Successful Blockchain Voting in 2018 Midterm Elections in West Virginia

According to an official announcement on Nov. 15, the secretary of state of the U.S. state of West Virginia, Mac Warner reported a successful first instance of remote blockchain voting.

Warner stated that 144 military personnel stationed overseas from 24 countries were able to cast their ballots on a mobile, blockchain – based platform called Voatz during 2018 midterm elections.

The general elections voting on the platform started in September when absentee balloting opened in West Virginia.

The first trial of the new platform took place during the state’s primary elections in April. Under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), blockchain – based ballots were restricted to a select group of voters such as deployed military personnels and other citizens eligible to vote absentee and their spouses and dependants.

According to Symantec – the firm behind the Voatz system, only 368,516 or 18 percent of the 2 million service members and their families serving overseas received ballots in 2016. Only 11 percent of said voters were counted after counting rejections and tardy ballots. Initially, the Voatz system was deployed to address the issue of low voter participation among members of the military.

According to a Washington post, the deputy chief of staff, Micheal Queen told that they have no plans for expanding the program beyond military personnel serving overseas despite of project’s success.

United States Elections Projects has issued a data which shows only 42.6 percent people voted in West Virginia and the state ranks 44th of 50 states in terms of voter participation.

If some experts have to be believed, the idea of mobile voting is not that safe & bad for democracy. The chief technologist at the center for Democracy and Technology , Joseph Lorenzo Hall thinks that mobile voting is a horrific idea as it is not secured.

There are others who thinks that the idea of mobile voting can result in better working of democracy. Conversely, Bradley Tusk of Tusk Montgomery Philanthropies has encouraged mobile voting, stating that it can turn out more voters.