Bitcoin Forum

With the advent of smart contracts, it's possible to create decentralized applications which allow people to vote on candidates of their choice. The censorship-resistant and decentralized nature of Blockchain technology, makes voting online practical like never before. After all, it's nearly impossible to rig results in Blockchain-based elections.

Now, it's up to worldwide governments to decide whenever they'll adopt Blockchain technology or not in order to improve the way we vote. Ethereum is the best public blockchain that would serve the bill nicely if governments adopt it for elections. So far, I haven't heard of a government announcing Blockchain-based elections within the mainstream world. If this becomes a reality, I guess that there would be no need to vote for candidates of our choice in a physical manner, as everything can be done online. In the US, it'd be amazing to vote for a presidential candidate using Blockchain technology. The possibilities here would be endless. But it seems, that the government doesn't trust Blockchain technology yet.

Do you think that in the future we'll be able to experience Blockchain-based elections more thoroughly? Or is it a bad idea? What are your thoughts? ???

They just don’t trust blockchain itself but they still want to fully in control on the system. Corrupt politicians will never be in favor for a more transparent voting system, I doubt my country will follow this one because I know they will do their best to prevent this to happen. The idea of having a voting system under blockchain is good, but it will be hard if the government is against the truth, maybe if a great country adopt the system we will see the best result on that.

blockchain for election i think it won't happen because with blockchain everything will be open and everyone could see anyone's vote. So i think it will be more sensitive since the people selection should kept by the person itself, and also it won't happen because there are many dirty politics out there and they can not do some cheating if they held election with blockchain

Of course not! There has to be some kind of mechanism to conceal voters identities to the general public yet that data could also be made available only to election officials for verification and audit purposes.

If some Government would want to apply this to their election process, then I think blockchain technology would be capable enough to deliver transparency and immutability while at the same time could provide enough abstraction to protect voter's privacy. So the end result will be a fast election result with accurate number of votes free from any tampering or outside influence.

Indeed, if people can do this, people will feel happier because they can know exactly who deserves to serve the people. I think it will save a lot of time, but all the governments will prevent this kind of election because it could greatly affect their interests. Blockchain technology is starting to develop more but there will be many countries that do not like the transparency of this technology.

However, hopefully in the future there will be an election using Blockchain technology and that is certainly what everyone is waiting for.

There is no need for a blockchain for elections. All we need is an ID with a private key that we can use to sign our votes and a way for each of us to verify our own vote. Some sort of Merkle tree solution can probably be used but I'm not an expert.

Blockchain ideas are too overused for stuff that doesn't require a public distributed ledger.  I don't need to know how my neighbor voted. We don't need the voting database to be distributed in a very expensive and inefficient way. All we need is to make sure that our votes are counted properly.

A cryptographic ID can help solve some other problems (illegal voting) but may create some new problems (ease of use) so it's not a miracle solution to everything.

It's not a bad idea with the zero knoledge proof, but my guess is that when ever this idea goes in action, it will be from a government like China with a private blockhain making the whole idea pointless smoke and mirrors show. Problem is that corrupt systems are fighting to stay corrupt, like centralized systems are fighting to keep centralized.

If the blockchain is applied there will be a new chapter in the selection of candidates in this world. Blockchain has properties that cannot be controlled by anyone and everything will be recorded on the blockchain without anyone being able to manipulate.

The corrupt political elite certainly will not approve the adoption of blockchain for election, because there will be no loopholes that can be manipulated again. and this will be a threat to them.

That's true, the first factor is that they don't trust the technology. Another factor is that elections information such as vote of the public seems to be confidential and delicate info to be showed on the public although it's our right to see on where our vote is going. I have already this on my mind so that rumors of cheating during the elections, rigging of the system can be traced if the election will run on a blockchain. They should test it for small-type elections or a kind of but for sure, it will create another problem, I don't know what kind of problem but there will be especially if it's matter like this.

For democracies that determine leaders by elections it is true that Blockchain technology is very effective at reducing fraud.
But the problem is if the power of power is reduced do they want to adopt it?
Not that it's the same as a blunder.

If they can do that, it would be great, but which country will apply this model? The election on the blockchain will make the right to amend the results almost zero. Political systems are all imposed and elected only formally when they already know the outcome in advance.

Blockchain-based selection is the right solution for an election, because cheating and manipulation can be minimized. Its just that there are lots of people who don't know blockchain and it seems like the government doesn't care about this either. Maybe in the future where everyone is familiar with the blockchain and crypto has been mass adopted, then this idea can be realized.

Future estimates of fiat or paper money will cease to exist. but all the way in the movement by technology, the last 20 years of the internet era brought many changes, one of which blockchain technology has been developing in 10 years. several reasons also in this digital era, at a certain point a place is still not reached by internet access, so the government still doubts. maybe the adoption of the government will be done in the next 5 - 20 years, the government needs to think carefully about this change, because the central bank is also a state budget income. considering also blockchain (decentralization) is often misused by unscrupulous criminal elements.

Blockchain development in my country has not received a massive boost and support from the mainstream. My government will prefer to die than adopting blockchain for voting, this is because none of them will ever be able to win a free fair and credible election. I wish we could push for this blockchain election in my country, no lives will be lost and the budget will be very low.

In the past also blockchain technology were introduced into election polling but not in the main stream, I guess they will never allow it in their main election not because they don't trust the blockchain technology they just can't manipulate the results by any means with implementation of this technology they may never able to take the position again.

yes I agree with you because the general election has direct, free, public and confidential principles. confidential means that only the voter knows who is chosen. if we use transparent blockchain technology we will know everything.
and I think the government will not agree with the implementation of blockchain technology because if they use blockchain they will not be able to control the system anymore.

If it's implemented, this will be the most transparent and less cheating in terms of vote count. I'm sure this will be great.
But bunch of corrupt politics will not support this this of voting system.
Like in my country that full of worthless politician.

this is my hope for my country to be willing to use blockchain technology in the coming year to at least help to quickly count the number of votes cast, sometimes I am concerned they are still using paper where a lot of tree felling is also to make paper, yeah because they are still using paper for election, why not use this technology and still use the old-fashioned way, I think this method is fairly honest and fast, I suspect they do not want to use this technology because of the big politics as well so that all the big people have the right to determine who the winner in the election, there are no honest people which stands above the government, just waiting for this technology to be immediately adopted en masse

Not sure if this will happen because the government will often discourage people from mentioning this technology. I think Blockchain technology is becoming more and more transparent and if applied in the election it will be the new revolutionthat any citizen will wait. I really want this to happen in the next few years but probably not any country would dare to do this.

doing online voting is not a good idea not all people know how to use the internet
maybe just a storage of vote because online voting is not really reliable
because you will don't know if the one voting is the real person

I like that concept blockchain base election why not? Blockchain is very useful in election since it was promoting transparency and the transaction was broadcast to the entire network so it will be impossible to altered the results of the election. It was badly needed in my own country since every election it was shaded with doubt about the results. i'm excited to wait until make it into a reality.

Same opinion. My country also has problems when it comes to elections and there are a lot of delays that are suspicious. I can see this country accepting blockchain, but using it as a tool in elections is not what I see. I can see this government using it in other fields like security. Even I.Ts can't crack this one.

In my opinion, blockchain-based elections are what awaits us in the future. However, to do this, many problems need to be solved, and the government is not yet ready for this.

Surely the voting has nothing to do with the internet access. You can use your private key on the voting booth and your vote is logged on the blockchain, and incentives what you gain by securing the blockchain is not really an issue, the main issue for governments in those are lack of regulations on the exchanges.

It certainly sounds incredibly cool, but I think the government will never approve it in the near future, as they will not be able to mix the results with those that interest them. But it sounds cool, because it is very interesting when you start to understand that the person who is interesting to everyone, and not the one who has more friends and money, will get power.  ;)

The use of blockchain will definitely help curb election malpractices especially in developing nations but the question is will those governments approve its use; knowing fully well that it can jeopardize their chance for swift victory through manipulation

Sad but truth and as we can see now only few companies or banks acknowledge blockchain because the other who are against it knew that once blockchain is integrated, everything will be transparent and it will be hard for them to do their bad intentions since people will clearly see how the system works. As for the government they will do anything with their power to prevent any technology that may hinder them to take full control with elections.

If you give one token to every citizen in your country, then it could work because they will be free to use it. But I am afraid that many people will "sell" their token and this will make these elections manipulated.

The problem is that the parliament usually wants a presidential election through direct election by them without involving the public.
Although the blockchain can accommodate it but it will also be useless for this reason.

Election via blockchain is a very good idea to prevent vote fraud on one party and the results are very valid. One day we will arrive there.
But now, the problem is that the holder of a country's power will certainly not accept this outright because they are cheats in every election. Obviously the blockchain will destroy them themselves. Or they might agree but they play on the number of voters they manipulate.
On the other hand, there are still many people who are very technology-savvy so that the implementation of the blockchain in elections is very prone to fraud. In the sense of cheating on the manipulation of the number of voters.

Good point. It's evident that politicians don't want their actions to be exposed from the general public. A transparent Blockchain system would make their lives much harder. But I guess that it's possible to obfuscate activities on the Blockchain via the use of ZK-SNARKS technology. If governments use this privacy solution for their Blockchain-based elections, then it's possible to obtain secrecy within both electors and candidates alike. It's no secret that Blockchain-based elections provide a greater degree of security than traditional ones. Still, the technology is in its infancy where there are scalability bottlenecks making it unpractical for elections.

Maybe that's the #1 reason why governments don't trust Blockchain technology for digital elections. Once the tech is mature enough for the mainstream world, we might see Blockchain-based elections become a reality. I believe that the US will be among the first countries to adopt the tech for said purpose, as it's always on the forefront of technology. The experience for American voters would be amazing as they'll be able to cast their vote at the comfort of their home without fear of hacks, theft, etc. Blockchain technology's high level of security and efficiency makes digital voting a blast. For greater security, it's best to use an existing Blockchain platform (like Ethereum) rather than a privately-owned Blockchain. But, that's entirely up to governments themselves whenever they want to use either public or private chains for their own benefit.

Nonetheless, as Blockchain grows in popularity and user adoption, we'll be able to see more governments interested in the technology. Some countries worldwide have already started developing their own digital currencies. It shouldn't take long before they incorporate the tech into diverse areas like Healthcare, Transportation, and General elections. If Blockchain-based voting comes true, then physical voting would be a thing of the past. Just my thoughts ;D

I think that even if we do have a more transparent voting system, the corrupt politicians and the high net worth elite will find a way to game even that system. In a world where money rules, money opens doors everywhere.

The normal person can also be bribed to vote for a certain party or president. They already believe that voting is pointless so why not sell that pointless vote and enjoy whatever the amount is that they got paid for it? They will do it.

Definitely, it would be the next step for a lot of countries, but government would never do such things, especially not democracy based countries. However, it is an awesome idea, that would make truly elections in bunch of aspects.

Yes rigging of elections and manipulation of election results is very rampant in developing nations however would they have the political will to deploy blockchain technology for their elections? obviously no, they knew that this technology if fully deployed would enhance transparency in elections and would prevent falsification of election results which is very synonymous with those countries election.

That's certainly true, mate. It makes no sense to use Blockchain technology for mainstream elections, since it's virtually impossible to manipulate results. After all, Blockchain promises transparency which exposes corruption and fraud. If governments ever decide to do Blockchain-based elections, they would so in their own privately-owned system instead of a public one like Ethereum or EOS. A privately-owned blockchain is much easier to manipulate than public ones because of its centralized model. Via the use of privacy techniques (probably Mimblewimble, RingCT, or Zero Knowledge Proofs), governments will be able to hide their activities on the Blockchain doing whatever they desire.

Of course, we wouldn't call something that lacks immutability a Blockchain wouldn't we? But it could be the way to go for worldwide governments if they decide to adopt the technology for elections in the future. Still, the probability of a mainstream Blockchain-based election becoming a reality in the future is very small. Which is why, Blockchain will suit better in transforming our mainstream economy than elections themselves. Just my thoughts ;D

Love the Concept!!!! I trust Blockchain way more than current system. Visibility being the biggest step forward with implementation of Blockchain. We sort of have to take their word for it right now.

I think blockchain based elections will only be possible when blockchain acceptance and adoption would have become a household thing and it would have been implemented in everyday life only then i expect such elections so may be we been 10 more years to reach there.

It's certainly a good idea.In any case, after the elections,it will not be possible to falsify them.The main thing that everything was strictly anonymous.

For citizens, it would certainly be very useful. But it is unlikely that any state will go for it. Governments always want to control everything and blockchain does not quite fit into their plans.

Well see what happens. But I doubt that governments would want to increase transparency in electoral votes by adopting Blockchain technology. They'd rather stay with the old system which is much easier to rig than migrating all the way to Bitcoin's revolutionary technology. So far, governments have only expressed their interest in Blockchain technology to transform finance. Many countries have already announced that they'll be launching their own digital currencies. But none has shown interest in integrating Blockchain technology for elections.

Which is why, Blockchain-based elections is more of a dream than anything else. After all, Bitcoin's underlying tech is a terrible idea for government elections in the mainstream world. For companies, and organizations, that's another story. Ethereum's blockchain proves to be quite versatile for launching a decentralized voting system that's fair, transparent, and much more efficient than traditional voting. This blockchain platform can be used by mainstream companies, businesses, and organizations to conduct their own internal elections in the fairest way possible. I guess that's how the future of Blockchain-based voting would be, since it proves to be highly unsuitable for government elections.

Nonetheless, there might still be a chance of governments adopting Blockchain tech for elections if they integrate privacy solutions in the voting system. Using Zero Knowledge Proofs, governments will be able to hide their utmost sensitive information, giving them the possibility of rigging elections just like they do right now. The situation is even worse when the Blockchain is centralized, as it gives the power to the hands of a few. That's the only way governments would adopt the technology for their own benefit. All in all, there are other important situations to take care about than the way how voters cast their vote within the mainstream world. Just my opinion :)

They will absolutely make blockchain looks so bad just because they cannot manipulate it on their favor. Using blockchain in election will raise many issues and concern. It will be a bad idea to use something that very few in the population understand in the fate of the future society. So before  this can happen, the society must first learn, understand, and accept blockchain technology.

It’s a very cool and working idea, and most importantly simple but it’s obvious that the government, under the influence of corporations and oligarchs, will not want this or create their own notorious blockchain where they can further control everything.

The odds of having a Blockchain-based election are zero to none. Governments have other important things to work on, especially finance. They could launch a private blockchain network of their own in order to issue digital currencies to their citizens. It's better for them to use Blockchain tech for finance and proof of ownership, than mainstream elections. We all know that it's difficult to manipulate the Blockchain because of its transparent design. The old-fashioned way of voting will always be the choice of worldwide governments as it's much easier to rig election results. This is most suitable for organizations or companies than governments themselves. The power of smart contracts with the Ethereum blockchain opens up a world of possibilities that were never imagined before. Elections performed on a public blockchain like Ethereum are much more secure and tamper-resistant than those performed on a private ledger.

But who knows? Maybe governments find out a way to manipulate elections while bringing the convenience of Blockchain technology to voters. If everything goes full Blockchain, then I don't see a reason why this shouldn't happen in the first place. As adoption for Blockchain technology grows, governments will be able to provide services on it. But we cannot deny, that Blockchain works best when it's used for finance than anything else. Just my opinion :)