Blockchain-Based Voting May Be on the Horizon, Thanks to Recent Technological Advancements

New and improved technology could soon make blockchain-based voting a viable alternative to paper ballots in elections.

As technology continues to advance, blockchain-based voting is emerging as a potential alternative to traditional paper ballots in elections. Layer-2 (L2) network solutions, combined with zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs, could provide both the scalability and privacy necessary to conduct elections using blockchain technology.

ZK-proofs are a way to prove an input for a blockchain transaction without revealing the actual underlying information. In the case of elections, this could pertain to voter identity. L2s aim to allow the network to scale to accommodate a large number of voters and information.

Despite several small-scale explorations into blockchain-based voting, some have dismissed the technology as a viable solution, suggesting it may introduce new problems to elections rather than resolve existing ones. Notably, a 2018 consensus study report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in the United States rejected the use of any internet-based technologies for elections:

“Internet voting should not be used in the future until and unless very robust guarantees of security and verifiability are developed and in place, as no known technology guarantees the secrecy, security, and verifiability of a marked ballot transmitted over the Internet.”

However, many of these assumptions about blockchain voting are outdated, according to Lasha Antadze, co-founder of the ZK social platform Rarilabs and founder of the election blockchain solution Freedom Tool. He told Cointelegraph that critics have not considered the arrival of effective ZK-proofs and L2s, which could significantly enhance election security by shielding the process from manipulation and accusations of rigging.

Antadze believes that blockchain-based voting could be a valuable tool to restore trust in the electoral system, especially in the wake of the 2020 US presidential election, which saw former President Donald Trump repeatedly alleging that the election was rigged. The amplification of these claims on social media has left many Americans distrustful of the election results.

According to Verified Voting, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to guarding fair US elections, the evidence, audits and investigations upheld the election outcome, concluding that the current paper-based election system functioned effectively.

The nonprofit claimed that internet voting is highly vulnerable to a range of cybersecurity threats, which could jeopardize the integrity of votes, enable undetectable vote tampering or expose election servers to hacking. However, new techniques are tackling these concerns.

“The 2020 election was a watershed year for election security,” Verified Voting told Cointelegraph, underscoring that paper ballots remain the gold standard for secure elections in the US today.

Antadze’s Freedom Tool is among several blockchain-based voting solutions that aim to address these concerns and enhance the integrity of the electoral process. Freedom Tool enables citizens to cast their votes using their smartphones. To ensure authenticity, users must place biometric chips from their passports or ID documents near their phones to verify their identity, nationality and age. Once these requirements are met, users can vote, and the transaction will be recorded on the blockchain to register the vote.

Having one’s identity and political affiliation intertwined in an open blockchain may not seem wise. However, “ZK cryptography impedes the vote on the app and the ID document to be related,” noted Antadze. Once the smart contract checks that the voting parameters are met, a unique token proof is created using ZK-proof verification that contains no identifier or link to the personal information.

One common ZK-proof vulnerability was its reliance on centralized servers, which hackers could target. However, since around 2022, new technological updates have made ZK verification possible on smaller smartphone processors.

“Having a smaller proof that can be verified on a smartphone is a game-changer,” Antadze said, adding that thanks to this new development, it’s possible to offer an entirely fragmented architecture resistant to hacks, as there would be no single point of attack.

Another crucial requirement for any election system is the capability to audit the election process. The system must be able to demonstrate its integrity and accuracy in the event of any allegations or disputes.

Verified Voting asserted that the most secure, trustworthy election procedure involves using paper ballots tabulated by certified machines and subsequently verified through risk-limited audits to confirm the election results.

“The fundamental requirements of a democratic election align well with blockchain technology, especially given the absence of a central authority,” Mohammad Hajian Berenjestanaki, a PhD researcher at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and co-author of a 2024 study on blockchain-based e-voting systems, told Cointelegraph.

However, there is a catch to this transparency: Enhancing the audibility of votes can complicate efforts to keep them private, noted Berenjestanaki, adding that “ZK-rollups ensure that privacy is maintained while allowing for the verification of votes without disclosing sensitive information.”

Verified Voting acknowledged that blockchains can secure information after votes are received. However, it pointed out a significant flaw: The potential for offchain threats before votes are entered into