Citizens have the right and responsibility to choose their representatives in the federal Parliament by voting in elections. The representatives elected to the federal Parliament make decisions that affect many aspects of people’s lives including tax, marriage, the environment, trade, and immigration.
There are several methods that are still used by many countries like, people voting by traditional paper ballot or raising a hand for the individual who is going to be the probable next leader or using Electronic Voting Machine(EVM). If they ever think of it, is it going to be secure when those voting machines or voting ballots travel from the local area to the area where its result is going to take place, will it be safe or not?
We watched a lot of news about hacking the e-voting systems. And a lot of times the hacker is the knowing person who is working under the government and maybe it is the one who is hired by a political leader to hack the machines. So, the result could come in their favor.
Blockchain technology has the ability to overcome all these threats of voting.
But first, we have to understand what it is and how it works.
● What is a blockchain and how does it work?
A blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain.
Each block in the chain contains a number of transactions, and every time a new transaction occurs on the blockchain, a record of that transaction is added to every participant’s ledger.
● How can blockchain prevent voter fraud?
Blockchain can solve the many problems discovered in these early attempts at online voting. A blockchain-based voting application does not concern itself with the security of its Internet connection, because any hacker with access to the terminal will not be able to affect other nodes. Voters can effectively submit their vote without revealing their identity or political preferences to the public. Officials can count votes with absolute certainty, knowing that each ID can be attributed to one vote, no fakes can be created, and that tampering is impossible.
● How blockchain could improve election transparency?
Blockchain has a decentralized network. In a decentralized blockchain network, no one has to know or trust anyone else. Each member in the network has a copy of the exact same data in the form of a distributed ledger. If a member’s ledger is altered or corrupted in any way, it will be rejected by the majority of the members in the network.
So, when a voter votes, their vote will be stored in blocks. And when a new block is added to the blockchain it is linked to the previous block using a cryptographic hash, blockchains are immutable. It is distributed. Thus, nobody controls it. And making any change in the blockchain it’s next to impossible. So, when the voter votes his/her vote will be definitely going to be secure by blockchain technology.
● How can blockchain make electronic voting more secure?
The most important factor about voting is security. Currently, voting systems are open to hacks. Malicious actors can easily enter the system and alter the outcome because there aren’t any substantial security mechanisms in place.
Blockchain technology has the ability to introduce a seemingly unhackable system. All votes could be verified as soon as voting is finished to ensure they are all counted correctly. Without blockchain, this would have to be done by a central body overseeing the process. This causes many questions to arise about the trust of these central bodies. But with blockchain and its decentralized ledger system, there is no need for a potentially fallible or corruptible central body.
● Does blockchain take time to do overall processes?
Current voting systems often take time to collate and process answers. Often when voting stations are in different areas and offices are not all together, it can be difficult to gather all the information quickly and efficiently. This then leads to time and cost issues. But blockchain can transform all of this. Instead of having to wait for a large number of people to communicate manually, all organizers will be able to see the outcome instantly on the blockchain. Results can be gathered and processed quickly and straight after the voting has finished.
Blockchain has the power to change many systems, not only voting. Many organizers hired blockchain developers to secure their confidential data. Blockchain provides efficient security. Nowadays, blockchain has become the most trustworthy technology. Because of its decentralized and immutable system.
People are getting attracted towards investing in cryptocurrencies that work by the blockchain system, because of their trustworthiness, their investment is going to be secure.
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