Brazil’s Electoral Authority May Include Blockchain Tech in Future Elections – Blockchain Bitcoin News

Brazil’s Electoral Authority (TSE) has publicly announced that it is studying blockchain as a technology that could help the organization manage ballots. The institute’s modernization coordinator, Celio Castro Warmlinger, said this decentralized ledger technology was included in a research program called “Future Choices.”

Brazil’s TSE is researching blockchain tech.

Blockchain tech is being incorporated into a number of solutions developed for various applications, including polling and voting technologies. Brazil’s electoral authority announced last month that it was researching blockchain technology and ways it could be incorporated into elections.

Celio Castro Wermerlinger, modernization coordinator at Brazil’s voting authority, noted that end-to-end voting protocols, post-quantum cryptography, shared keys and blockchain are among the technologies being studied. This investigation is part of the “Future Election” program, which seeks more efficient and more economical solutions to implement in the electronic voting system.

However, Vermerlinger did not provide a timetable for the implementation of these solutions and argued that Brazil’s voting system, which is currently 100% national, is safe due to the electronic solutions implemented in each ballot.

Blockchain and voting

While voting has been touted as one of the potential trust and security benefits of a blockchain system, it has not been widely adopted except for several pilot tests in the US and events in other countries.

Votz, a blockchain-based voting company, is one of the pioneers in this field, helping out-of-state West Virginia residents vote on their mobile phones during the 2018 voting season. However, this pilot was criticized because of the security problem that could affect the results of the election. State officials stopped its use in 2020, citing security concerns.

Even then, the platform was used to conduct a mock election in Chandler, Arizona, with the aim of testing the platform and citizens’ reactions to using such an application in polls. The pilot was recently tested positive by the city clerk.

Votz has also participated in elections in other countries, including Venezuela. The application has been used by millions to organize an unofficial referendum on the country’s President Nicolas Maduro in 2020.

What do you think about the Brazilian voting authority’s investigation into blockchain technology? Tell us in the comments section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, afapress / Shutterstock.com