Blockchain voting, the technology that is shaping the future of democracy
Blockchain is a technology that has been around for more than a decade now. It has been having more and more applications that day by day are being used by more and more people. One of those applications of the technology is the voting system. In a blockchain voting system, people are able to vote from any place in the world, by downloading and installing the voting booth application, submitting their identity information, which is getting verified privately, while still remaining anonymous. Then, the voter is going to be able to submit their ballot to a secure blockchain based ballot box. In case the person who voted, changes their mind, they are also going to be able to change their vote. Afterwards, they are able to verify if the vote was casted as intended, while retaining their privacy. (Follow my Vote, n.d.)
Why should we use a blockchain based voting system and not the usual electoral system, using paper you may ask. Among those reasons are the secure and anonymous votes, which can be verified at any moment, the impossibility to commit electoral fraud and the low operational cost, since it doesn’t require any manual control. Being an anonymous, safe, and cheap option, gives it the future potential to be used in a large scale. (Reply, n.d.). The question, however, is will people accept it as the standard voting system? Older people especially, may not be so open to using such a system as they may prefer using a system of voting that includes physical cast of votes. After all, a voting system should not be forced as the standard system, as it is the voice of the people.
References
Follow my Vote. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://followmyvote.com/blockchain-voting-the-end-to-end-process/
Reply. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.reply.com/en/content/ballotchain
