Accusations of voter fraud at Iowa caucus. Enter blockchain?

[Alley]

Why not vote with the blockchain and eliminate even the possibility of fraud?

[1715104720]

1715104720

[1715104720]

1715104720

[1715104720]

1715104720

[achow101]

Why not vote with the blockchain and eliminate even the possibility of fraud?

And how do you vote with the blockchain?

Just because the blockchain makes everything public and cryptographically secure from being changed doesn't mean that it is fraud proof. Seriously, think about your statement for a little bit.

An address is not publicly associated with an identity, therefore a person could create multiple addresses and pose as multiple people. A name means nothing if not tied and proven to be with a specific identity, so a name in a special transaction means nothing.

[Alley]

Im thinking a voting machine logs a persons vote on the blockchain?

[achow101]

Im thinking a voting machine logs a persons vote on the blockchain?

And how does logging it on the blockchain prevent proof anymore than a normal database?

Just logging it on the blockchain means absolutely nothing and it takes up space. In fact, it is probably more dangerous. A name in the blockchain means nothing. There is literally nothing that is different about having it in the blockchain than a database because to both, names mean nothing. A person could make up millions of fake names and cast millions of fake votes. It is up to the machine operators to prevent that. Even worse, on the blockchain, once someone figures out the format that the votes are being recorded in, they could burn a couple coins and screw up the vote. That could be prevented with encryption, but knowing the government, that isn't going to happen. There is no magic fraud protection that happens by simply logging it in the blockchain.

[7788bitcoin]

I think voter fraud has something to do with the "humans" involved.

"Corruption, embezzlement, fraud, these are all characteristics which exist everywhere. It is regrettably the way human nature functions, whether we like it or not... No one has ever eliminated any of that stuff." ~Alan Greenspan

[ben_btc]

It's being worked on!

Blockchain Technologies Corp. (http://blockchaintechcorp.com) is working on a voting machine and other election-related software systems that incorporate blockchain technology.

https://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-first-bitcoin-voting-machine-is-on-its-way

http://allcoinsnews.com/2016/02/08/blockchain-technologies-corps-record-iowa-caucus-results-on-blockchain/

[franky1]

showing the results publicly does not stop who gets to vote.

imagine if a certain demograph did not get the votecoin to be able to vote.
EG the poor who may not have computers to vote.
EG farmers who live out in the countr with no internet access
EG the sick who are too ill to vote

 or someone at the votecoin headquarters sent 10,000 votecoins to 10,000 addresses owned by one person who faked 10,000 addresses/ID's.

what if voters were offered $X for their private key. alot of people on social security benefits would hand over their private key.. take this very forum for example.. lots of people selling forum names for stupid amounts. running scams and not caring about reputation or the ecosystem as a whole. as long as they get a quick payday, they will do anything

in any country maybe 70-80% of the votable population actually vote. so thats 20-30% of the population who dont care about elections that could be bought.

the only thing blockchain can solve is vote tally count fraud, after votes are made. but not the identity fraud or fake ballots before votes are cast.

EG
if there was an election where the population:
25% didnt vote at all
35% voted for A
40% voted for B
(knowing the 35% 40% is 47%, 53% of the votes respectively)
so the blockchain can show that the 47:53 slit is accurate and not counted incorrectly
and B wins

but imagine
16% didnt vote
9% were bought votes that ended up as voting for A
bringing the blockchain public vote count to
44% voted for A
40% voted for B
(knowing the 44% 40% is 52%, 48% of the votes respectively)
so the blockchain can show that the 52:48 slit is accurate and not counted incorrectly

but now A wins. but:
the blockchain cannot prove that votes were bought or not
the blockchain cannot prove why people didnt vote at all
the blockchain cannot prove why voters chose A over B