Blockchain voting explored for city referendums

The Moscow Government will look into using blockchain for citizens to vote on referendums.

The city government is planning a broader blockchain scheme, and will investigate different ways of using the technology, said the city’s deputy head of IT, Andrey Belozerov, according to Gazeta.ru.

One of the proposals is to use blockchain to record citizen votes on laws and projects in the city under the ongoing ‘Active Citizen’ scheme. Blockchain records are said to be irreversible and impossible to change.

The Russian bank Sberbank has expressed interest to be part of the city’s blockchain trials, Belozerov added. In Europe, governments have started blockchain trials on a national scale.

Estonia, for instance, is using the tech to protect digital health records; Sweden has begun tests to use for property transactions; while UK plans to use it to monitor welfare payments.

In Asia, Singapore has trialled blockchain to protect banks from trading fraud.

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