Blockchain Voting by SMS
Simple, Accurate and Affordable Election Process
Traditional voting by ballot requires many monitors and a high level of trust. Each political party will want their own monitors. This gives rise to many opportunities for doubts and disputes.
People may have to travel long distances to vote at polling stations. Not everybody will have this opportunity. Citizens in rural areas risk not having their vote count.
The dates and times allowed for voting also present a problem for voters. People work and have obligations that can result in not being able to vote.
Paper ballots are subject to errors, forging, tampering, damage or loss. People make mistakes that are subject to interpretation.
Counters and tabulators can make mistakes and recounts and verification takes time. The most critical point of any voting is the count. When trust breaks down it is usually at this point where most of the contentions arise.
Blockchain technology is a perfect candidate for a voting system. ONEm’s blockchain by SMS can solve each of the above mentioned problems.
Blockchain technology serves as a trusted third party. The voting results are not within the control of any third party entity. No person or technology can change or tamper with the results. Anybody with a basic mobile or an internet connection can check the results.
How will such a system work?
ONEm creates a voting blockchain. The blockchain core source code is a published and open for anybody to verify. Let us name it “VoteChain”. The VoteChain connects to ONEm’s ecosystem. A vote is a token.
ONEm’s ecosystem connects the VoteChain to the mobile network. At this point any mobile works as a voting machine.
The VoteChain uses the following addresses:
- Total Votes Address (x 2)
- Registered Voters Address
- Voter Wallet Addresses
The ONEm platform handles the transactions. The transaction IDs are available for anybody to verify on the VoteChain via SMS or Internet.
The voter identification process can work is several ways. One way is to tie votes to a person’s mobile number. No matter how many mobiles a person has only one vote per candidate is possible. Another method is to issue a ONEm mID to each qualified voter. An mID is a unique 15 digit number. This number is mappable to any device. This means a single mobile can work as a voting machine for many people.
The voting authorities may set rules such as:
1) Vote tied to mobile number
2) X votes per mobile
3) Vote on any mobile
4) Show results during or after
At the time a person registers to vote they will use any mobile with a registration code to get a VoteChain wallet. By SMS they will send (example) #vote A67-UYT-98U-87Y-JU4. ONEm’s platform registers the code, registration mobile number and the VoteChain’s blockchain address. The platform moves tokens from the Total Votes Address to Registered Voters Address. The platform moves the same number of tokens to the voters wallet.
The ONEm platform will return a random and unique 12 word passphrase. Example: “high mighty left right wizard clever fox might house boat car toad”. Only the user will know the passphrase. The passphrase allows the user to create and associate their VoteChain with a mobile.
The VoteChain wallet will contain one or more voter tokens. The ONEm platform sends the transaction ID to the registrars. Only the official voting registrar will know the real owner of a VoteChain wallet.
The registrar provides each candidate with a VoteChain wallet in a similar manner. The registrar publishes these addresses for public and party scrutiny. The voting process is simple. To vote for a candidate a voter can send a single token to the candidates address.
Simplifying The Whole Process
Using the example codes above. To activate the wallet the user would send:
#vote A67-UYT-98U-87Y-JU4
The registrar can set how many chances a mobile has for errors before blocking it.
The platform will respond:
#vote
Welcome Thomas Edison.
You have votes for 4 candidates.
A List Candidates
B Show Results
C Vote
— Reply A or C
The ONEm platform can handle several ways to give votes to a candidate:
- Blockchain Address
- Wizard
- Global Name
Blockchain address are long and impractical to send by typing in. The most practical way is for ONEm’s wizard to guide the user by presenting a multiple-choice menu.
The user sends C:
#vote
You can vote for the following:
A President
B Senate
C Congress
D Cancel
— Reply A-D
The user sends A:
#vote
You have the following candidates for President:
A Charles
B Roberts
C Cancel
— Reply A-C
ONEm has another unique method of identifying candidates through a global ONEm @name. A candidate can have a unique global @name, for example, @charles. To vote a user would send:
#vote @charles4president
The platform would reply:
#vote
Vote for (@charles4president) Charles Dickens?
You cannot change your vote!
A Confirm
B Cancel
— Reply A or B
User sends A:
#vote
You have voted for Charles Dickens for President.
You have 3 votes left for three other candidates.
A List Candidates
B Show Results
C Vote
— Reply A or C
The whole voting process does not rely on people and anybody can check and verify the results. No person nor technology can change the results as the whole system is open for verification.
With VoteChain more people will be able to vote, the results are trustworthy and fast. The cost savings for a any voter campaign would be enormous.
The ONEm platform can also provide a way that users can learn about the candidates. Candidates can post text or audio commentary that everybody on any mobile can read or hear.
Blockchain and the ONEm ecosystem can make voting a possibility for everyone.
Visit: https://mcoin.onem.com/
