By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 12th, 2024
Irrespective of the tightened regulations against Blockchain in the US., Utah County becomes the third jurisdiction in the United States to offer blockchain-based mobile voting in their municipal primary election.
In a collaboration between the Utah County Elections Division, Voatz, Tusk Philanthropies, and the National Cybersecurity Center, Utah County has been able to power a voting system that was initiated on June 28th and continues on until August 13th (the Election Day).
This voting mechanism is primarily set in place for active-duty military personnel, their eligible dependents and voters overseas to participate remotely.
West Virginia and Colorado has been on the lead in the race to proffer a decentralized and trusted voting mechanism in the United States. The state of West Virginia, in particular, took the forefront in 2018 after entering a partnership with Tusk Philanthropies aimed to launch a secure military mobile voting application for its May and November General elections.
Also, the city of Denver kickstarted it’s own blockchain-based voting system to enable an electronic voting system which took place on March 23 through to the Election Day, which is May 7.
Borrowing the success stories of both the West Virginia and Colorado blockchain voting mechanism, Utah County would become the latest jurisdiction in the US to implement a voting system powered upon underlying blockchain technology, according to a recent publication by Tusk Philanthropies.
The Decentralized Voting System
This would be made possible by means of a blockchain-based voting platform, Voatz launched on June 6th by a subsidiary of Overstock, Medici Ventures following a $7 million funding round.
This blockchain-based voting platform – Voatz, is specifically based on blockchain tech, encryption, and biometrics. It provides convenience, security, and verification for voters and vote enumerators alike, along with a design methodology that permits citizens to participate in official elections and similar events via mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablet computers.
Eligible voters are required to own a compatible Apple or Android mobile device as well as an approved, validated State or Federal ID in order to use the blockchain service.
Recently, government institutions from around the globe have revealed an increased interest towards the integration of a blockchain-based voting system into their electoral body. Such governments as that of Russia, South Korea, Estonia, Catalan, Japan, Brazil, Denmark, and Switzerland have as of late been active in this trend. Also, there exist a host of other European countries that are rapidly buying into the trend.