Blockchain eliminates risks of manipulation with votes
On April 27, 2018, the president of “Nooor” Armenian Blockchain Association, Vigen Arushanyan, has publicly addressed Nikol Pashinyan (leader of the “velvet revolution” in Armenia and current newly elected Prime-Minister of the country) suggesting a solution for fair and transparent elections using blockchain technology (you can find Mr. Arushanyan’s original statement below).
“Banks.am”, a financial news platform, interviewed Mr. Arushanyan exploring the details on this matter and suggestion.
Mr. Arushanyan, does your offer refer to the voting process itself, or the pre-election organizational preparations such as voters listing, identification, etc.?
We consider discussing several options taking into account the problems existing in the electoral system. First of all, the implementation process will affect the voting process itself, eliminating the risk of double voting. The system will cross-check all polling stations in real time whether the identified elector has already voted or not.
The main advantage of this technology is the transparency and the impossibility to make retrospective changes. Therefore, in the next phase of counting the votes, blockchain eliminates the risk of vote manipulation (removal of ones or registration for another candidate) or adding new votes after the deadline.
Let me also mention that blockchain ensures the transparency of the procedures and not that of voting data to everyone. The data is encrypted and nobody except the voter can see who he or she voted for. However, all interested parties will have the opportunity to monitor the process and make sure that everything is done according to the law.
How can it be realized in case of lack of knowledge and awareness about blockchain among the majority of Armenian citizens?
Considering that the common ballot papers and boxes is the most accepted and effortless mechanism for the wide layers of population, it is better to adopt a hybrid model in order not to make the procedure complicated.
In short, there won’t be any changes in the voting process from the citizens’ perspective, so as usual, they will visit the polling station, pass the identification process with their IDs or passports and will vote, after which the data will be processed and registered on blockchain. Thus, no knowledge of the technology is needed to participate in the elections.
Can you please clarify the case of Sierra Leone’s presidential elections with blockchain based observers groups, which you mentioned in your offer?
For the presidential elections in Sierra Leone that took place on the 7th of March, 2018, a Swiss blockchain startup was certified as an observer by the national electoral commission of the country. In the western area of Sierra Leone (the smallest and the most densely populated of 4 administrative districts) they’ve registered the votes manually on permissioned blockchain.
This process was conducted in 280 polling stations out of 11.200, with total of 400.000 ballots registered. The structured system was developed to grant prominent observer organizations with permissions to fill in the data, while the rest had the read-only right to observe the data.
As a result, this became the first experience of applying blockchain technologies on elections of this level.
Therefore, the example of Sierra Leone may easily be adopted for Armenian elections. This is the easiest and the fastest solution, but from my point of view, a more automatized procedure can be developed to exclude the human factor without complicating the process for the voters at the same time.
With limited time resources how can these mechanisms be implemented or how much time will be needed for pre-electoral preparations and practice?
We have developed a few possible models․ I won’t go into technical specifications, but will state that we have focused on solutions, that could be accomplished in the time frame of the preparatory operations for extraordinary elections.
It is also notable that legislation changes are considered in each model, but in our case, due to limited time periods, no radical changes will likely be made to the electoral model.
For example, with automatized calculations the results will be ready in real time, but the law will require presence of a counting committee along with several guidelines related to time and procedure, etc. In this case the hybrid models are the most realistic, easily applicable and provide further opportunities for future elections.
Interviewer: Khoren Ormanyan, Banks.am
Vigen Arushanyan’s public statement to Nikol Pashinyan on April 27, 2018:
“Dear Mr. Nikol Pashinyan,
Taking into account the latest developments as well as considering the expected large-scale work and the vital importance of the decision-making process, further actions should be carried out in an entirely transparent way avoiding any corruption risks. To achieve maximum efficiency in this process, it is essential to use all the opportunities provided by innovative technologies, particularly by blockchain.
Blockchain is a registry of trustful data distributed in a decentralized way among multiple participants, it’s transparent and cannot be modified. This means that the data in the registry is not owned by anyone, it is identical for all network members and even the user inputting the data cannot change his/her record. It is also significant that the founder of the system doesn’t have any technical opportunity to interfere into the system’s operation and the data integrity.
Blockchain’s absolute credibility, transparency and high level of security eliminates operational risks and reduces costs in different spheres starting from information and financial technologies to the real sectors of economy. That is why it is used both in private companies (e.g. Walmart, Airbus, etc.) and in governmental programs such as:
- Georgia — land registry,
- Estonia — national identity management system,
- Illinois State (USA) — registration of birth certificates,
- Dubai (UAE)- plans to have the world’s first blockchain-based government by 2020,
- Sierra Leone — blockchain-based observers during the presidential election.
I believe that the elections should be the starting point in Armenia (on all levels, including parliamentary elections, self-governing bodies, public opinion). Blockchain elections will ensure fair and reliable results. Further integrations can include taxes, customs, social security, healthcare and other spheres: there is a wide range of opportunities.
Undertaking these measures, Armenia will rise to a higher level of credibility on the international level. This will have a radical impact on the improvement of our country’s economic status, and attraction of foreign investments.
I express my willingness to assist the process in every possible way.”
