SUMMARY
Last week’s “Blockchain This Week” had talked about how security risks can persist even with blockchain-based voting systems, as pointed out in a report prepared by researchers from MIT
Nevertheless, some researchers still persist with the claim that blockchain technology could be the answer to many of the concerns raised about prevalent methods of voting during elections.
Blockchain-based systems can work well in ensuring against double votes, as also, creating a transparent and yet non-tamperable network for all stakeholders
Last week’s “Blockchain This Week” had talked about how security risks can persist even with blockchain-based voting systems, as pointed out in a report prepared by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The report had specifically raised questions about blockchain-based voting systems like Voatz, which has been used in the US municipal elections, yet reportedly suffers from data security issues.
Nevertheless, some researchers persist with the claim that blockchain technology could be the answer to many of the concerns raised about prevalent methods of voting during elections.
The debate about the efficacy of blockchain-based voting systems also picked up pace amid the 2020 United States presidential election, which saw a rise in the number of in-mail ballots due to Covid-19, thus delaying the counting process substantially.
A blockchain-based voting system works with a distributed network of computers to verify transactions. Once verified, results are recorded in blocks and linked cryptographically to the preceding block. Blockchain-based systems can work well in ensuring against double votes, as also, creating a transparent and yet non-tamperable network for all stakeholders, which could be the election agency, the government and selected groups of people tasked with ensuring free and fair elections.
Maxim Rukinov, head of the Distributed Ledger Technologies Center of St. Petersburg State University, told Cointelegraph that blockchain allows for a system of fair elections to take place within a trusted environment between participants who generally do not trust each other: “With blockchain, you can make voting available and increase the transparency of any election. In a perfect scenario, the results of such a vote cannot be faked.”
According to Don Tapscott, cofounder of the Blockchain Research Institute, within a blockchain-based system, public trust in the voting process is achieved through cryptography, code, and collaboration among citizens, government agencies, and other stakeholders.
Other News
China’s Xi Asks G20 Countries To Be Open To CBDCs
In a wide-ranging speech that addressed the future of the global economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s President Xi Jinping said the G20 “needs to discuss developing standards and principles for central bank digital currencies with an open and accommodating attitude.” You can read the story here.
Digital Yen Will Make The Crypto Market ‘More Lively,’ Says Monex CEO
According to a Reuters report, the CEO of the Japanese financial services giant Monex Inc. is welcoming the country’s central bank’s more proactive stance toward central bank digital currencies or CBDCs. Earlier this year, the Bank of Japan had announced its plans of testing a central bank digital currency proof-of-concept. Read the full story here.
