Abstract:
Blockchain technology is rapidly transforming major informational, logistical and financial systems around the world. Little attention has been paid, however, to the possible impacts of new technological disruptors to politics and traditional or electronic electoral systems. Attempts to shift from traditional paper ballot-based systems to electronic voting systems since the 1980s have not developed as rapidly as expected due to increasing perceptions of these systems’ vulnerability to failure, internal or external manipulation or ‘hacking’. The purpose of this research is to identify clearly the challenges faced by electronic voting systems in the 21st century and propose solutions to those challenges by designing a new framework for electronic voting that utilises blockchain technology. While the literature regarding blockchain technology in the finance and information systems fields is expanding exponentially, it remains embryonic when it comes to political implications and applications such as voting systems. The main methods for this study are exploratory sequential mixed methods, with a qualitative phase to explore the opportunities and challenges of a blockchain-based voting system, followed by a quantitative analysis of the designed framework using statistical functions. The main themes that have emerged from the study so far include the capacity for blockchain-based voting to provide immutable proof of the authentication, anonymity, and uniqueness of voters, and furthermore to guarantee the absolute and instant accuracy of electoral results. The political and practical benefits of this research are therefore numerous in terms of upgrading the overall efficiency and legitimacy of voting for information systems engineers as well as political scientists, governments and electoral commissions.
