how can blockchain prevent election rigging while making sure only eligible people get to cast their ballot?
In: Technology
Blockchain is, when you get to the bottom of it, just a read-only memory. It allows you to write something that everyone can read but no one can edit later.
I’m sure that can play a part within some greater election-improving system. But if someone simply says “We will solve it with blockchain”, he’s just dropping buzzwords.
Short answer is that it can’t.
Longer answer is that, under the right circumstances blockchain could help prevent certain kinds of fraud. In states where voter ID verification is required, voters could be entered into the blockchain ledger when they vote. This would largely prevent that vote from being changed as well as eliminate any ambiguity in that vote. Would also eliminate errors in tallying.
Problem is that this changing votes probably isn’t a common enough thing to go to this effort to prevent. Ambiguity is definitely a problem, but not one that needs blockchain to address. Same with tallying errors.
Problem is that blockchain won’t help with common voting problems. It’s a complicated solution to an edge-case problem.
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