From June 25 to July 1, the Russian government held a public vote with the goal of finding out whether the country’s constitution should be amended. Part of the vote was held on blockchain to “ensure security and transparency,” according to the government, making it the country’s most extensive DLT project to date. But this didn’t stop independent researchers from registering over 20 million “abnormal” votes and arguing that it was one of the most falsified voting events in the modern history of Russia. So what was blockchain’s role in all of this, exactly? What was the referendum all about? …
The ruling party of the Russian Federation, United Russia, has launched a blockchain-based platform for electronic voting, local news agency TASS reported on March 6. United Russia has reportedly launched an updated website for its primaries with the added function of e-voting. The party’s head of IT projects Vyacheslav Sateyev said that the vote counting process will be implemented using blockchain technology. He also stated: "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 …
A Russian independent electoral watchdog is trialing a blockchain-based electronic voting system, local news platform Tass reports August 17. The non-profit Association of Independent Public Observers, dubbed "National Public Monitoring" (NOM), announced the pilot at a press conference in Moscow on Friday. NOM federal coordinator Roman Kolomystev, told reporters: “As part of our congress, we are launching a pilot electronic voting system built on a blockchain system." The inaugural Russian Congress of Public Observers was held on the initiative of NOM, alongside the Russian Fund for Free Elections and the Association of Lawyers of the Russian Federation, Tass reports. Other …
In October, Greenland was reported to be exploring the feasibility of an online voting platform for its national elections. Among the options being considered is a blockchain-based system. That isn’t entirely surprising. Electronic voting, or e-voting, has long been viewed as a promising use case for blockchain technology. “It’s time for online voting,” wrote Alex Tapscott in a New York Times opinion piece in 2018. “Using blockchain technology, online voting could boost voter participation and help restore the public’s trust in the electoral process and democracy.” It seems especially timely now as large swaths of the world’s population are raising …
The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is looking at ways to integrate crypto assets and blockchain technology into its local financial system amid a pile-on of global financial sanctions. In a Telegram post by the CBR on Nov. 7, the central bank shared a public consultation report titled "Digital Assets in Russian Federation." It considers how the sanction-hit state may possibly open up its domestic market to foreign issuers of digital assets — particularly those from “friendly countries.” Other areas of focus in the report are digital asset regulation, retail investor protections, digital property rights related to smart contracts and …