The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has not spared any aspect of human life, including governments and policymaking. Last week, the U.S. Senate held an online roundtable to discuss the use of blockchain and other solutions for enabling remote functioning of its two legislative houses. In many ways, using blockchain in this context is closer to proxy voting by shareholders than elections.
The U.S. Congress, comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives, is tasked with writing, debating and passing legislation. Until now, Congress physically met to carry out these functions, but the current crisis demands alternative solutions for enabling the smooth functioning of the two legislative branches. Among the several solutions discussed during the roundtable, blockchain is being considered to allow remote voting on tabled issues.
Blockchain, as an immutable ledger, can provide the means for securely transmitting a vote and verify from whom it came. Distributed voting systems have been previously explored in the U.S. in a different context, for elections. Many believe the technology is too early for use in elections, and the Voatz application recently attracted controversy because of alleged security vulnerabilities. Now, blockchain is being proposed to allow senators and house representatives to file their votes remotely.
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