Since time immemorial, the voting system has been shrouded in intense secrecy, a fact that has made it possible for the results to be rigged. The system can only be accessed by a few people who have been mandated to preside over the process and another few who are responsible for oversight and quality assurance. However, as it can be attested by scenes of intense disagreement and pockets of violence after the results are released, the few people are either incompetent or they are part of a large conspiracy to rig the elections. It is in this light that the distributed ledger technology is being leveraged to fix the system.
Accuracy of data
The most appealing feature of the blockchain technology is that once data has been saved in the system it cannot be altered by even its authors. This is on account of the database that is shared and synced over a network that is spread over multiple sites. This means that ones the data reflecting the vote count has been stored, there is no chance of an alteration. This away, the security of the results that are released at the end of any voting exercise is guaranteed.
Decentralised
Traditionally, elections have been carried out by a central body that is legally mandated to preside over the exercise. With the mandate comes a lot of discretion in its hands and the body can easily be misused by participants with malicious intent. Conversely, the blockchain technology eliminates this centrality of authority while at the same time presenting a user friendly voting system. A voting node can be placed at each polling station. This means that it is quite easy for people to participate in elections even when they are so far away from their home country. All that will be needed will be a good internet connection and a device that access the internet. Various blockchain platforms are in this race to provide a voting platform across the globe even as they develop digital tokens. Therefore, it can only be hoped that the many instances of election fraud and the ugly aftermath can be a thing of the past.
