Initially, in 2009, cryptocurrencies found use in digital assets. Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin based on blockchain. Since then, the technology has evolved and become very popular. At the beginning of 2022, developers are using it in various spheres. The first blockchain-based voting systems for political elections have already been implemented. Such developments are useful and beneficial to states.
The need for blockchain in the electoral system
In ancient times, political elections were often conducted by a narrow circle of authorized individuals under the government. At the beginning of 2022, there are tens of millions of citizens living in large states. By this time, the election of new rulers and leaders has become a complex process.
The traditional paper ballot electoral system has its drawbacks:
Technical - occasional deliberate mistakes in counting the result, the stuffing of fake ballots into ballot boxes by dishonest politicians, the use of disappearing ink at the polls, and others.
Social - bribery or administrative pressure on voters.
Economic - high costs of holding referendums. In 2021, 21.4 billion rubles from the state budget was spent on elections to the Russian State Duma.
Electronic voting systems can solve these problems. Many countries, such as Australia, France, Estonia and Norway, are using them in early 2022. But electronic voting systems are not without their disadvantages:
- Low security
- Difficult to verify results
- Faulty operation because of possible mistakes.
In 2022, e-voting is not used everywhere. There are examples of countries that have restricted the use of the technique after a bad experience. States have simply reverted to a paper ballot election system. Such countries include:
- The Netherlands.
- United Kingdom
- Germany and others.
Disadvantages of traditional and electronic voting systems need to be addressed. Voting on blockchain will eliminate the existing disadvantages. It will be more reliable and cheaper.
Efficiency of the technology
Blockchain wins against the disadvantages of traditional voting systems that most countries are using in early 2022. Advantages of decentralized elections:
Immutability of results - Information within the chain cannot be tampered with. Dishonest politicians will not be able to falsify the results.
Transparency of the process - Every interested party can use blockchain to monitor the election. All that is required is to run a node within the chain that will give access to a copy of the information.
Anonymity - Cryptographic data encryption preserves the privacy of each voter's identity. Unauthorized access to the information is ruled out.
High speed of vote processing - It is the total computing power of the network nodes, not the servers installed by the government, that counts the results.
How blockchain voting systems work
Digital blockchain technology is based on a transactional model. Cryptocurrencies - virtual coins and tokens - are often used in blockchains. Their transfer is called a transaction. Information about transfers is sequentially written into database (DB) cells - crypto-chain blocks. Each transaction is assigned an encrypted identifier - a hash. It also contains information about the previous transaction. This structure makes it impossible to change the crypto-chain.
Blockchain voting will be a good replacement for the ancient technology with paper ballots. It will be possible to elect a candidate by transferring a digital token to their wallet. This process is easier and faster than filling out a ballot. Nodes connected to the blockchain system will automatically process the transfer and store the voter's vote information in a decentralized network. This will reduce transaction costs and make elections more accessible.
Voters will not need to leave their homes to vote through the distributed registry. It will be possible to do so from a computer or smartphone.
Voting process
It will be possible to choose a candidate by transferring unique tokens to their wallet. The transaction will be processed and recorded by the connected nodes. After the cryptocurrency transfer is saved, the user's choice will be recorded.
The voting algorithm has this sequence of actions:
1. The user creates a wallet in the system. Through his device, the network participant generates a key pair from the crypto vault. The encrypted wallet is then stored in the blockchain. Since the system is transparent, other participants will be able to view information about the vault, but only the owner will have access to it.
2. The user finds the vote in a shared list. After confirming his consent to participate, he receives unique tokens. This cryptocurrency can only be spent as part of the current vote.
3. The user makes a selection of a candidate by sending a token to their virtual wallet. The addresses of the applicants' vaults will be made publicly available.
4. Nodes of the system check the validity (validity) of the transaction. If there is no error in the cryptocurrency transfer, the nodes include information about the transaction in the blockchain.
Once a choice has been officially registered, the transaction data cannot be changed
By deploying a node within the digital network, the results of the vote can be verified. The results are published after the political referendum is over.
What is needed to create a perfect blockchain voting system
A reference decentralized network for elections must comply with the basic principles of distributed ledger technology:
Transparency. It must be made so that participants can track the results. Lack of transparency will give dishonest politicians the opportunity to falsify the results discreetly.
Decentralization. The processing of votes should be distributed. Lack of decentralization will increase the risks of network hacking.
Security. The network must guarantee the authenticity and reliability of the stored information. Changing the results will make blockchain voting meaningless.
Anonymity. Each person should be able to vote only once.
The best option: identify participants with a passport. Reliable cryptographic methods of information encryption will be needed to keep voters anonymous.
Practice of technology application
In Russia, a decentralized registry is already being used for elections. For example, the technology was used in the Moscow and Nizhniy Novgorod regions during the referendum on the amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. From June 25 to June 30, 2020, voters from these regions voted online through a cryptographic chain. It was created by the Department of Information Technology (DIT) with the support of Kaspersky Lab. Residents of the regions were able to vote for amendments in a transparent and decentralized way.
Before the referendum began, the IT Department assured voters that the information entered on the digital ballots could not be altered. The data is stored anonymously and securely encrypted. Two cryptographic keys were created for citizens who made the choice:
- The first was sent to the voter.
- The second was split and stored by a few random participants until the end of the blockchain vote.
In the distributed registry, electronic ballots existed only in the user's session. When the voter closed the browser, his personal cryptographic key was destroyed by the network. This approach ensured the anonymity of the election.
From September 17 to 19, 2021, Muscovites again had the opportunity to vote through a distributed registry. Then political elections for new deputies to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the 8th convocation were held. Practice has shown that the citizens of Russia well understand the principle of digital voting.
Advantages and disadvantages of conducting elections on the blockchain
Advantages:
- Convenience. Users get the opportunity to vote online even outside the country.
- Reliability. The information stored in the blockchain always remains unchanged.
- Voter growth. In the long term, a decentralized digital DB will increase interest in political elections among young people.
- Security. The cryptographic chain cannot be hacked.
- Minimal errors. Peer-to-peer nodes ensure the accuracy of election results.
- Savings in perspective. You only need to develop a cryptographic chain for blockchain voting once. Later, the registry can be reused, which will save the state budget significantly.
- Verification. A distributed database has transparency. Stakeholders (government officials or voters) will be able to easily verify the validity of the results.
Disadvantages:
- Security. The technology is highly secure. However, cryptocurrency keys can be compromised if they fall into the hands of attackers.
- Difficulty of implementation. It will take a lot of time and money to switch all Russian citizens to blockchain voting.
- Problems of use. It is difficult for the older generation to understand the technology.
- Costs. A lot of money will have to be invested in the development of the first full-scale distributed blockchain voting system.
Prospects for using the technology
In the future, blockchain is certain to be used for online political voting by many countries. This technology is better than traditional paper ballot voting systems. Blockchain provides:
- Electoral integrity.
- Security of information.
- Reliability of the network.
- High speed of results processing.
- User-friendliness.
In the long run, a blockchain-based electronic voting system will be ideal. However, national authorities have a long way to go to achieve this goal. The perfect system can only be created by experience.
Summary
Blockchain was originally used in virtual assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Later, the technology began to be used in other areas - health care, education. In early 2022, the first blockchain voting networks have already been developed to ensure fair political elections.
Traditional and classic electronic voting systems have a number of drawbacks:
- Low security.
- Difficult verification of results.
- High cost.
- Low processing speed and other disadvantages.
Blockchain voting is more efficient than entrenched electoral systems. Advantages of decentralized elections include:
- Unfalsifiability of the results.
- Transparency of the process.
- Anonymity.
- High speed of processing the results.
Kotov Dmitry
CEO and Founder of Cryptoconsulting