Moscow Authorities to Test Blockchain E-voting System

Authorities in Moscow will pilot a blockchain electronic voting system in university student council elections this summer as a way to test the system ahead of the mayoral elections on September 8, Russian news agency TASS reported.

The project comes after Cointelegraph reported that the government of Singapore initiated OpenCerts, a project designed to provide students from 18 Singaporean educational institutions with blockchain-based certificates in 2019.

Moscow’s Information Technology Department

The Moscow Department of Information Technology (DIT) and the Moscow City Election Commission (Mosgorizbirkom) will be supporting the project. Artem Kostyrko, the deputy head of Moscow’s Information Technology Department (DIT), said:

“We plan to do a test vote in the summer, at the end of June, until the list of participants is determined. While we had conversations with student associations, there are elections to the main councils that have been held on the blockchain long time ago. Changes will have to be made to the program.”

Kostyrko pointed out that the technical specifications would need to be first approved by the Moscow City Election Commission in mid-May. Once it is approved by the commission it will be launched in public.

Russian blockchain applications

In March, Russia’s ruling party United Russia, launched a blockchain-based electronic voting system. According to a report by TASS, the system will help streamline the electoral process. As the party’s head of IT, Vyacheslav Sateev said:

“We have updated the pre-voting website, introducing a function in it that allows electronic voting for party candidates, and today we officially launch the resource. Access to voting via the Internet will be provided to citizens who have passed authorization through the public services portal.”

Blockchain is becoming more popular in Russia, especially in its application in voting where credibility and transparency are necessary. Sateev pointed out: “The main principle is to make the elections transparent by eliminating all intermediate links in the electoral process. It (the new system) will collect and provide all information on the voting process and the results will directly be availed at the polling station or even to the voter himself.”

While in Russia, cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects are unregulated, Russian president Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to adopt laws by July 1, 2019.

Sources: TASS, Cointelegraph