According to the Wire, Blockchain-aided voting is on the horizon in India. The report says that trials for a Blockchain-aided ballot are underway, with voters expected to be able to cast their votes even from outside their home provinces.
Mock trials coming soon
According to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, research using cutting edge technology has already started and mock trials will be launched very soon. India’s election commission worked alongside researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in creating a secure way to verify identities and enable voting from far-flung regions of the country, and beyond. The election chief also floated a proposal that would give diaspora Indians the chance to engage in the voting process.
Personalized e-ballot papers per vote
The Blockchain aspect of the system will see to it that personalized e-ballot papers are generated for an individual vote once the person’s identity has been verified and confirmed. Subsequently, more votes will then be encrypted, generating a blockchain hash according to former senior Deputy Election commissioner Sandeed Saxena. According to Sandeep, all relevant stakeholders will be notified once a hashtag notification is triggered by securely encrypted ballots. “When the vote is cast, the ballot will be securely encrypted and a blockchain hashtag generated. This hashtag notification will be sent to various stakeholders, in this case the candidates and political parties.”
No mail-in ballots
Saxena explained that the system was not designed to enable Indians to vote from home. The system is not far removed from the traditional line-up-at- polling station system. Indian voters will still be expected to congregate at polling stations to cast their vote, just not necessarily at the polling station they were registered. Saxena emphasized that the project is still in its early stages by stating that voters would have to prepare before doing the actual voting.
The Chief Election Commissioner in India did a good job by emphasizing that the voting procedure in India would be nothing like the one we saw two months ago in America. There will be no mail in ballots, all that will change is the technology used to capture the votes and transmit them. The Blockchain improves this process greatly because Indians will no longer have to travel to their polling stations and can instead vote at their convenience at the nearest station.
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