A report published by “Forbes” has applauded the use of Blockchain Technology in the recently conducted elections in Kenya.
This initiative, the report said eliminates the endemic corruption which earlier characterized elections in the African Region.
“African governments have traditionally conducted chaotic elections rife with gross misconduct and outright vote rigging. The election, however, was the most transparent system I have ever seen or heard of, thanks to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of Kenya (IEBC).
“While it is debatable whether the system designer was directly inspired by the Bitcoin network, the similar features are compelling to conclude that they were inspired by the Bitcoin blockchain. If you wanted a foolproof system with no single point of failure, where else would you look?
“The comparison between the Bitcoin blockchain and the Kenyan voting system used in August 2022 is impressive. To begin with, all polling stations were distributed into 46,229 units, and votes cast in any one polling station were counted, signed, and accepted as a permanent record. This compares to the Bitcoin network, which has an estimated 14,951 decentralized nodes spread across the globe, according to Bitcoin analytics firm Bitnodes.
“The system combines both manual and electronic transmission systems to ensure security. The Kenya Integrated Elections Management System (KIEKIEMS) biometric device scans the QR-coded signed forms from each polling station and sends the copy to the IEBC servers for analysis and reporting. The physical ballots in ballot boxes serve as the verification protocol, while the signed physical forms serve as the signed transactions.
“Once a voter signs in to a polling station using biometrics, the device sends an electronic signature to the IEBC servers, notifying them that the citizen has voted. While this solves the double voting problem, Bitcoin’s blockchain solves the double spending problem.
“Votes are stored on the IEBC database in the voting system, and the user only needs to sign them. That is, every registered voter’s information is recorded, and they only visit the polling station on election day to sign that so and so are their preferred candidates. Bitcoins are stored on the ledger on the Bitcoin network, and you only use your private keys to sign that your bitcoins be moved to a specific public address.” the report said.
