Is Blockchain Voting About to Change the Way We Vote?

Blockchain voting is an idea that has been around for some time. It has now been successfully used for the first time. Does it mean that widespread use may be closer than expected?

“Ballot box” (CC BY 2.0) by FutUndBeidl

How Was Blockchain Voting Used?

The Association of Cryptocurrency Enterprises and Start-ups, Singapore (ACCESS) was the first company to use this technology for voting. They carried out on-premise blockchain voting at their recent AGM.

Anson Zeall is the chairman of ACCESS. He said that this process allows them to “uphold the true values of democratic voting”. He continued by saying that this way of casting votes is the “future of corporate governance”.

The solution that they used was developed by JEDTrade. They used the Ethereum blockchain and the Metamask wallet for the vote. Codes were generated on a random basis, hashed and then stored in a bespoke smart contact. Members were then given QR codes to allow them to vote anonymously.

What Are the Benefits of Voting on the Blockchain?

The reason that this is an important breakthrough is that blockchain voting could bring transparency to elections. It promises to ensure anonymity, immutability and accuracy in the results.

Controversial elections were held in the Philippines and Bolivia in 2019. In both cases, doubts were cast over the official results. In many countries, rigged voting and people being forced to vote for a certain candidate are still major concerns.

What Could This Mean for the Cryptocurrency Market?

This is one of the developments that could help to increase the profile of cryptocurrencies. The more people that see how useful the blockchain can be, the better for the market. The introduction of voting on the blockchain would also make the technology visible to millions of people.

Voting technology gives the opportunity to invest in the tokens that they use. In the past, we have seen similar ICOs for the likes of Agora, Coalichain and Votem. At the time of writing, it is unclear which platform is most likely to become a success in this area.

National governments could take over and produce their own platforms and tokens. Their tokens could even form part of national digital currencies Countries such as China are said to be working towards these currencies that could kill fiat.

Blockchain voting should make a huge impact in the years to come. There are simply too many benefits for governments and corporations to ignore it. However, it is still too soon to fully understand how this matter will affect the market.