The United States Postal Service (USPS) applied for a patent for a blockchain-based voting system published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on 13 August 2020. The system will aim to ensure election results have not been compromised, with blockchain able to securely track the necessary data to confirm that the electronic vote remains unaltered. Additionally, on 16 July 2020, election voting app Voatz received endorsement by Pro V&V, a certified Voting system Test Laboratory, in its compliance with voting system federal law.
Electronic voting has multiple benefits, including making it quicker and easier to vote and get results, reducing election costs, as well as a potentially increasing voter turnout. It has even been used as early as 2005, with Estonia becoming the first country to conduct general elections via the Internet. However, using blockchain-based apps for voting has both its advocates and adversaries.
On the one hand, blockchain could help those who are not able to vote in person, as discussed by India’s Election Commission on the subject of geographical voting issues. On the other hand, while data within the blockchain itself is very hard to alter, voting apps could be exposed to many vulnerabilities, meaning voter privacy and security cannot necessarily be guaranteed.
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