Blockchain voting — How does it work?

A lot of people are not aware that blockchain voting is a valid and functional method in which we as individuals can choose who governs us. All server information and data will be stored securely without any possibility of manipulation or corruption. Blockchain voting offers the potential to eradicate voter fraud and minimize the effects of cyber-attacks. This includes ensuring votes remain anonymous, enabling secure electronic voting in countries where internet access is restricted, and more transparency into digitized elections. With blockchain-based voting, we can be sure that our vote has been counted because there’s no way for hackers to interfere with the process — all data is constantly checked by other users on their computer screens for mistakes.

Blockchain for voting

The 2020 US election was a buzz not only in America but was ruling media and social networks for a week. It had been the most scrutinized election ever in US history. Due to the pandemic, there was a record level of absentee voting, and the baseless accusations made by the president have made it even worse. The absentee ballots, political misconceptions, and subsequent events made people look for alternative ways for conventional voting systems.

But for a developed country like America, the blockchain is not something new in the market. They have been making the most out of it right from healthcare to finance sectors. You might wonder if I say, America has already used the distributed ledger technology aka blockchain for voting. Don’t believe me? Not just once but twice. In 2018, the West Virginia midterm elections and the 2020 Utah county presidential election, both were fueled by blockchain technology. The voting was held through the electronic voting application Voatz.

More About Voatz

Voatz is an end-to-end secured voting application that uses smartphone security, biometrics, remote identity verification, and the state of the art blockchain technology to secure your votes and information. People from anywhere in the globe can vote through their smartphones with an active internet connection, taking the right to vote to everyone. For instance, members of the armed forces stationed abroad were able to vote through Voatz through face recognition and military IDs for verification.

Voatz is a phenomenal software robustly built for a noble cause. Voatz generates a paper ballot for the counties and at the same, it records data on the distributed ledger for enhanced security. These voter-verifiable paper trials help audit and seamless instant results tabulation.

Security and transparency

The blockchain offers the ability to keep up with today’s voting processes and ensures that ballot counting is fair, efficient, and reliable. With blockchain-based voting, we can be sure that our vote has been counted because there’s no way for hackers to interfere with the process. All data is constantly checked by other users on their computer screens for mistakes; information cannot be altered or deleted, therefore ensuring accuracy and validity. Blockchain-based voting also provides a very transparent digital record of every vote which can be accessed by anyone who wishes to verify election results.

With blockchain technology, every vote will have a permanent digital footprint that cannot be deleted or altered in any way. In the case that an election is won unfairly, we can be sure that there will be a permanent electronic trail for every vote cast, let alone who voted for whom. The blockchain is like a voting ledger, which shows every entry made in chronological order and cannot be manipulated in any way.

Anonymity

Not only does it make voting quasi-anonymous by making sure no one knows exactly what your name is when you vote (without hacking into whatever system the votes are being kept on) but it also ensures that no one can see how or what party you voted for. Blockchain technology provides some real benefits to today’s voting process and ensures security against any form of hacking or manipulation.

Voting over the internet is a huge issue in many democratic countries as it has the potential to be manipulated by hackers. Blockchain-based voting offers protection against any form of cyber-attack or manipulation and ensures that no one else can access your vote. The blockchain offers the ability to keep up with today’s voting processes and ensures that ballot counting is fair, efficient, and reliable. With blockchain-based voting, we can be sure that our vote has been counted because there’s no way for hackers to interfere with the process. All data is constantly checked by other users on their computer screens for mistakes; information cannot be altered or deleted, therefore ensuring accuracy and validity.

Blockchain Voting in India

Without blockchain, the drawbacks in existing voting systems will continue and the entire procedure will become increasingly outdated, lacking back in transparency and security it desperately needs. Blockchain voting has a lot to offer the voting process, but it, however, needs governments and prominent bodies to coddle this new emerging technology

While the leading countries like America, Japan, and Korea have had their chances with blockchain voting, the Indian government in Feb 2020, carried out discussions with various state-level authorities, policy think tanks, and private stakeholders to explore the idea of implementing the blockchain-based voting system in India. On a positive note, it was suggested that Blockchain has the potential to handle the voter database of a highly populated country like India. With that being said, the Indian government collaborated with IIT Madras, to develop an innovative platform that allows users to vote from different cities via blockchain.

They decided to use a ‘Two-way’ blockchain remote voting process to entail voter details on the Electoral Registration Officer Network (ERO Net). The voter identification and authorization could be done by web camera and biometric data. When the vote is cast, an e-ballot will be generated with the help of a hash code. These e-votes are encrypted and cannot be replaced or tampered with. If India adopts the blockchain-based voting system, linking Aadhar cards with Voter IDs for authentication, will fuel its operation in the long run.

Conclusion

Without blockchain, the drawbacks in existing voting systems will continue and the entire procedure will become increasingly outdated, lacking back in transparency and security it desperately needs. Blockchain voting has a lot to offer the voting process, but it, however, needs governments and prominent bodies to coddle this new emerging technology