Blockchain May Soon Earn Itself a Role in New York State's Voting Processes and Procedures

This is not the first initiative attempting to bring the tamper-proof features of blockchain technology to the voting process.

Assemblymember Clyde Vanel has introduced a bill (A07716) to the New York State Assembly, directing the state Board of Elections to evaluate how blockchain technology can be used to protect voter records and election results.

The bill, which is currently under consideration by the Assembly Election Law Committee, is titled “An Act to amend the election law, relative to a study of the use of blockchain technology to protect voter records and election results.”

According to the bill’s summary, the goal is to “study and evaluate the use of blockchain technology to better protect voter records and election results.”

The bill mandates that the Board of Elections produce a report within one year assessing the potential benefits of blockchain in securing election data. The study must include input from experts in blockchain, cybersecurity, voter fraud and election recordkeeping.

Bill text:

Assembly bill A07716—amendment to Election Law Article 1.

This bill directs the State Board of Elections to study and evaluate the use of blockchain technology to better protect voter records and election results.

The legislation comes amid growing interest in exploring blockchain applications for enhancing election integrity. Earlier this year, the results of the Williamson County, Tennessee, Republican Party Convention were secured and stored using the Bitcoin network to select the leadership and board of the local party chapter.

Experts have highlighted that blockchain systems are only as reliable as the data input into them, adhering to the principle of “garbage in, garbage out.” While blockchain offers tamper-proof storage, it does not guarantee the

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