Cybersecurity company, Kaspersky, has debuted a prototype of its latest Polys blockchain-based voting machine, starting up the possibility of a safe alternative to present election technology.

Polys is a project from the Kaspersky Innovation Hub to produce a secure online voting platform that could be utilized as businesses, universities, and political parties.

Kaspersky insists that this is “the first of its kind to incorporate blockchain technologies and work alongside the Polys online election system.”

It joins an online election system with DLT, generating a confirmed link between a vote and the voter who cast it.

Online voting has various benefits, with voters capable of participating remotely, but it also encompasses the prospect of alienating voters who do not have access to smartphones and computers. According to the Office of National Statistics, in 2018, there were 5.3 million adults in the UK who were “internet non-users.”

As was described in the recent Iowa Caucus, in which the app produced to report results included a coding error that indicated that only partial results were published, relying on technology can seldom hinder rather than support the election process.

Hence, Kapersky’s new system provides participants the option of voting on a voting machine at a polling station or utilizing their device, with the attached security of blockchain technology.

How Kaspersky’s blockchain-based voting machine works

The process operates by validated voters being assigned a unique QR code or token, which is then scanned, enabling them to cast a vote on a Polys Voting Machine with votes then automatically counted and encrypted. Voters can then verify that their vote has been stored anonymously on the blockchain utilizing a web application.

The voting machines can also be interconnected with the Polys online voting platform, suggesting that voters can cast a vote utilizing their smartphone. However, the possibility of voting twice is dropped.

Not only could this enhance election security, though it could also decrease staff and resource costs.

The application of blockchain as a way of tackling election fraud has been investigated over the past few years. In 2018 Sierra Leone became the first country to utilize blockchain in an election, with 70% of votes cast in the country’s general election stored on the blockchain.

“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 of younger people,” stated Roman Aleshkin, head of product at Polys.

“However, if physical polling stations were to be closed completely, it would deprive and alienate certain groups of people from taking part in an election and making their voice heard. That is why we introduced our new voting machines. Working together with the online platform, they allow citizens to vote using the method they prefer, conveniently and transparently.”