Use of blockchain technology in elections and public record management
Blockchain is considered to be a game-changing technology, which can potentially disrupt existing business models by making intermediary services obsolete and inspire the creation of new and cost-effective business models. However, this technology can not resolve all issues and its value can only be fully realized by combining it with other mature or emerging technologies, such as big data platforms, cloud computing, data science/AI, and IoT.
In this article, we briefly review the role of blockchain technology in the future of public elections and public records.
Public Elections
The current way of conducting an election has multiple downsides. First, it often requires the physical presence of the person casting the vote. Many elections still rely on paper voting. This makes counting the result very time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive. It also may lead to a lengthy recount, which happened during the previous US presidential elections in several close-call states. The recounting took weeks or longer to complete. Manipulating the outcome, double voting, or faking a vote are other frequently cited problems, even during several highly watched elections in other countries.
Blockchain technology can be used to address these issues. With a blockchain-based election Decentralized App, casting a vote can take place worldwide. Every voter is uniquely assigned an account, an address, making double voting infeasible. The result of an election is immutable. Therefore, manipulation of an election outcome is not possible. The technology brings another advantage by making worldwide, cross-border referendums feasible on issues such as environmental topics.
Public records
The government’s civic administration office maintains different types of record, for example on citizens, tax returns, holders of deed and property titles, building permits, zoning information, patents, water pipeline and sewage layouts, and so on. They require continuous updates. In addition, these offices receive frequent inquiries. Keeping these records on paper is expensive since the government has to hire a team of office clerks to manage the records manually. Even in the case where records are electronically filed, hands are still needed to respond to inquiries. With a digital ledger hosted on a blockchain, inquiries can be met via software query tools instead of via an office clerk. This solution will safeguard the data from being altered for malicious purposes. This can help to reduce identity theft as well.
Summary
In this article, we discuss how blockchain can be used to improve the operation of government. Specifically, people around the globe can use blockchain technology to cast their vote on global issues. Also, blockchain and encryption technologies can be used to enhance the record keeping operations in governments. There are more blockchain use cases in other industries and businesses such as i-Payment and settlement services, ii- Import and export finance, iii- Regulatory compliance and auditing, iv-Collateral management, v- Real estate trading and rental markets, vi- Integration with IoT and more. This article is written by Matt Zand who is is a serial entrepreneur and the founder Coding Bootcamps. He is Currently the Chief Business Architect & Advisor at Zuma Events.
