Tiny West African Nation Holds The World's First Blockchain-powered Elections

Update: It would seem Agora's claims were wholly false as Sierra Leone'southward National Election Commission (NEC) released an official statement on Twitter to clear the air.

#NEC Chair Mohamed Conteh makes clear that "the NEC has not used, and is not using #blockchain #applied science in any part of the electoral procedure." #votesalone

— National Balloter Commission of Sierra Leone (@NECsalone) March 18, 2018

Blockchain, the decentralized technology that forms the basis for all cryptocurrencies, has immense potential of beingness used across the lath. The latest one comes from Swiss tech behemothic Agora, who has used blockchain to tape votes in a tiny due west-African nation known every bit Sierra Leone.

This is a notable breakthrough for blockchain as nigh nations are yet wary of using latest technologies for such a pregnant event for the nations, the elections. Sierra Leone is now the first land in the world, with a population of nearly 7.iv meg people, to employ blockchain for its 2018 presidential elections.

As for Agora'due south use of blockchain, the visitor in an official web log mail service says:

The citizens recorded their votes on its custom-built blockchain, ensuring that ballot data was tertiary-party verifiable and protected against whatever possibility of tampering. The votes were stored in an anonymous ledger and fabricated publicly bachelor for anyone to review in just hours of polls endmost.

Sierra Leone's National Electoral Commission decided to work with Agora because they'd faced numerous problems with speed and tally in the previous elections. They added that the logistics effectually transferring and counting ballots had proven to be cumbersome while using blockchain proved to be a breezy feel. The paper ballots are now replaced past a smart ledger that outputs the results in hours after the votes have been cast.

Talking about the use of blockchain for elections, Agora CEO Leonardo Gammar says,

This election highlights blockchain's potential to ensure a permanent, transparent and secure record of votes. [Sierra Leone's] officials anticipate will bring attention to the measures they're taking to improve transparency and security in their elections, as well equally fight corruption.

Sierra Leone's election was conducted on March 7th, nevertheless, the results are not out as yet since a 27th March-scheduled run-off ballot remains to exist hosted in the country. It will issue in the 10-year run (the maximum run immune) of President Ernest Bai Koroma. Agora is now looking to replicate this work and bring its tech to other African countries.

Source: https://beebom.com/tiny-blockchain-elections/

Posted by: hallfromen77.blogspot.com

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