Blockchain could soon gain a role in the New York State voting processes.
The assembly of New York Clyde Vanel presented Bill A07716 on April 8, ordering the Council of Elections of the State to assess how blockchain could help protect the files of voters and elections. The legislation is currently being studied by the Committee on Elections Law of the Assembly.
According to the summary of the bill, the objective is to “study and assess the use of blockchain technology to protect voters’ files and election results”.
The bill requires that the Board of Elections produce a report within one year, assessing the potential advantages of blockchain in securing electoral data. The study must include the contribution of experts in blockchain, cybersecurity, electoral fraud and the outfit of electoral files.
Invoice text. Source: New York State assembly
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Blockchain applications during the elections
This is not the first initiative that attempts to bring the features of blockchain technology to the voting process. At the beginning of March, the Bitcoin network was used to secure and store the results of the election of the county of Williamson, Tennessee, of the Republican Party Convention to determine the leadership and the board of directors of the local party section.
About a year ago, Brian Rose – an independent candidate for the town hall in London – told Cintelegraph that the blockchain -based voting systems could promote more transparency and public confidence in the electoral process:
“Don’t we all sleep better at night if the voting system was on the blockchain and you could really prove this identity and you could really prove this vote and there would be an unchanging file? It is the future and I think that you need someone like me who comes from a commercial environment that is intimately involved in the blockchain.”
However, experts warn that blockchain systems are only reliable as data from data, a concept often summarized as “garbage garbage”. Although the blockchain provides sabore resistant storage, it does not guarantee the integrity of the submission of original data.
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A member of the crypto-conscient assembly
Vanel is not unrelated to the initiatives related to blockchain, having introduced a bill in early March which would establish criminal sanctions to prevent cryptocurrency fraud and protect investors from carpet prints. In January, he also declared that New York became the first American state to create a working group on cryptocurrency to study the regulations, use and definition of digital currency.
He was also a vocal commentator on the industry and his relations with decision -makers. In May 2019, Vanel said that the blockchain industry must be better for lobbying for itself and educating regulators.
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