a crime scene after it’s been trampled by a squadron of rookie TV patrolmen.
But if the system were blockchain from top to bottom — from your registration to the vote to the recording of the vote — then you’d have something.
· You could vote anywhere. Not just at a polling place. Which means everyone eligible has a shot at making a great or a terrible choice.
· In blockchain, you can only be you, you can only vote once, your vote can never be changed, and no humans can misconstrue or miscount your vote. You are immediately identifiable as you, so there will be no issue about your ID matching your registration and no argument for anyone attempting to suppress voters from exercising their civic right. In other words — wipe that “voter fraud” complaint off your face. Plus, encryption ensures both real privacy and transparency, simultaneously. It is inherently more trustworthy than anything currently in existence.
· The tally is immediate. No delay as votes are counted. Remember THAT tonight when you hear “too early to call” again and again, far into the night.
And if we can imagine even further out, to a world where social media and news outlets are blockchain verified as well, we can envision a world of always knowing where the news is coming from and whose bots are enflaming our political passions. Better yet, we will build wisdom markets that will reward users for unearthing the truth of any situation, candidate, or policy, encouraging self-interested actors to serve honesty and accuracy in reporting over “alternative facts,” for the financial gain.
I know. It sounds too rosy to be true. But we have the technology to do it. We just need the political will to force it on legislators, many of whom are invested in what exists today.
So go punch that chad. Pull that lever. Blacken that box. Do your civic duty to show up, participate, and wonder for hopefully the very last time… did my vote really count? Because when we are voting in blockchain, it really will.
Learn more about Aeryus by visiting their website www.Aeryus.io and joining their social media channels:
