Virginia Lawmaker Pushes for Blockchain-Powered Elections, Local Commerce

According to a report by The Bulletin Time published on March 7, 2020, a Virginia lawmaker is lobbying her commonwealth’s authorities to review how distributed ledger technology (DLT) can help develop the way forward for native elections and commerce.

Virginia Lawmaker Wants to Tap Blockchain Benefits

In a bid to foster the adoption of distributed ledger technology-based (DLT) applications and services in her county, Delegate Hala Ayala recently provided two payments to the Home of Delegates.

The first one calls for Virginia’s Division of Elections to research blockchain as a method for safe elections. The second payment, notably, requests the Virginia Financial Improvement Partnership (VEDP) to analyze DLT’s present and coming function within the Previous Dominion’s financial system.

Essentially, the two payments are Ayala’s endeavor to embrace – or at least think about – the blockchain technology’s potential impact on the daily life of the local populace.

The two payments introduced by Ayala aren’t something particularly out of the blue, as the Virginia-based lawmaker has previously worked as an info safety specialist with the U.S. Coast Guard for more than 20 years. Later, Ayala transitioned to a cybersecurity function on the Transportation Safety Administration in 2017 where she continues to work to date.

Alaya also hinted at the potential of blockchain technology to ensure free and fair elections. She said the two payments introduced by her toward finding blockchain applied sciences is a response to the continuing menace of election interference by “dangerous actors.”

She said:

“Now we have to take blockchain very severely and perceive it has the mechanics and mechanisms that would probably present us with safer election safety.”

In April last, reports emerged stating that West Virginians will use DLT-based voting application Voatz to ensure free and fair elections. Recently, however, skeptics of the emerging tech voiced their concerns after it came to light that the Voatz blockchain app had major security issues.

Boosting Local Commerce via Blockchain

Speaking about the second payment which deals with local commerce, the lawmaker said that it would nudge blockchain toward extra widespread implementation in Virginia.

She noted:

“We have to do our homework first to see how we are able to apply these applied sciences to their companies in addition to our elections. Know-how is all the time ever evolving, and we wish to make it possible for we’re on the forefront and main the way in which right here within the commonwealth.”