West Virginia has decided to abandon Blockchain-based platform Voatz in the upcoming primary election.
On 27 February, West Virginia officials have decided not to use the Voatz platform that aims to help voters living outside the state or disabled residents to vote in the upcoming primaries.
Democracy Live alternative to blockchain
The officials indicated that the voters can use the Democracy Live platform instead of the blockchain-based Voatz.
Thus, the alternative platform allows those residing in the state to vote electronically or fill out a ballot and post it to the competent authorities.
Originally, Democracy Live was developed to support disabled voters in Washington. However, the authorities later expanded its use to include other states.
Some people have criticized West Virginia for abandoning the Blockchain-powered Voatz platform, given that this technology offers promising solutions to protect and secure voter databases and prevent fraud.
Nevertheless, a team of technical experts at Massachusetts Institute of Technology confirmed that there were concerns about the security of Voatz. Therefore, the authorities in West Virginia decided to give up this platform.
For his part, Donald Kersey, general counsel to West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner said:
“If the public doesn’t want it, or is skeptical to the point they’re not confident in the results, we have to take that into consideration.”
In addition, the Massachusetts experts pointed out that Voatz may witness some violations, such as manipulation of the election results.
It is worth mentioning that West Virginia used the Voatz platform in the state’s midterm elections in 2018. However, it did not unveil any vulnerability in the electoral process.
However, Iowa residents faced difficulty in the voting process through mobile.
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