Blockchain-aided voting trials in India that would allow voters to post ballots from outside their home provinces are expected to start soon.
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said research using cutting-edge technology had already begun and that, as reported by The Wire, mock trials would be launched in the very near future.
Together with researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India's Election Commission worked to create a secure way to verify identities and allow voting from far-flung regions of the country, and beyond. A proposal that would give Indians living abroad the opportunity to participate in the voting process was confirmed by Arora on the same day.
Once a voter's identity has been verified, the blockchain aspect of the scheme would see personalized e-ballot papers generated by the blockchain. According to former Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena, subsequent votes are then encrypted, generating a blockchain hash.
A blockchain-enabled personalized e-ballot paper will be generated after a voter's identity is established by the system. The ballot will be securely encrypted and a blockchain hashtag generated when the vote is cast. The notification of this hashtag will be sent to different stakeholders, including candidates and political parties in this case.
The system is not designed to allow people to vote from home, Saxena explained. Instead, at a designated polling area, they would still have to congregate, just not the one in the polling region they are registered in.
Emphasizing the early stage at which the project still remained, Saxena said it would probably have to be arranged in advance for voters wishing to use this voting procedure.
On the other side of the world, the two most recent U.S. elections were marred by unfounded accusations of manipulation of votes, be it Russian collusion or rigged counting of votes.
In the midst of such a furor, the rise of blockchain technology has led some to suggest that it could also apply its ability to secure cryptocurrencies to the election process.
