Voting is central to democratic societies; its right represents the "empowerment" of individuals. Through voting, individuals participate in decision-making processes using elections, referendums or surveys as an avenue to voice their opinions regarding issues impacting professional lives (staff representatives, work council members or trade union representatives, for instance), cities (mayor) or government (President, senators and representatives from parliament).
E-voting and distance voting methods have recently begun becoming more widely utilized, and acceptability is increasing among voters who vote online or from faraway locations.
These solutions often increase voter turnout by cutting paper usage and human resource needs; streamlining voting processes while saving expenses; however implementing electronic voting requires using devices like laptops and cellphones - something senior voters who are used to using paper ballots may find awkward when adopting digital technology for voting purposes.
E-Democracy And E-Voting
E-democracy includes concepts of online voting and participation; therefore, this study's topic of electronic voting or "e-voting." E-voting involves employing gadgets divided into two different systems - optical scan machines are typically utilized at polling places to facilitate vote tally; distance voting uses devices like laptops, cellphones and tablets for casting ballots from a distance using electronic voting technology - this second type allows voters to cast ballots using various methods such as laptops cell phones tablets etc. allowing voters to cast votes from a different distance using devices like laptops cell phones tablets etc. E-voting systems have recently been employed successfully across various nations with various effects and outcomes per nation in effect or outcome per nation used.
Electronic voting solutions should take into account both voter demographics and country size when adopting them, including digital natives, expatriates and citizens with mobility restrictions relying on electronic devices as voting devices. E-democracy must promote sincerity, validity and authenticity - which e-voting solutions help foster.
E-voting presents several challenges to its participants, particularly regarding security, privacy and transparency issues. A key concern with election campaigns has been an increase in cyberattacks by governments (or state-backed groups) or external manipulation; to prevent these, adequate security measures must be put into place during data transfers; transfers should also be encrypted prior to verification for added assurance that no tampering occurred before release of final results.
The Blockchain Concept And E-Voting
Blockchains are distributed, decentralized networks that host legitimate transactions between nodes that are processed decentrally and peer-to-peer. Any node within a blockchain system can initiate a transaction that will then spread throughout all nodes of its network; digital signatures are then used to verify each user and prevent non-repudiation; all nodes on its network control this signature control mechanism; hash functions then activate to add blocks safely into its record when transactions have been successfully verified, hash function activation activates to secure its database once verified transactions.
Due to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin's success and development, blockchain 1.0 first gained widespread traction within Fintech industries. Now used across various sectors, including healthcare, notary services, transportation supply chains, e-business e-government etc, 2.0 is being deployed and can meet different demands depending on its domain of operation.
Since 2015, studies on how blockchain use in governance have proliferated with great interest (Casino et al., 2019). By eliminating middlemen from transactions and providing seamless data transfers among government departments and agencies, blockchain-enabled technology could greatly enhance government data management while decreasing corruption risks - one potential use case being voting and election systems that use Blockchain; its centralized architecture causes people to distrust electoral processes as it undermines trust with citizens who use them.
Voting process issues have been discovered by blockchain researchers and developers; therefore, remedies must be found.
Public Verifiability: The ability of members of the general public to independently confirm election results and processes.
Individual Verifiability: Voters' ability to verify their votes independently (such as through using ballots).
Auditability: An election's results can be audited by an impartial third party.
Privacy: Blockchain's capacity to ensure voting process transparency cannot be overemphasized.
Read More: Unlocking the Future: How Blockchain Technology Can Make You Smarter and Safer
Blockchain Benefits For E-Voting
Blockchain-based e-voting technology offers an open, peer-to-peer, decentralized, independently verifiable voting solution with unchanging records on an independent ledger that ensures trust between voters and election organizers alike. Content added onto blockchains may remain secure for an unchangeable record that serves online voting systems effectively.
Governments can create an ideal voting climate by offering an easy and safe solution utilizing public hash blockchains. Residents provide their ID number and username using encrypted data for external identity verification on a blockchain; ballot forms should then be completed using blockchain-powered ballot boxes; all results from elections can then be reviewed through open access data afterward (AgoraVoting 2016; BitCongress, 2016).
Therefore, instead of depending on specialized organizations for public verification and auditing purposes, blockchain technology could serve as a platform to facilitate this. Integrating it into electronic voting management may offer advantageous solutions; even though they cannot prevent all manipulation. To increase trust among voters, open source software must be trustworthy, honest, free from manipulations, provide free independent findings - this requires trust between participants.
How Can Blockchain Be Used In Political Campaigns?
Blockchain technology provides security, accountability, and transparency in political campaigns. A blockchain-based platform may allow them to track funding sources, expenditures, reporting processes and expenditure reports more easily.
Donors will be able to trace their money by following each gift on the Blockchain, making it simpler and safer for donors to verify whether contributions abide with campaign finance regulations, thus decreasing fraud and corruption risk.
Election process transparency may also be ensured through blockchain technology. Voter data may be securely stored and verified on it to guarantee accurate vote tallying; election results can also be tracked using it making any attempts at manipulating results easier to detect; political parties employing blockchain-based technology as part of their campaign to safeguard fair elections and safeguard democratic processes.
Securing Donations
Money in politics can be an emotionally charged subject; many contributors remain unknown and encourage dishonest practices and corruption. Blockchain technology holds the promise of helping resolve accountability and transparency problems associated with campaign funding.
Blockchain platforms ensure donations are safe, open, and auditable - helping donors confirm they have entered candidates' accounts while tracking contributions via blockchain technology. Donors may verify whether their funds have arrived as planned using this innovative method of verification.
Eliminating Voter Fraud
Another major problem in political campaigns has been voter fraud. Blockchain technology can put an end to worries about forged voter identification documents, double voting, and results manipulation. Platforms with blockchain support can offer safe voter authentication, limiting the number of eligible voters who can cast a ballot. This approach increases voter trust while simultaneously improving transparency.
Ensuring Secure And Transparent Vote Counting
The election process may be made more transparent and accountable by utilizing blockchain technology for vote counting. Blockchain technology creates an unchangeable record of the voting process by logging every vote in a safe, unchangeable database. The public will feel more confident in the integrity of the election process since this procedure makes it impossible to tamper with vote results.
Enhanced Transparency In Political Donations
Blockchain technology can assist politicians in determining the source of funding for their campaigns, hence enhancing openness in the political contribution process. Donors will be able to see the financial records of the political party or candidate thanks to blockchain technology, which will guarantee that they are aware of the use of their money. The public can make educated contribution selections thanks to this open method, which also makes it simpler to spot fraudulent activity.
Reducing The Cost Of Running Political Campaigns
Blockchain technology has the potential to drastically lower campaign expenses for political campaigns, making them more successful and economical. Because blockchain technology is decentralized and does not require middlemen like banks and legal firms, candidates may save a lot of money. Additionally, this will provide well-funded campaigns with equal competition versus grassroots efforts.
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Conclusion
Currently, electronic voting and distant elections are popular topics for upholding democratic norms and, as a result, societal harmony. Our goal is to clarify if blockchain technology can be seen as helping to promote peace engineering in the context of elections by employing an explanatory approach.
By using blockchain technology, political campaigns can reduce the chance of fraud and excessive spending while blockchain promoting election transparency. Blockchain can drastically reduce political corruption, which has long been a major worry.
