The objective is to contribute with the voter’s authentication and the storage of the results
The transparency and ease with which blockchain technology works, in addition to its characteristic invulnerability, make the South Korean Government consider using blockchain technology in electronic voting systems.
The Ministry of Science and Technology of Information and Communications and the National Electoral Commission of that country are the organizations that plan to test the blockchain technology in their online voting system.
The trial period is scheduled for December and will be conducted by the Korean Internet and Security Agency (KISA) together with the Blockchain Society of the National University of Seoul.
An article points out that blockchain technology will be implemented in voter authentication and the saving of results. “Voting will be conducted through laptops and personal computers. The data will be stored in a distributed network and all voters will be able to see the results of the voting as they move forward”, he says.
After the test, the National Electoral Commission will make a decision on the use of the online voting system, taking into account that artificial intelligence (AI), big data and Internet of Things (IoT) technology will also be added to update the voting systems.
As in other countries
In the midterm elections in the US State of West Virginia, a similar system of mobile voting based on blockchain technology was programmed to be used, according to information portals reported on September 27th.
After the elections held in early November, the State Secretary said that 144 military personnel posted abroad from 24 counties were able to cast their votes on a mobile platform based on a blockchain. Its name is Voatz.
This year, several countries around the world have announced the consideration of blockchain-based voting systems, such as Ukraine, Catalonia, and the Japanese city of Tsukuba. In June, the Swiss city of Zug, commonly known as “Crypto Valley”, held a municipal test vote driven by blockchain.
The voting process will be done through laptops and personal computers, while the data provided will be stored in a distributed network so that all voters can see the results of the process as this progress.
The tests will begin next month for a survey activity conducted by the Blockchain Society of the National University of Seoul and the Korea Internet and Security Agency, the agency responsible for the regulation and content of the Internet in that country.
According to the performance during the tests, the National Elections Commission will be in charge of deciding if the system is really applicable for the online votes after the evaluations. NEC has also commented that artificial intelligence, big data and, IoT technology will be included later to optimize voting systems in Korea.
Already in other opportunities, NEC launched a system known as K-vote, which also corresponded to an online voting process for the year 2013. It had been used by 5.64 million people, but even today there is much distrust regarding this as a result of the problems of piracy and fraud.
By María Rodríguez
