Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab has launched a prototype for its Polys voting machine, a device that it says will enable people to cast votes on an online blockchain-based voting platform.
The development could pave the way for the platform’s use in public and private organizations. However, controversies surrounding the safety of blockchain voting and its political implications could well hamper the technology’s rollout worldwide.
The software developer claims the project is “the first of its kind to incorporate blockchain technologies and work alongside the Polys online election system,” reports tech website Verdict.
Roman Aleshkin, head of product for Polys, stated,
“From speaking to our customers, we understand the issues and inconvenience they face when organizing paper-based voting. As we see from our Polys platform, e-voting can solve some of these issues, allowing more possibilities for remote participation and even increasing turnout for younger people.”
However, it appears that the system does still make use of polling booths – using voting machines that do away with paper-based voting systems.
Aleshkin added that should physical polling stations were to be closed completely “it would deprive and alienate certain groups of people from taking part in an election.”
Potential vulnerabilities of blockchain-based voting apps have long been the subject of criticism. Most recently, a team of MIT researchers released a study on the security of Voatz, a blockchain-powered voting platform used in the 2018 midterm elections in the American state of West Virginia.
