Despite some of the shortcomings experienced using blockchain technology to conduct the recent referendum, Russian officials have stated that they intend to run next year parliamentary elections using blockchain technology.
This innovative voting system that makes use of blockchain-powered devices and Pc was first implemented during the country's referendum that happened recently. During the exercise which was conducted in two locations(Moscow and the city of Nizhniy), about 1.14 million Russians participated using a blockchain platform. The operation wasn't hitch-free, as the platform experienced several issues, including a 'spoiled' e-ballot paper, and an attempted hack.
However, according to a report from Russia's election commission, they are still undeterred about using the blockchain platforms to vote in future elections. The commission intends to review these challenges, and make improvements so that the same platform can be used for the parliamentary election scheduled for September 13, 2021.
The commission also stated that they would be expanding testnet locations to include other cities. However, this depends on whether those locations have the right infrastructure and technology to support the exercise.
Regarding the security of the platform, Alexei Lukatsky, a security specialist and consultant stated that the commission needed to prioritise resolving the security issues that were raised from the conduct of the referendum using blockchain platforms. He also suggested that the referendum network ought to be decentralised across several locations and servers of different companies. This will reduce the possibility of a hacker infiltrating the system using a central data point.
Source: Cryptonews
