Exploring the First-Ever Blockchain-Based Voting in Thailand

Thailand has become one of the first and few countries to use blockchain for voting. Thailand's Democrat party employed Zcoin Blockchain for executing a live e-voting. It happened from 1-9 November 2018. This revolutionary step made Thailand the first country in the world to use the blockchain technology on a large-scale project like voting.

During the election, more than 1,20,000 people cast their vote. The former Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva won with the margin of 67,505 votes. He was competing against his adversary, Warong Dechgitvigrom. He received 57,68 votes.

How did the Blockchain-based Voting in Thailand Take Place: What was the Tech Used?

There were two ways used that allowed members to join the blockchain-based voting in Thailand.

- First, there were voting stations installed, equipped with a Raspberry Pi-based voting system.

- Second, they used a blockchain-based application called D-Elect. The application directed voters to submit their photo identification as proof.

Further, a decentralized and distributed file system able to store huge chunks of data called IPFS was used to store all the voting information. Then, these IPFS (interPlanetary file system) hashes were sent to get stored on the coin Blockchain technology.

After the successful event, the founder and the lead developer of Zcoin, Poramin Insom issued a public statement.

"I feel proud that our innovation, Zcoin, has got to play a crucial role in making Thailand the first country to use the large-scale e-voting based on blockchain technology. We are overwhelmed with what we saw as greater voter participation and transparency."

Further, he quoted stating in an online post:

"The election received around 127,479 votes, cast from all over Thailand. And, to the best in our knowledge, it was the first blockchain technology based mobile application used in a political election of such large scale."

>To ensure the security of the voting information, Shamir's Secret Sharing Scheme was applied. It required multiple keys to access any system. For voting, this scheme required multiple custodians whom responsibility to decrypt the voting information. For successfully executing this, five custodians got elected, each of them representing each candidate.

Undoubtedly, the unprecedented success of blockchain based voting in Thailand has laid the foundation for widespread blockchain technology adoption.

Thailand being the first country to allow the use of blockchain technology through an app for a political event strongly suggests that there's a myriad of opportunities for other countries as well.

Are other countries open to Blockchain?

Unquestionably, it's not just Thailand who is open to blockchain adoption for public welfare.

In other news, West Virginia decided to use a blockchain-based application developed by a blockchain app development company, and pilot tested it for midterm federal election. The major highlight was that it allowed military personnel to cast their vote through the mobile app even if they are residing abroad.

The app relied on facial recognition technology to detect faces of the voters using the previously submitted photo identifications during the registration. It determined the security is top-notch and unmistakable, even though the voters were living in different places around the world.

Swiss City rug also performed a pilot test. It used blockchain technology for Municipal voting using smartphones.

It defines that, with blockchain based mobile applications, anyone who knows how to access a smartphone can, from the comfort from their home, cast a vote. It does not only increase the numbers of voters living in remote areas but also enable transparent voting.

Still, a few governments are skeptical about the use of blockchain in Voting for a couple of reasons:

- Complexity in comprehending and implementing the technology
- The risk of security breaches
- And its decentralized nature

Since its conception, blockchain always has received mixed views, while some criticize the technology other consider it as 'the new internet.'

Also, Check | Developing a Decentralized E-Voting System with Blockchain

Conclusion:

Numerous industries have ushered in the blockchain technology, such as healthcare, finance, automotive and other business sectors. And thus, many companies are trying to race ahead of the competition by hiring the best blockchain development services, considering the rise in its demand. This time it's political landscape, next time it could be some more intriguing.

As a leading blockchain app development company, it was our view about the latest success of Blockchain based voting in Thailand. Do stay in touch with Oodles Blockchain for more interesting blockchain market insight, or contact us for any blockchain related suggestion or query.