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Election fraud is one of the most pernicious threats to the integrity of the democratic systems the world over. Fake political candidacies one of the new forms of election fraud is the rise of fragmentary political candidacies persons who, whether for evil ends or simply for the lack of determination to address the public, impost the characters of veritable candidates or present on face empty with zero recognition of the common qualities expected of a suitable representative.
Electoral systems and their loopholes become exploited in the easiest way to perpetrate these fraudulent activities.
As the problem grows blockchain technology being known for its transparency, decentralization, and immutability gives promising solutions to this problem. Since the election authorities can detect fraudulent candidacies with the help of blockchain-based systems, political races can remain rather legitimate and transparent.
In this article, we will see how it can be deployed in preventing election fraud in the electoral system.
Learning Election Fraud and Fake Candidacies
There are many forms of election fraud, from voter suppression to vote manipulation. But the most insidious type of fraud is fake candidacies. Fake political candidates may appear on ballots for several reasons:
1. Spoiling the Election Outcome: Usually some candidates are impostors who have no real chance of making it but come to act and vote to distract the real competition.
2. Impersonating Legitimate Candidates: With fraudsters making candidates with similar names or profiles, voters could be confused, and misrepresented, and the voting process falls apart.
3. Infiltrating the Political System: There are cases of fake candidacies also launched to upset the political system through the entrant of non-viable or evil candidates that defeat the electoral process.
4. Financial Motivation: They might make fraudulent runs to take over some funds or resources that are being pumped into political campaigns and use the resources of those who, in trying to help political candidates, unknowingly become duped into supporting them.
However, the challenge in naming fake candidacies is often in identifying them, as sometimes electoral systems based on manual checks are inefficient or compromised.
However, when digital and social media platforms are growing more often than not, fraudulent candidates find it easier to spread misinformation or distort their true nature. Consequently, fighting election fraud must be addressed with the most modern, robust solutions, and blockchain technology fits the bill.
Blockchain Technology: Key Features and Benefits
Blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a growing list of records called blocks that are connected using cryptography. Now let’s discuss some questions or problems that blockchain can solve.
In what way does storing sensitive information on a blockchain improve its security?
How does blockchain protect people from the worst excesses of government and businesses?
What are the ethical implications of blockchain? What applications can blockchain be used for?
On the blockchain, once the information is added to the block it can’t be changed or erased to ensure data integrity. Some key features of blockchain that are particularly relevant to election security include:
1. Transparency: Blockchain’s open ledger also enables all participants to verify data on the blockchain.
2. Immutability: When you place data on the blockchain it is fully secure once data has been recorded it cannot be changed or tampered with. This feature is essential for the protection of electoral records not only of political candidates’ identities but also for the manipulation of the exercise.
3. Decentralization: Unlike centralized systems, blockchain is a decentralized network of nodes on which any entity cannot manipulate the election results.
4. Security: With cryptography, data from the blockchain is secured, and hackers and unauthorized access can occur so Information about candidates and election results must be kept secure.
5. Smart Contracts: A smart contract is a self-executing contract, i.e. a contract in which the conditions of the agreement are written in code. They can be used to automate things regarding the election process, like validating the candidacies, or taking some action if someone did something malicious.
But there are good reasons to believe that blockchain and digital voting can be a powerful tool in combating election fraud, especially in keeping fake political candidacies off the ballot.
Blockchain Solutions to Identify and Stop Fake Candidacies
1. Candidate Identities verification
Blockchain can help prevent fake candidacies, in one way or another by providing a secure, transparent, immutable system for verifying the identities of political candidates.
• Digital Identification: If candidates are permitted to submit their national identification numbers, biometrics, or any other verified digital ID that is accepted by the government this would be kept on the blockchain as well. Such a model of accessible data would guarantee that the candidates are verifiable and authentic to the voters.
• Public Ledger of Candidates: When a candidate’s identity is verified, the information is entered into the blockchain for people to check the candidate’s credentials. It wouldn’t be hard to spot any attempts to impersonate legitimate candidates or to run under pretenses.
2. Candidacy Rules
Smart Contracts on blockchain can be used to automate and enforce the entry of candidacy requirements the number of signatures or endorsements it takes for a candidate to be on the ballot.
• Automated Validation: Instead of having to manually validate candidate submissions, smart contracts can automatically check if all prerequisites are meeting e.g. if there’s a correct signature or if there’s matching to residency requirements.
• Ensuring Fair Play: Through smart contracts that automate the candidacy process, blockchain can ensure that all candidates are treated equally under the law making it less possible for fraudulent people to go unnoticed.
3. Decentralized Electoral Rolls
No election can go through without voter rolls and candidate lists. Placing this information on a decentralized blockchain allows election authorities to safeguard both the voter and candidate lists as secure and tamper-proof.
• Immutable Candidate Listings: Once a candidate is written into the blockchain registry, it can never be changed or erased if there is no consensus among the network. This helps to keep fraudulent candidacies from appearing at the last minute since only those candidates authorized may appear on the ballot.
• Reduced Human Error: The introduction of blockchain technology decreases the probability of errors by the humans involved when maintaining candidate lists to the point of exclusion of human intervention altogether in the maintenance of candidate lists preventing the registration of fraudulent candidates and failing to register legitimate candidates.
4. Real-time monitoring and transparency
With blockchain’s transparency, the election stakeholders including election observers media, and the public can all monitor the election process in real time.
• Real-Time Verification: Voters and election monitors can see online in real time if a particular candidate is registered and if he or she has met all the requirements prescribed by the law.
5. Anti-Spoof Measures
Based on Blockchain can also be used to make sure that candidates are not running with the sole mission of spoiling the election. Electoral authorities could simultaneously better trace campaign and election activities, donations, and alliances as well as uncover suspicious behavior through blockchain’s transparency and security features.
• Tracking Campaign Funds: Recording all campaign donations and expenditures through the use of blockchain can help block invalid candidacies from being embedded with the fund’s misappropriations or any illicit financial activity.
• Social Media Monitoring: The advantages of blockchain’s decentralized nature could be harnessed to integrate with AI tools to track down candidates on social media platforms who were operating fake accounts or those on behalf of non-legitimate candidacies.
Case studies and real-world applications
Elections are being explored on blockchain technology in many countries and organizations. While blockchain-based voting systems are still not in the proper position, a few projects have shown promise in leveraging blockchain for candidate verification and election transparency:
1. Estonia: Estonia has been leading the way with digital voting and is even exploring blockchain as an additional portion of the e-Residency program. It could be used to make more secure, more transparent candidate registration as well, such that only legitimate candidates can make the ballot.
2. Sierra Leone (2018): In 2018, Sierra Leone tracked election results using blockchain. While the blockchain served primarily to record vote verification, the use of blockchain in election data provides a precedent for whatever will be included in the candidacy process.
3. West Virginia (2018): In the 2018 midterm elections West Virginia trialed a blockchain-based voting system for overseas military voters. Blockchain showed us in this trial that it can secure people’s trust in the election making sure no vote is fake or not counted.
Conclusion
While fake political candidacies are a real threat to the integrity of democratic elections, blockchain technology can be a powerful tool to fight this type of election fraud.
Blockchain can bring important transparency, security, decentralization, and immutability that is an invaluable component in fighting election fraud. With the continued growth of the adoption of blockchain, inevitably, its role in electoral processes will only play an increasingly important role in maintaining free and fair elections around the world.