Introduction

The United States Post office has filed a patent for blockchain based voting system. The patent was filed on Feb 7, 2020 and was published on Aug 13, 2020. 

The patent abstract states that, "“A voting system can use the security of blockchain and the mail to provide a reliable voting system. A registered voter receives a computer-readable code in the mail and confirms identity and confirms correct ballot information in an election. The system separates voter identification and votes to ensure vote anonymity, and stores votes on a distributed ledger in a blockchain.”

The patent applications describes the it as a voting system which comprises of a blockchain access layer configured to: receive input from a user operated mobile computing device, the input comprising of computer readable code scanned from a physical ballot, the ballot selections and an electronic signature; and receive input from the election official system, the input comprising of ballot and an election identifier.

Challenges

This certainly is a big step in adoption of the blockchain technology however there are many challenges that it has to overcome.

Some of the challenges that it faces are: technical challenges, public perception, and regulatory questions. The patent is the for the design framework and implementation is a big part to get the public trust. The blockchain technology is still perceived as something very technical that is only for computer nerds or something that is used to facilitate in shady dealings. Getting regulatory approval is another big challenge, not only the implementation should be able to prove that this will be a full-proof and immune to fraud and hacking but it also has to overcome the political will. The current administration has clearly indicated that it distrusts any voting system that is not paper based. In fact Trump has threatened to withdraw funding from USPS if they facilitates in mail-in ballots in the 2020 election.

Future

Digital implementation is the requirement of the future. Covid-19 has made many people realize a need for contact-less transactions and voting is one of the important transaction of a democratic system. Some of the countries like India, have already a well functioning electronic system, which is a right first step towards contact-less voting system. Blockchain based voting has many benefits which includes, preventing illegal voting, preventing double voting, and other voting frauds, maintain voting anonymity, and fast and accurate results. I certainly see that this is how we will be voting in future, just for how long remains to be seen.