US State of West Virginia Will Pioneer a Voting System Powered by Blockchain Technology

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The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office is pioneering a secure military mobile voting solution for the upcoming May 8th Primary Election. The new voting pilot is powered by blockchain technology. This was revealed in a paper published on the Secretary of State’s office website, the paper titled Pilot Project: Secure Military Mobile Voting Solution disclose that “Blockchain-based mobile voting solutions can help meet many of the most urgent challenges in election administration by adding security, transparency, and trust to the system.”

The paper defined Blockchain as a distributed ledger technology that empowers anyone with an internet connection to transfer anything of value — anywhere, anytime, with unmatched security and integrity. It further explains that due to blockchain being a distributed ledger of transactions, military mobile votes would be immune from manipulation and invulnerable to tamper.

Voting System Powered By Blockchain Technology

Voatz an award winning technology startup based in Boston MA is the technical provider designing the mobile voting platform in a joint venture with Tusk/Montgomery Philanthropies, New America and Blockchain Trust Accelerator. The platform would be restricted to only two counties – Harrison County and Monogalia County for now.

All registered military voters that are qualified or deployed would be able to vote using a compatible Apple or Android mobile device approved by the State or Federal ID. Voting starts on Friday 23rd March till May 8, 2018 the closing date for the Primary Election.

Benefits of the Blockchain Powered Voting Systems

The primary objective of this project is to manage a secure voting solution that is secure, transparent and accessible, the paper added. Although, the pilot project is the first of its kind in the United States however, the blockchain powered voting system is only available to registered West Virginia citizens who are in active duty or deployed in the military. Benefits of blockchain-based voting solutions include Security and accuracy, voter privacy, and  transparency. The results come out faster can be easily audited creating trust in the election process.

Solomon Sunny is the market reporter for Smartereum, one of the global leaders in Ethereum, blockchain and currency news. He produces technical price updates on digital currencies and writes recent developments about blockchain.

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