An Expert Discusses the Features of Blockchain Voting Technology

Lyubov Krasyuk, CEO of the development company XDSOFT, spoke to the federal publication "Lenta.ru" about the specifics of processing remote electronic voting (REV) results and the impact of blockchain technology on the publication of results.

The project for remote electronic voting is being implemented on a large scale for the first time during the parliamentary elections in Russia. The "delayed decision" function allows voters to change their selection during the voting process. This option is available for 24 hours from the first ballot submission and three hours after the previous submission. This feature accounts for potential internet issues, changes of mind, or distractions during voting. Only the most recent vote is counted.

"From a technological standpoint, delays in publishing results due to 'delayed decisions' are entirely possible," said Lyubov Krasyuk. "It takes a significant amount of time to verify historical data, especially when validating the entire blockchain sequence."

A similar situation can be seen on public networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and when making cryptographic improvements to systems for services like electronic voting, additional overhead is inevitable.

Krasyuk also mentioned that during the implementation of a similar project related to rights management (using XDSOFT's proprietary blockchain platform "BLOCK-P," registered on the Russian software registry and utilizing certified GOST cryptography), the company observed a significant slowdown in the formation of transactions/blocks and an increase in verification time.

"The technologies we used in our project are similar to those employed in Moscow's REV system. It's logical that with the 'delayed voting' feature and a large number of decision changes, the system required additional time for validation," Krasyuk noted, adding that future system developments should consider these aspects.