Medici Ventures, the blockchain-based subsidiary of Overstock.com, has led a $7 million funding round for a blockchain-based voting platform, according to a press release on June 6.
The blockchain-based voting platform, Voatz, is reportedly designed to allow citizens to participate in official elections
and similar events via mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablet
computers. The platform is reportedly based on blockchain tech, encryption, and biometrics, and purports to provide better convenience, security, and auditability for voters and vote collectors.
Voatz
says that the proceeds of their $7 million Series A funding round will
go toward improving accessibility and usability of the platform, as well
as launching additional pilot programs in the United States
and abroad. Voatz also commented that they have previously conducted
pilot programs with a variety of organizations, such as state political
parties, universities, labor unions, church groups and nonprofits.
Voatz has reportedly completed a pilot program in which military personnel and U.S. citizens living abroad voted on the platform in Denver, Colorado’s
2019 municipal elections. Voatz also broke ground with a pilot in which
similarly out-of-country citizens and military personnel from West
Virginia used the platform to submit absentee votes in the 2018 midterm elections.
Medici Ventures President Jonathan Johnson commented on how this application of blockchain technology is important, saying:
"Voting
is a great application of blockchain technology. What Voatz is doing to
allow more registered voters to participate remotely in elections in a
safe and secure way is important. It bodes well for more widespread
adoption of the Voatz application. That's one reason we've increased our
investment in the company by leading this Series A round."
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Russia’s
ruling political party United Russia launched a blockchain-based voting
platform last month. United Russia’s head of IT projects Vyacheslav
Sateyev commented on the details of the platform, saying:
"Candidates
will be able to fill in their personal pages on this site, including
posting news, videos, photos, distributing their pages. The personal
account is now integrated with all social networks. We have also made an
adaptive version of the site for mobile phones."
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