Blockchain technology for electoral process in Africa: a short review
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Blockchain technology for electoral process in Africa: a short review Mahtab Alam1
•
Mukhtar Opeyemi Yusuf1 • Nazifi Alhassan Sani1
Received: 21 May 2019 / Accepted: 29 January 2020 Ó The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The electoral process has suffered from deep political instability following the post-colonial independence of most African nations. Moreover, the electoral process in many countries is characterized by massive rigging, high cost of electoral materials, and declaration of false results. In this paper, we will present a review of the blockchain Technology and some of the potential roles to play in conducting a transparent election. This paper opines that with the emergence of the blockchain technology, African Nations should tap from it and build a reliable, secure, and convenient electoral voting system. It further suggests that a blockchain electoral voting system will eliminate most of the challenges faced by African nations in conducting a free, fair and transparent election with low cost and total security. The issue of election rigging is almost completely eradicated with this technology (if properly installed). An attempt to alter/manipulate records (votes) in the system’s database can be spotted easily, because of its rigorous consensus rules, such an attempt is considered void and denied permission to access, alter, or destroy any of the previously saved votes. However, the paper argues that there are institutional challenges to implementing this technology within the continent. Specifically, there is a need to educate the masses as well
& Mahtab Alam [email protected] Mukhtar Opeyemi Yusuf [email protected] Nazifi Alhassan Sani [email protected] 1
Department of Computer Science, Noida International University, Plot 1, Yamuna Express Way, Sector 17A, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 203201, India
as create robust policies that can accommodate this technology within the continent. Failure to acknowledge these challenges may well prevent the application of blockchain technology in African electoral process in the foreseeable future. Keywords Blockchain technology Electoral process Ballot-box Voting system Africa Votes
1 Introduction Africa indeed have suffered lots of backlashes in terms of political instabilities, and these backlashes have led to lots of epileptic development in all major sectors of governance. It became a space where most political aspirant make it a do-or-die affair to gain power and respect while these uncultured attitude towards democracy are vastly becoming a deep rot that spreads through various nations within it’s bound, violence and coercion then become a traditional ingredient for acquiring power or changing power from major opposition parties, as such, the poor innocent unemployed youths are targeted and psychologically manipulated to become actors for most violent acts. Many strategic attempts have been initiated by various nation’s electoral commission to eliminate these set-backs and to carry out a free, fair and credibl
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