Incorporating Blockchain into Electoral process; my thought.[Part 2]

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Hello friends, trust you're keeping well. Welcome to my blog once again. I bring you the concluding part of what I started in my previous post on Blockchain and Electoral process and I believe I was able to lay a foundation on which am going to be building on shortly so that the whole picture can be clear. Let's get into it right away.

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Introduction

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Having discussed the challenges faced as touching election most especially in Africa I would like to make a submission on how blockchain can salvage the situation we face in this part of the world. Let quickly give an head up here...I will be using my country as a case study, in fact I will be using the last election as a case study.

The solution blockchain aims to provide is generic and can be applicable anywhere, am only limiting the scope to African countries which seems to be behind technological wise in the area of election.

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Blockchain;the solution

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The reason why I said blockchain is the solution to the irregularities we see in the area of election is not far fetched. The solution lie in the features of a blockchain. Blockchain has amazing features which can be harnessed to our advantage.

Funny enough it can also work in other fields and not only in politics.Am going to be mentioning the features and give real life application as it relates to this discussion. Let's get into the feature right aways

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• Immutability.

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This simple means something of a permanent and unalterable nature. Come to think of it, how much of confidence do you think this will instill in the heart of electorate when they come out to exercise their civic duty knowing fully well that their vote cannot be altered when casted?

Your guess is as good as mine, I know it takes a lot to set up a blockchain system but if the goal is to ensure a free, fair and credible election then the cost shouldn't be a problem.

We had a lot of irregularities in the just concluded election and that because there seems to be manipulations from different quarter we might not be able to tell how true and we can not call those who came out to air their views liars even with their strong evidences.

All am saying is that we could avoid this by setting up something immutable, once done, it can't be undone. It's stay for life and evident for all to see. Even here on steemit, your deleted post can still be brought out without stress even as evidence against you. That the power of a blockchain.

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• Transparency

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Blockchain is an open network, although we also have private chain which is totally out of our discussion. Everything done on the blockchain is transparent even to those who are not concerned. They still have access to whatever transpires there.

Little wonder why it's termed a distributed ledger. Whatever happens there is shared across the network, such that all nodes can see it. Again I want you to imagin an electoral process where every vote casted is being seen and confirmed by all and sundry even on the ultimate collation server during election.

^Unsplash

Transparency has been a major challenge, only if a blockchain system can be integrated into the process such that the devices used i.e BVAS and the site that is being transmitted to is powered by a blockchain we might not arrive at that destination called Transparency.

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• Security.

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This simple means when a thing is safe. In other words it guarantees the safety of data. Blockchain guarantees this to an overwhelming extent. One of the major problem with election is that data's are manipulated. In the last election in Nigeria, which is my case study, a lot of complain which sound genuine came from different qauters.

Some claimed that the numbers of vote casted and the candidates for whom the vote were casted were totally different from what the electoral bodies are publicly declaring. While am not trying to oppose or agree, I would like to say this can still be avoided.

^Unsplash

How? right? A blockchain is simply designed in such a way that everyone has a copy of the information on the chain in their different location. So if any manipulation occur from one end, it can't affect everyone, it therefore means there are millions of the original information with millions of people as evidence.

It's is easy to carry out manipulations when it's just a single server that can shut down for a period of time only to surface when the manipulations has been successfully carried out.

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• Consensus

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This is another amazing feature of a blockchain. In a lay man's language, it simply means agreement. Nodes on a blockchain will need to agree on the authenticity of a transaction before verification takes place.

It's amazing how that a body oversees the process of an election, they are meant to be independent but somehow corruption has crept into the system such that it become difficult to attest to their independence.

The use of blockchain system will actually sideline the need for this bodies or just put them there to rubber stamp what has been already authenticated and verified by millions of people who are part of the electoral process after all, we run a democratic system of government.

It's funny how that the supposed independent body overlooked all the allegations laid against them in the last election in nigeria and went ahead to declare a winner without "agreement" from different qauters.
Indeed we want an election where undisputed winners emerge. That's what we call a true, fair and credible election. I still believe the blockchain system is the way out.

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• Decentralization

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Am doing my best to break each term into simpler form in such a way that it syncs with the topic being discussed. What this means is a system without a central authority that cuts the shot. Smiles..

Hey! Are you saying that there shouldn't be a body regulating election? No my dear. There will definately be a body but then not with autonomous power to do and undo.

^Unsplash

We could have them for the purpose of overseeing but not to take unanimous decision even against the rigth of the citizens which in this case are the electorates. The blockchain system is totally a decentralized system where everyone works to achieve a common goal.

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• Capacity

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Blockchain system has super capacity because there are lot of computers coming together to make up the blockchain system. It doesn't crash easily like other sites powered by some servers and even when there is a glitch, you can be sure that the information on the chain will be secured except for some extremely rare case of brutal attack into the system like 51% attack.

One of the problem we faced in my country in the last election was that the server went down for hours. The claim was that the traffic on it was massive. Many did not believe this because the chairman of the electoral body clearly said in an interview prior to the election that we were good to go. While then should the server be down.

Anyways it might be true and it could also be a lie, am not here to talk about the authenticity of that reply by the chairman. My goal is to proffer a better solution which would be a win-win for both electorate and the body in charge.

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Conclusion

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There we go friends...I trust you've gotten the point am trying to communicate. Am I saying this is gonna be some kind of eternal solution...well no. Human will always find a way around things but if am to rate the level of accuracy and result this system will bring, then I would give it a 9/10.

Leaving the 1 for other unforeseen challenges that might surface if this system is integrated. Just like a man once said... creating the solution for one problem gives birth to another...lols. Exactly the reason for the 1 I left out.

I trust you got so much value. Please do well to share your thoughts with me in the comment section. I will be there waiting for you.

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Disclaimer: This post is made as an education and not investment advice. Digital asset prices are subject to change. All forms of crypto investment have a high risk. I am not a financial advisor, before jumping to any conclusions in this matter please do your own research and consult a financial advisor.

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Regards
@lhorgic♥️

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