Ines AissaniThe electoral system is a good barometer for measuring the degree of freedom of a democracy. The freer and more fair the elections, the more the people enjoy the political freedom to make choices that are truly taken into account. When Abraham Lincoln said that “a ballot is stronger than a bullet”, he was recalling that a people can decide their future through their vote, without having to resort to war. The voice of the people must still be heard...
Indeed, elections are often lacking in many countries and electoral fraud serves corrupted democracies and authoritarian regimes. An electoral system that is not reliable does not encourage the population to vote and the rate of absenteeism is then always higher. Trust for elected officials is reduced to the point of leading to rebellion movements (sometimes legitimate) which result in violence and police repression. Finally, fraud can keep authoritarian leaders in place who aspire to stay in power.
A faulty electoral system is certainly an element which can in itself parasitize an entire political regime and the society which constitutes it. Let it be said, having healthy elections is a prerequisite for any self-respecting democracy.
The electoral process, the keystone of democracies
In today's digital age, traditional voting systems seem obsolete with the use of sheets of paper and manual counting. Throughout the world, this system still prevails in the vast majority. Each citizen is called upon to physically appear at the polls in order to make their choice.
Since the establishment of the very first elections in the 19th century, this system has continued to fuel fraud, corruption, bribery and violent intimidation which precede elections.
The traditional voting system has shown us its limits. We can no longer count the number of electoral frauds that have now left dictators in power for decades, without the people ever being able to freely express themselves.
Certainly, progress in this area has been made and electoral fraud is increasingly limited in the most democratic countries. However, it is a mistake to think that the electoral systems of democratic countries today are immune to fraud. The threat is everywhere and vigilance must be maintained.
THEstorming of the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump is a striking example of the challenges made to an election deemed flawed. A system that does not allow unconditional verification of votes can fuel suspicions of corruption.
Thus, improving the electoral process would not only be useful for non-democratic countries but for all countries, especially in the context of globalization in which we are located.
From this perspective, an authoritarian regime can endanger an entire region and destabilize an entire geopolitical dynamic. The Russo-Ukrainian war of 2022 has had economic repercussions on the whole world, for example. We all have an interest in countries around the world moving towards a democratic regime.
The problem with traditional voting systems and the digital solution
More and more people and entrepreneurs have sought to improve the voting process, using electronic voting. This then involves replacing and digitizing the paper ballots to automatically count the votes.
Nigeria has often suffered from strong social turbulence in the pre-election period. Unsurprisingly, it was the first country in Africa to have opted for this solution in previous elections. Voters were provided with smart cards which ensured a single vote for each holder. The count was therefore carried out via a computer program, which eliminated possible counting errors or manipulation of the ballots.
However, numerous reports have noted the numerous problems that surrounded the Nigerian election including the problem of lost or stolen cards, faulty card readers, partial delivery of cards and insufficient training on the part of citizens and election staff .
Likewise, it was noted that corruption has not been limited. The practice of some politicians offering money or other incentives to voters in exchange for their vote has not been spared by electronic voting. Indeed, the smart card being directly associated with identities, it is then possible to trace the voters' vote. Thus, for fear of seeing their votes displayed, some people who had received intimidation or threats had no other choice but to vote under duress.
Only seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa now fall into the Free category, the lowest figure since 1991. Additionally, only 9% of people in sub-Saharan Africa now live in countries considered free.
https://freedomhouse.org
Blockchain allows for a fairer and tamper-proof voting process
The decentralized and secure technology of blockchain technology applied to the electoral process allows for transparent and unfalsifiable elections. All votes are taken into account and no one can change the results. All votes are verifiable in a large "register" and anyone can access it, while guaranteeing the anonymity of voters. It is in this sense that blockchain, as a distributed technology, allows for the improvement of elections: fraud is no longer permitted or even conceivable.
All voters can vote using a unique, encrypted identifier, which would make their votes anonymous. This is particularly interesting in cases where representatives seek to bribe or corrupt voters. There would be no possibility for them to verify what a person had voted for. This pseudo-anonymity then makes it possible to reduce the cases of bribery that can be observed during electoral periods.
Technically, blockchain involves decentralization, meaning there is no need for a central authority to manage votes. The risk of falsification is then made impossible because all parties would have to agree to falsify the register at the same time. Likewise, the register is public and can be consulted by everyone.
In addition, there is no need to travel to vote, while ensuring that the right person is voting. Citizens from the most remote areas could then be integrated into the voting system. This is also a way of making the process more universal and more inclusive than it currently is.
The speed, security and efficiency of vote counting would then be automated. No entity could manipulate the results. Human counting errors would be reduced if not eliminated. All votes are recorded in the blockchain register in an unalterable manner and anyone could access it and verify the data.
Blockchain-based elections have already been carried out
Blockchain technology has already been used in certain elections around the world and the results of these operations encourage more massive use in the coming years.
In March 2018, the Sierra Leone was the first country in the world to use blockchain for the presidential elections. Here again, the blockchain-based voting system has been tested with automatic, non-falsifiable counting and the possibility of monitoring election results in real time. Since then, Sierra Leone has decided to continuously use the blockchain-based voting system for all elections in the country.
Company Agora who piloted the first blockchain voting process in Sierra Leone and published a report on the potential of blockchain technology for electoral purposes, available here. The goal is to push more countries to opt for this system.
We can also cite the 2018 midterm elections held in the state of West Virginia, United States. Originally, voting via blockchain was suggested to allow foreign residents (and in particular military personnel on mission) to be able to vote remotely. The government then decided to extend the secure voting application for expatriates and residents. This experience also showed that with blockchain, voting is made possible regardless of the geographic location or physical capabilities of voters.
It should be remembered that the voting system can serve any form of election. This may concern votes for various citizen consultations (development project, cultural project, etc.). Blockchain-based citizen voting projects are currently underway in the United States, Colombia and South Korea. France has established a partnership with the company Electis, which developed open source software to facilitate electronic voting processes. This would involve proposing voting systems for municipalities in particular.
What are the obstacles to the adoption of blockchain in the electoral process?
The benefits of using blockchain technology seem so obvious that one might wonder why it is not more integrated into voting systems. This is for several reasons, the first of which is certainly the lack of technological infrastructure to support the use of this technology. Indeed, the country must have reliable internet connectivity and the installation of robust servers to host the vote. This involves qualified personnel or the implementation of upstream certification training.
When it comes to using new technologies, the obstacles usually come down to the financial cost of doing so. This can be a real obstacle, particularly in the poorest countries which do not necessarily have the financial resources available.
Let us add that these are generally and unfortunately poorest countries who suffer the most from the problem of electoral corruption. It is the countries that need it the most that do not have the means to do without it.
However, numerous studies, particularly those published by Agora, indicate that using blockchain voting would save money in the long term. Indeed, the blockchain electoral system is more profitable as all tasks are automated. The presence of personnel is drastically reduced while guaranteeing greater efficiency.
The traditional voting system is expensive as it involves a lot of manual manipulation and the need to employ agents for the entire duration of the elections. This has an undeniable cost. There are multiple other expenses related to traditional elections that blockchain could eliminate. For example, the expenses linked to the mobilization of law enforcement in the event of contesting the results are spared.
Governments must then consider voting on the blockchain as an initial expense that reaches its break-even point from the first elections. Once the blockchain voting system is implemented, it can be used for years, without experiencing obsolescence of the program.
Blockchain will be integrated into tomorrow's voting processes
Ultimately, what prevents the use of blockchain in voting processes is also and above all due to ignorance of this technology. Very often linked to cryptomonnaies, blockchain can still today arouse fears on the part of institutions which conflate the technology and speculation of hosted assets. Due to a lack of knowledge, few political leaders are aware of the benefits that blockchain could bring to their electoral systems.
We can also assume that certain politicians using fraud fear the implementation of such a solution to the extent that it could potentially dismiss them.
However, it is important to remember that the voting process can be used for purposes other than presidential elections. This is just as important in smaller scale votes and can also encourage users to vote. This can promote democratic practices whatever the issue of the vote.
It is imperative that governments and democratic actors analyze the benefits of the use of technology on the voting process and that it is considered a useful and practical new technology in this case. This is the same process of understanding that had to be adopted to understand the benefit of using the Internet, for example.
A change of mentality and an objective knowledge of the technology then represent the first necessary steps for the adoption of blockchain in voting systems.
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