Officials Push Ahead Despite Concerns With West Virginia’s Blockchain Voting Experiment
Earlier this year, Bitcoinist reported on West Virginia’s ambitious plans to bring blockchain to voting. In late March, state officials announced an initiative with a Boston-based technology startup, Voatz, that would allow those who fall under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act cast their ballots thanks to blockchain.
The state tested out the blockchain-based voting solution across two counties during the May 8th primary election. Those eligible were able to vote with their Android or Apple mobile device. Now officials inside of West Virginia’s government, and at Voatz, are preparing to make the system available for eligible overseas military personnel who want to vote digitally in the November election. As election day looms, a growing number of security specialists and election integrity advocates are now saying blockchain-based voting is a bad idea. Some are even pushing for a shift away from online voting altogether.
Still, a growing chorus of people think the entire idea is risky. Cybersecurity expert Matt Blaze wrote that blockchain voting can make it very difficult to maintain ballot secrecy. Blaze also said it does not solve any of the fundamental issues civil elections have.
What do you think about West Virginia’s experimental blockchain voting system? Let us know in the comments below!
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