will we witness a blockchain based election in our life time?

[iaego]

complete democracy is blockchain and as more people are adopting blockchain, i am really excited for blockchain based voting. no tampering with votes whatsoever.

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[odolvlobo]

A problem with a block chain based election is that in order to win an election, you must have 51% of the vote, which is the same amount needed to change the outcome of the vote (via a 51% attack).

So, in effect the winner of the election is the side with the most hash power.

[zanezane]

Probably in first world countries but I don't think a corrupt third world would have that, remember that election is always being cheated in those countries so removing that opportunity for corrupt candidate will definitely make things difficult for them so they will do whatever it takes for that to not happen.

[mk4]

A problem with a block chain based election is that in order to win an election, you must have 51% of the vote, which is the same amount needed to change the outcome of the vote (via a 51% attack).

So, in effect the winner of the election is the side with the most hash power.

Don't you think it won't make sense to use hashpower to count votes? Rather than something utterly simple as every single person has a designated wallet address, and 1 very low valued transaction to a certain candidate's address will count as the vote.

^Most probably a really bad example, but you get what I mean. Unless I misunderstood what you said, of course.

[avikz]

complete democracy is blockchain and as more people are adopting blockchain, i am really excited for blockchain based voting. no tampering with votes whatsoever.

You can see such transparent elections only in first world countries which can be powered by blockchain. But in first world countries, people don't believe in Electronic Voting machines so ballots are the preferred choice for them. So the chance looks pretty slim.

But in the rest of the world, we will never see a blockchain based election. Because a fair election can do anything and everything. So the corrupted government will never allow such transparent election to take place! EVMs will continue to dominate their elections.

[bitmover]

A problem with a block chain based election is that in order to win an election, you must have 51% of the vote, which is the same amount needed to change the outcome of the vote (via a 51% attack).

I was imagining something different.  The election could be a smartcontract running in a blockchain.  Every vote would be a transaction (of a token?). It would be easy to count and transparent.

But it would be expensive, as everyone would need to make a transaction to vote.

I don't know if we will see similar implementations in the future..

[NeuroticFish]

The election could be a smartcontract running in a blockchain.

From what I know, blockchain was already involved in voting and, although I have no idea how it was implemented, I am almost sure that some sort of smart contracts were involved, since that blockchain does support them.
It has happened on Waves blockchain in 2020. In Russia (!).

[DdmrDdmr]

<...>

I recall a thread on Russian Voters’ Data on Sale After Blockchain Poll. It’s possibly a different case (Twitter link is from September 2020, and the incident in the thread I reference happened in August 2020), and although the problem resided on a complementary poll identity control system, and not on the blockchain itself, it does go to show that there are more things to consider overall.

I also recall some cases from 2018 depicted on the forum, although not country wide: Blockchain technology in election polls.

[NeuroticFish]

I recall a thread on Russian Voters’ Data on Sale After Blockchain Poll. It’s possibly a different case (Twitter link is from September 2020, and the incident in the thread I reference happened in August 2020), and although the problem resided on a complementary poll identity control system, and not on the blockchain itself, it does go to show that there are more things to consider overall.

The topic you linked contains a link to a Coindesk news that tells "The online voting system, based on Bitfury's open-source Exonum blockchain and built with the help of Kaspersky Lab"
So it's indeed a different blockchain. And yes, there are indeed a lot of details to be taken into consideration and made correctly when voting is done with a public blockchain.

I also recall some cases from 2018 depicted on the forum, although not country wide: Blockchain technology in election polls.

Wow, quite a list indeed! My example was also not country wide (only 2 regions in Russia), hence the list from ^^ that thread is better.

[CryptoBuds]

You can see such transparent elections only in first world countries which can be powered by blockchain. But in first world countries, people don't believe in Electronic Voting machines so ballots are the preferred choice for them. So the chance looks pretty slim.

So, it seems already some local elections have been held in blockchain but it has not been widely accepted yet.
What do you think? What percentage of people have the right idea about blockchain? If those who have no idea about blockchain are asked to adopt such a blockchain-based voting system, they will never do so. First, the people of the country have to be initiated in the blockchain, then maybe the blockchain technology will be able to be widely involved in the voting system.

[bL4nkcode]

I was imagining something different.  The election could be a smartcontract running in a blockchain.  Every vote would be a transaction (of a token?). It would be easy to count and transparent.

But it would be expensive, as everyone would need to make a transaction to vote.

Though they can implement it using other blockchain that supports smart contract with a cheapest transfer fee, of course, ethereum blockchain is out of the option already since it will be too expensive running such voting system on its blockchain. But if the government supports the expenses then it still good.

[worldofcoins]

I don't think that will happen anytime soon and even if that happens the blockchain on which the election will be held has to be regulated and without KYC no one gets to make an election and thinking about KYC.

For doing the KYC they will have to visit the home of every person to verify the data otherwise many things can go wrong.
Not to mention the governments against this crypto as a whole.
So i would say it's unlikely to happen.

[odolvlobo]

A problem with a block chain based election is that in order to win an election, you must have 51% of the vote, which is the same amount needed to change the outcome of the vote (via a 51% attack).
So, in effect the winner of the election is the side with the most hash power.

Don't you think it won't make sense to use hashpower to count votes? ...

The problem is that anyone with 51% or more of the hash power has complete control of the block chain.

[Fortify]

complete democracy is blockchain and as more people are adopting blockchain, i am really excited for blockchain based voting. no tampering with votes whatsoever.

It's definitely a nice idea to have a transparent blockchain but there still has to be a way for people to stay anonymous while voting, otherwise it could leave individuals open to all sorts of pressure and reprisals if you're able to connect a person with an individual vote. The blockchain does seem like a perfect kind of technology for such a system, but there are many kinks that will need working out. It needs to be immune from any possible outside interference - such as a 51% attack which could manipulate the chain. It would also need to be rock solid, because if any scandals came up then it could set back such voting systems even longer and it also needs to be equally accessible to all people, like the current system.

[Welsh]

A problem with a block chain based election is that in order to win an election, you must have 51% of the vote, which is the same amount needed to change the outcome of the vote (via a 51% attack).

So, in effect the winner of the election is the side with the most hash power.

Blockchain could potentially be implemented in such a way that hash rate isn't a factor. The idea of implementing the Blockchain into something like a electoral vote would be to avoid corruption. The bigger issue with that is verifying who submitted that vote, while keeping everything privacy oriented. Especially with data protection becoming more of a bigger deal these days, they couldn't just simply show the names of the person, and who they voted for.

The problem is that anyone with 51% or more of the hash power has complete control of the block chain.

Yeah, they could potentially reject votes, and only include ones they want in the block. Although, I do believe with modifications the Blockchain or something similar to the Blockchain could potentially work in reducing corruption. What is clear is the current systems used aren't fair at all, and are susceptible to corruption.

[verita1]

Blockchain in elections would be great.
As we know, there are many advantages such as the validity of the results, transparency, privacy and anonymity, the votes can be verified to avoid corruption and mishandling of the vote counts.
Through the blockchain the entire process is controlled and the results are accurate and fast.
Also with the use of blockchain there are cost and personnel savings.
But not everything looks favorable with the idea of approving the elections through blockchain is the fear of cyber attacks.

[electronicash]

what about privacy? isn't this going to be done online?

it's probably fun to actually see a blockchain base election one day, it's going to be looked at as another experiment but i don't think there will be no protest when there is a losing party. election protest happens all the time. this is going to be fun to watch when senators try to make themselves well aware of the technology.

[Smartvirus]

A problem with a block chain based election is that in order to win an election, you must have 51% of the vote, which is the same amount needed to change the outcome of the vote (via a 51% attack).

I was imagining something different.  The election could be a smartcontract running in a blockchain.  Every vote would be a transaction (of a token?). It would be easy to count and transparent.

But it would be expensive, as everyone would need to make a transaction to vote.

I don't know if we will see similar implementations in the future..

This is an interesting discussion as it might offer a solution to election malpractices but then, not without a problem of its own as votes are most likely not to be limited to citizens if a nationality. Everyone has got access to transact on a blockchain and even if there were to be some sort of restrictions as per nationality, there are vpns to salvage that. On top of that, a person could actually put in votes multiple times and that would continue go be an issue. So, I don't know how this could be a best idea for an electoral process on the blockchain!

[Issa56]

Seriously I don't think it will be safr to run a election in blockchain because I don't think there will be privacy and it might like be hacked which people can easily manipulate values or change result but I think it won't be bad if it can be given opportunity atleast let's see what will happen.

[oktana]

We will, I guess. It shouldn't be long from now. Blockchain is already spreading way more than I thought. It's transparency has helped prove worthy. We will someday hear the news when it'll be demanded that Blockchain be used for  not election but for many other things that has always been rigged.

[Rruchi man]

Well we've already seen a Blockchain marriage, there is a high probability to witness a Blockchain election soon also in the near future. Since the success of the Blockchain with bitcoin, developers have been finding ways to expand it's use because of its security record that has it as being incorruptible due to its decentralised nature.

If the people of the world really need free and fair elections, a Blockchain based voting system is the solution. And since the technology of bitcoin and Blockchain is becoming more rampant and going mainstream, there is a high possibility to be witness soon to such an election.

https://www.investopedia.com/news/how-blockchain-technology-can-prevent-voter-fraud/

[cabron]

Its about time I think blockchain had already achieved trust in the finance industry. However if it's going to be about government, it will stir a lot of debate before it can happen. Politicians like cheating, it's in their blood already so even if there will be a blockchain election, they'd find ways to cheat.

As far as I can remember, Japan did some testing, Tsukuba first in Japan to deploy online voting system.

So there are some countries dabbing on blockchain technology in election, so no doubt that in the next five years, we might see nations taking advantage of it. Of course, the potential of rigging the results might be there, but at least it will be difficult.

The orients practice honor and integrity particularly in Japan, it might work for them.

[mk4]

The problem is that anyone with 51% or more of the hash power has complete control of the block chain.

Yes, obviously. But we're just talking about theoretics here. Assuming we're using a blockchain that's actual decentralized enough to conduct such operation. Just like bitcoin, as per my example.

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

Probably will witness one, but it's going to take a long time, remember that a lot of corrupt and power hungry politicians will be using anything at their disposal for this to not happen. Remember that those politicians need to manipulate and cheat the votes.

[Kittygalore]

The average lifespan of a person is around 70 and I am around 20s so I think that we still have an enough if not adequate time to witness an election that utilizes blockchain instead of the traditional system that we currently use with blockchain.

[blockman]

Many are still not ready for a blockchain-based type of election. It has to go through several tests before it implements it with the actual election. If the government isn't open with this type of election and technology, they'll go with what's favorable to them. This is hard for those countries where corruption is high, they won't allow this transparency to be seen by anyone if they broadcast the blockchain of voting nationwide. We can all end up and say that this is very promising but there will surely be pros and cons.

[vapourminer]

while its a good idea, good luck selling it to the masses. to many/most blockcains are black magic (ask the average voter what a blockchain is, tehn post the best/funniest answers here), even though with a blockchain (done right of course) it would be the most open, auditable election there could be.

[mk4]

while its a good idea, good luck selling it to the masses. to many/most blockcains are black magic (ask the average voter what a blockchain is, tehn post the best/funniest answers here), even though with a blockchain (done right of course) it would be the most open, auditable election there could be.

I'm not saying that a blockchain-based election is a good or bad idea, but the trick to any complex technologies is to have the UI/UX to be polished enough for the masses to not even know they're using "blockchain". A blockchain-based election could mean the masses are simply going to use a typical website, just with a blockchain back-end.

[Ucy]

complete democracy is blockchain and as more people are adopting blockchain, i am really excited for blockchain based voting. no tampering with votes whatsoever.

Could really work well if it's well decentralized and the identity of voters are well protected. I prefer not to use the Word for voters/users with hidden identities so people don't misunderstand it and think we are trying to impose "masked" voters in their elections. The Word is part of main Bitcoin principles and will really help in protecting voters and preventing them from getting influenced by money bags and people who bribe voters.
You don't need Proof of Stake(or Proof you own lots of money) for that. That will limit the numbers of voters and make the voting system vulnerable to being hijack by special interests and dictators. Decentralized & encrypted voter's identity, mobile devices, plus Full nodes should do. The right consensus mechanism would be PoW or Proof you have voted accurately... Once that is done, you are rewarded with points to encourage more people to vote.