February 28, 2019 8:17 PM
The new platform is intended to fight voter fraud and keep votes anonymous.
On Tuesday, February 26, officials in Moscow, Russia, submitted a bill focused on using blockchain technology for elections to the Moscow City Duma, the regional parliament, according to an article published in Tass.
The announcement was made by the bill’s co-author, Dmitry Vyatkin, who is deputy of the United Russia political party. According to Vyatkin, votes will be cast on the mos.ru electronic portal, which is where the majority of Muscovites who have the right to vote are registered. These votes, along with the personal information of every voter, will then be stored in separate places on a blockchain platform. Vyatkin suggests that storing voter identity and election data separately will help to fight voter fraud facilitated by “dirty election technologies” and help keep votes anonymous.
The new blockchain platform will be compatible with the existing “GAS-election system.” The goal is for it to be ready prior to the start of election campaigns and before voting dates are announced. The new form of storing voter and election data will be in compliance with all existing laws.
Russia has experimented with blockchain voting in the past. In December 2017, the government of Moscow announced a pilot project intended to phase out its Active Citizen voting system in favor of an Ethereum-based blockchain platform. In March 2018, the state-run All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center announced its plans to record the results of presidential election exit polls on a blockchain platform. Just a few weeks later, Ella Pamfilova, the head of the Central Election Commission of Russia, pitched to Russian president Vladimir Putin the idea of managing the data of the 2024 presidential election on an Ethereum-based blockchain platform . Â
Nathan Graham is a full-time staff writer for ETHNews. He lives in Sparks, Nevada, with his wife, Beth, and dog, Kyia. Nathan has a passion for new technology, grant writing, and short stories. He spends his time rafting the American River, playing video games, and writing.
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