The Impacts of Blockchain in Elections

Abstract

There is a greater emphasis on improving voter participation in elections, and one way to improve voter participation is to implement electronic or online voting. However, many voters and voting administrators are still skeptical because of security concerns and a lack of trust in these systems. Traditional online voting represents the older version of internet-based technology as well as the use of paper ballots. Consequently, the use of the blockchain seems like a more suitable technical solution to ensure online voting is secure and to enable trust by the voters and administrators of voting. The latter would lead to increased voter participation in elections. This chapter per the author attempts to answer the following research questions: What is the impact of the blockchain on the political processes especially when constituents vote? What is the essence of online voting via the blockchain and what are its benefits? What are the vulnerabilities when applying the blockchain when used in online voting?