The head of the Catalan government's citizen participation council states that the authority is considering blockchain for the community’s voting system, Spanish daily newspaper La Vanguardia reports Monday, Nov. 19. Earlier in October, the Generalitat of Catalonia approved a preliminary bill to establish an e-voting system for residents abroad in major elections and other voting processes in the autonomous community. Recently, Ismael Peña-López, director of Citizen Participation of the Government of Catalonia, revealed that the government hopes to introduce an external e-voting system by the year 2020, as well as to extend electronic voting to all voters. According to Peña-López, …

The Secretary of State of the U.S. state of West Virginia Mac Warner reported a successful first instance of remote blockchain voting in an official announcement Nov. 15. Warner stated that in the 2018 midterm elections, 144 military personnel stationed overseas from 24 counties were able to cast their ballots on a mobile, blockchain-based platform called Voatz, adding: “This is a first-in-the-nation project that allowed uniformed services members and overseas citizens to use a mobile application to cast a ballot secured by blockchain technology.” Voting for the general elections on the platform started in September, when absentee balloting opened in …

The topic of implementing blockchain technology for voting was discussed at an event hosted by the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC), local state-owned news agency TASS reported Oct. 29. Speaking at the Election Commission’s conference to celebrate 25 years of Russia’s electoral system, participants and officials discussed electronic voting, including blockchain-powered solutions. In a response to the discussion of blockchain at the conference, Ella Pamfilova, the head of the Election Commission, suggested “rebranding” the technology in Russia: "To promote this technology [blockchain] in Russia we need some rebranding. We need... kind of Russian equivalent that takes into account our mentality …

The mayor of Seoul Park Won-soon has introduced a five-year plan for developing the blockchain industry in the city, Korean news agency Yonhap News reports Thursday, October 4. The project entitled “Blockchain City of Seoul” contains a number of measures for promoting and developing blockchain-related initiatives and education in the city from 2018–2022, Park revealed in a speech in the city Zug, Switzerland on Thursday. By 2022, the city plans to set up a public-private fund of 100 billion won ($88.2 million) in order to invest in blockchain startups in Seoul. The fund will acquire 13.6 billion won ($11.9 million) …

West Virginians have begun using a blockchain-based mobile voting app for casting absentee ballots in the upcoming midterm elections, Slate reported September 25. Citizens of West Virginia that currently live overseas have reportedly started using a blockchain-enabled application for voting on Friday, September 21. The application — dubbed Voatz — will allow voters registered in 24 countries to cast absentee ballots via smartphone, mainly targeting military members stationed abroad. The pilot project for remote voting, which was only available to a select group of voters, started in March and was successfully completed on May 8, the day of West Virginia’s …

The Japanese city of Tsukuba, north of Tokyo, has recently tested a voting system based on blockchain technology, local newspaper The Japan Times wrote Sunday, September 2. The city, which The Japan Times described as a “center for scientific research,” held the voting trial in late August. As Cointelegraph Japan reported earlier, in order to vote the participants had to have My Number Card — a 12-digit ID number issued to all citizens of Japan including foreign residents, introduced in 2015. According to the city of Tsukuba’s official website, the election was dedicated to several social programs. Residents could choose …

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 …

There has been a lot of discussion about how cryptocurrencies and blockchain can transform the world’s economy — leaving paper money behind and going truly digital. Indeed, many crypto businesses are pursuing solutions which can eradicate inefficiencies in practically every industry, positively affecting the goods and services we use every day. But away from the profit margins, is there any way that blockchain can be a force for good? Some not-for-profit organizations — as well as companies and individuals who want to give back to the community — have shown that there’s a promising future in which this technology can …

A member of Ukraine’s Electoral Commission revealed in an Aug. 7 Facebook post that they are working with NEM on a blockchain voting pilot. Oleksandr Stelmakh, head of the State Register at the Central Electoral Commission of Ukraine, appeared pleased with the ongoing tests, writing in the post that they are “continu[ing] a series of experiments applying blockchain technology within electoral voting.” Stelmakh noted that they created a test vote using 28 nodes with the NEM blockchain “several weeks ago,” adding that “voting is still open and anyone can take part it in.” The trial, which came about as a …

U.S. troops serving overseas will be able to use a smartphone app based on blockchain technology for casting federal election ballots in West Virginia this November, CNN reports August 6. The mobile voting platform, Voatz, employes facial recognition software to ensure that each voter matches their government-issued identification. CNN notes that the West Virginia will limit the use of the mobile app mainly to troops currently abroad. The West Virginia Secretary of State, Mac Warner, and Voatz, the Boston-based app developer, told CNN that they believe the app is secure after successful tests in two counties for the state’s spring …

Recently, much of the news related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain was surrounding their developments in Switzerland. This country — which is widely known in the financial world for its robust financial services offered and for the privacy given to a bank’s clients — is now home to Crypto Valley, which is located in Zug. With conferences and events flourishing throughout the years, Crypto Valley is considered one of the most important hubs for experts, investors and enthusiasts to meet and exchange ideas and information. In this context, the Crypto Valley Association has been created, with the support of the Swiss …

NXT, the finance 2.0 blockchain platform, has voted unanimously to implement CoinShuffle, a coin mixing anonymity technique to NXTcoin and other 'Monetary System' tokens. Implementation is expected on the next major release. Landslide vote A vote was posed to the community this July 18 on whether the coin mixing implementation would apply just to MonetarySystem (MS) tokens or also to NXT's core token, NXTcoin. After only a day, the community's response was incontrovertible with nearly 100% of the votes supporting coin mixing implementation to NXTcoin. The votes will be weighed on July 26 based how much NXT each voter holds. …