The Electoral Commission of Ukraine is working on mechanisms to improve local and national electoral processes in Ukraine through a blockchain-based voting system. In this sense, they are carrying out voting tests using NEM (XEM) main chain.
Oleksandr Stelmakh, the head of the state’s voter registry, said through his Facebook account that he is continuing a series of experiments with blockchain technology applied to elections. The start of the tests was announced by Stelmakh himself in a July 10th publication on the social network, where he made a public invitation to participate in the voting tests.
One of the basic useful properties of blockchain is the inability to make changes to the saved information (…) These are the properties we intend to use to save voting session information.
Oleksandr Stelmakh, Head of the State Voters’ Register, The Electoral Commission of Ukraine
The official highlighted that the tests are being conducted using 28 nodes of the NEM (XEM) network. He also said that the NEM Foundation of Ukraine “kindly” provides the test crypto assets required to validate the transactions. These test votes are still open for participation of any Ukrainian citizen.
NEM (XEM) network tested for a blockchain-based voting system in Ukraine
According to Oleksandr Stelmakh’s calculations, the implementation of the project would cost an estimated $1,227 per polling station. In his opinion, this is “a small fee for the lifetime preservation of these socially important data.”
Ukraine is considering the incorporation of distributed ledger technology into its electoral processes since 2016 when an agreement was signed to develop an electronic voting platform. A group of technology firms participated, including the Bitcoin Foundation of Ukraine.
Back then, the signatories committed themselves to create a decentralized, transparent, and accessible system of electronic voting, using instruments based on blockchain technology.
Many other blockchain-based voting systems initiatives are being developed around the world, as this technology is perceived to have the potential to build reliable electoral systems. Among these global initiatives are the trials conducted in Zug, in Switzerland, and in the United States.
