Image Courtesy: BillMoyers.com

Democracy is the backbone of our libertarian society. It works on the principle of — to the people, of the people, for the people. But is it really that? Democracy that works on electoral systems, is broken. Its influenced by so called capitalists, bureaucrats, politicians, businessmen, governments et al. Current electoral systems are not the backbone of democracy but a slow undiagnosed cancer that is causing continuous deterioration of its true spirit. Elections are termite-affected foundation of democracy that has weakened its standing and created a situation where democracy can fall to its failure if a solution is not provided quickly. In some expert’s view, we are already past that stage.

The electoral process has not just one, but multiple vulnerabilities at different stages that can be misused by hackers to tamper election results.

The very platform that is the source of information for voters is tamper-prone. Voters form their opinions based on the information fed to them by news portals. These news portals are controlled by central authorities and if these authorities are inclined towards a certain political party, then the news shown by them will also be in favor of them. The electronic voter registration databases are also very vulnerable to cyber-attacks which can deeply hamper the very ability of a voter to cast his vote. If a hacker believes that the population of certain area of section is likely to favor the opposite party, then he can remove their very identity from the database. This will make it impossible for those people to check in at the time of election, thus, rendering them incapable of making their voice heard. In case of an attack on the registration database of an entire state, the elections can be delayed or stopped altogether. In USA, 92% of US voter voted on a machine made by either Dominion, Hart InterCivic, and Election Systems and Software (this being the largest) in past ten years. In case, a hacker identifies a vulnerability in the voting machine manufactured by any of these companies, he would be able to tamper the election result by causing a miscalculation of votes. Hacking a tabulation system means getting into that room of files that have the details of every vote casted and the power to add, remove or alter the information to suit your needs. Imagine the emerging economies. The stage when final announcement is to be made regarding the winner is also prone to manipulation. The reporting systems can be hacked to create inaccurate announcement of the results and change the name of the winner altogether. The audience doesn’t know what goes into the vote calculation stage and is only made aware of the winner through the reporting systems. They’ll believe the winner to be the person whose name is announced, and that person will assume control of the government.

Researchers at Harvard’s Belfer Center made a prediction regarding the possible misuse of automated data streams that are used to announce election results to news organizations. Hackers can manipulate these streams and trick the news portals into declaring the wrong person as the winner.

In case a debate or dismay arises for the election results, post-election audit are held. In case of the employment of improper voting machinery or system to conduct election, the post-election audit can also be tampered.

Nothing can always be trusted with so much malicious activities occurring around us. The solution to this problem can be provided by a technology that is transparent, immutable, tamper-proof, trustless and decentralized. You guessed it right, Blockchain is the potential solution that can maintain the true spirit of democracy. Let me elucidate on this.

Cryptographic technology, which is an underlying technology of Blockchain can ensure that the digital contents that comes to news portals have authentic and trusted sources. Blockchain would be instituted at the media level in collaboration with the government and non-governmental organizations that will keep the passing on of information transparent and traceable. Secondly, the immutable nature of Blockchain technology will ensure that nobody can tamper the electronic voter registration databases. Once a voter’s information is uploaded on Blockchain database, it won’t be vulnerable to deletion or hacking by any malicious entity. Blockchain can serve as the missing link that’ll make mobile voting systems a safer bet. Bringing voting platform on mobile will increase voter participation but it’ll also add another layer in the electoral system. However, if the proposed mobile app is based on Blockchain then exactly that vote will be counted by tabulation systems that was originally casted by a voter without any manipulation done by a third party. A public Blockchain will enable each voter to audit each ballot to cross-check the accuracy of total vote counting, without being made aware of the identity or vote choice of each voter. Presently, Votem and Voatz, two Blockchain based voting startups have come up with systems that allow the voters to check if the final vote counted by tabulation systems in their name is the same vote that they originally casted.

We as citizens need to do fulfill our civic duty of casting our vote and contributing our bit in the decision that is going to majorly affect us. Now, it is time for security experts and election officials to ensure the development of an electoral infrastructure that transparently and accurately show to the entire nation, the decision of the nation.