Japan Tests a Blockchain-Powered Digital Voting System

The high-end encryption and security which the blockchain technology offers has made it potentially very useful for multiple applications. The Japanese city of Tsukuba becomes the first in the country to test and experiment a blockchain-powered digital voting system.

Local media publication, The Japan Times reported last Sunday Tsukuba is considered as “a centre of scientific research”. For identity verification purpose, the blockchain technology will rely on My Number Card — a 12-digit ID number which is issued to all the citizens of Japan including other foreign residents.

Japan Times noted that at present, the blockchain system is allowing citizens to cast votes on the “social contribution projects”. The publication also noted that the blockchain system was used to prevent tampering of data that is being recorded.

Having cast his vote through the blockchain-powered digital system, Tsukuba Mayor Tatsuo Igarashi said he “had thought it would involve more complicated procedures, but I found that it’s minimal and easy.”

This attempt of implementing a blockchain-based digital voting system didn’t turn out be successful as expected. The reason was that some users forgot their password that left them to be unable to cast their votes. In addition to scanning the My Number Card of the voters, the blockchain system provided an additional layer of protection while using passwords to verify the person present on the ballot box.

Tohoku University Prof. Kazunori Kawamura, who is quite familiar with the online voting system said: “Due to fears of errors, administrative organizations and election boards are likely to find it difficult to introduce these (systems). It’s necessary to first enhance their reputation by using it for voting by expatriates.”

Note that Tsukuba is not the first city to propose the use of blockchain in order to power and secure the voting solutions. Earlier this year in April 2018, the U.S. state of West Virginia tested mobile voting using the blockchain technology.

In June, Switzerland’s Zug city residents using the blockchain-powered eID system to vote through their smartphones.

Although, the blockchain-based voting systems are currently in their nascent stage of development, it can be denied that can easily replace the existing traditional system, going further.