Justus Abonyo, former chair of Kenya’s Social Democratic Social gathering and present candidate for commissioner of the nation’s Unbiased Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), has known as for the adoption of blockchain voting.
In response to a report by Kenyan information outlet, The Star, Abonyo spoke of this whereas showing earlier than the choice committee overseeing the appointment of IEBC commissioners on the Kenyatta Worldwide Conference Centre on Thursday.
Detailing his assist for blockchain voting adoption, Abonyo stated such a transfer would have vital, value financial savings advantages of as much as 300%, stating:
“The cost of a ballot in Kenya ranges between $7 to $25 (700 shillings to 2,500 shillings). If we use blockchain technology, this cost will go down to ~$0.5 (50 shillings). This is an area I would explore as a commissioner.”
The IEBC commissioner aspirant additionally argued that adopting blockchain voting will even assist to enhance the transparency and safety of Kenya’s elections. Abonyo’s name for adopting the novel tech additionally comes because the nation prepares for one other basic election in 2022.
Kenya’s earlier presidential polls again in 2017 had been reportedly marred by accusations of IEBC’s digital voting system being compromised. These claims had been additional given credence by the homicide of the IEBC’s IT supervisor days earlier than the polls.
Associated: UN medication and crime wing advises Kenya to make use of blockchain in opposition to corruption
The jury continues to be out on the effectiveness of blockchain voting, with MIT cybersecurity specialists stating again in November 2020 that voting methods primarily based on the novel tech carried “severe risks” to democracy.
Certainly, some latest deployments of blockchain-based voting protocols have come below efficiency scrutiny. In July 2020, studies emerged that the system utilized in Russia’s constitutional modification vote again in 2020 allowed constituents and even third-party entities to decipher the ballots solid.
In the meantime, Abonyo isn’t the primary to supply blockchain as a panacea for guaranteeing safety and transparency within the nation. As beforehand reported by Cointelegraph, David Robinson, the regional anti-corruption advisor on the United Nations Workplace on Medicine and Crime, said again in November 2020 that Kenyan authorities may use blockchain as a instrument to combat corruption.
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