Blockchain tech is secure, can put to rest apprehensions of people wary of voting

By Vindhya Pabolu

Withthe use of blockchain technology, e-voting can be done anonymously and securely, say its advocates.

Most people who don’t vote say they do not trust the voting process as they think it could be manipulated by political parties and candidates. They say they hope voting will become safe and secure in the coming years.

Chanti (name changed), who has voted thrice, informed The Observer: “I voted (using) both ballot and electronic voting machine systems, but both I feel ren’t trustworthy. The votes we cast can be manipulated easily, even though the government says the voting system is transparent. If I am casting my vote…, I hope it won’t be manipulated for someone.”

Nikhil (name changed), who has voted once, shared: “I don’t trust voting even though the process has changed from ballots to EVMs. That’s the reason why I cast my vote only once.”

According to a research paper published in the International Journal of Engineering and Technical Research, voting in any country is conducted through ballot papers or EVMs. “These processes have many drawbacks such as lack of transparency, low voter turnout, tampering of votes, distrust in the election body, forging of unique ID (voter ID card), delay in giving out results, and most importantly security issues. The security of digital voting is always the biggest concern when

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considering implementing a digital voting system. One way the security issues can be potentially solved is through the use of blockchain technology.

Vikram P, director of the software department at Mastercard, shared: “Blockchain doesn’t allow you to make corrections. Even if someone tries to change, the software will show that it changed and will even display who made the changes. If the system is used in the voting process, manipulations aren’t possible and the security of the vote can be ensured. But the process has a lot of complications.

As blockchain technology is handled by several parties across the country, if something goes wrong, the government won’t know where to go and whom to ask. So, for this, the government has to appoint a group of developers… to look after the process. In this way, the voting system can maintain its accuracy and transparency.”

Read the complete story on www.theweeklyobserver.in

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Produced by the Print students of the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media at Nityananda Nagar, Kumbalgodu, Kengeri hobli, Bengaluru 560074.

Editor: Yashaswini Sri

Reporters: Hamsaveni N, Yukta Mudgal, Siddhi Chahuan, Shruti Banerjee, Priya Pathak

Copy editors: Vindhya Pabolu

,Arsha B S, Ahona Roy, Sneha

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Photo editor: Janani Srinivas

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