By Solomon Odunayo
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has reportedly filed a patent for a blockchain-based mail-in voting system.
Following President Donald Trump’s conclusion that mail-in voting would represent ballots all over the place and fraudulent ballots would be named after dogs and dead people, the patent that was filed back in February 2020 was made public on Thursday 13th August.
The public patent application that contains 47 pages is majorly occupied with diagrams showing various components of the proposed mail-in voting system, coupled with each stage of the electronic process.
The patent filed by the postal service reads in part as follows:
“A voting system can use the security of blockchain and the mail to provide a reliable voting system. A registered voter receives a computer-readable code in the mail and confirms identity and confirms correct ballot information in an election. The system separates voter identification and votes to ensure vote anonymity, and stores votes on a distributed ledger in a blockchain.”
“Often a voter is not able to or does not desire to go to a polling place to cast a vote. An election official in a jurisdiction may wish to send secure ballots via mail. Or, a jurisdiction may opt to utilize electronic resources for voting. In such cases, a secure voting system is desired.
The security of a voting system can be increased by using the dependability and security of the United States Postal Service or similar entity, and this can be incorporated with a secure computer system using a blockchain or distributed ledger to ensure vote security and to prevent tampering or modification of electronic voting results.”
Obviously, coronavirus pandemic is causing a twist in virtually everything across the world, including the process of the coming US presidential election.
There has been a political debate over the system that would be adopted to restrain the spread of the virus during the election. It has now been concluded that mail-in voting system would be adopted, but some people are still of the opinion that the system would encourage fraudulence during the election, hence the need for blockchain technology.
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Sounds good. Let’s hope
I’m sure this would be difficult to implement before this election obviously, but we’ll see if it gets spun into a fake news story by Trump or others who might not understand the technology.
Although Trump definitely gets information on technology like this as President, so feigning ignorance would be annoying to say the least.
I find this exciting; I often suggest to others that we should consider an isolated block-chain system for voting (almost unanimously to scoffs and the ‘no-way’ looks.)
I do agree though; that this is unfeasible for 2020. A system like this would need to vetted; to mean stress tested regularly with a few years of our best and brightest attempting to skew or cheat the system ; before being put into actual use.
The last thing we need is a system rushed into production to be flawed; having an individual or group flipping the actual results; only to find out a year or two into the aftermath.
Apparently it has been tested for several years, hence, Postal service announcing last Thursday.
Or by Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler or Adam Schitt?
Always with the negative vibes. Try not blaming EVERYTHING in your life on Trump.
It only seems like “everything” to people who have nothing else in their lives BUT Trump. The the rest of us, it’s the simple and warranted matter of blaming on Trump every crisis he has CREATED in order to offer himself as “the only one who can fix it,”
Most of the other stuff we blame on Bill Barr.
They’ve already been testing for a few years now. The patent was filed in Feb 2019 originally with an update to it earlier this year. Wanna bet it’s ready to go?
This article really needs to not be neutral. There’s no evidence of mass voter fraud whatsoever, and trump’s lackey is dismantling the postal service
Darn right, I don’t get enough propaganda as it is. I need more people telling me what to think and do. It’s too much effort to do it myself
I really like how you want the article to be “neutral” but you’re not. LOL.
Actually, if you could be bothered to read or understand, you would notice he said he wants the article not to be neutral. As in, the objective statement of truth would be that Trump is authoritarian, wants to dismantle the Post office, and cheat at the election. Don’t tiptoe around that in the name of “neutrality”.
All those things you listed are value-based opinions, not objective statements of truth. The news should report the facts: Who is doing what and the reasons they give for it. From there, you can draw your own conclusion on what to think about and how to categorize those actions.
In fact there has already been voter fraud. 3 ballots to the same person: First name, Middle Initial and Last name. the second Ballot was First name and Last name with no middle initial and the third was Last name and First name. This was when Hillary was competing against Obama. The recipient was a woman in a Black family. So HC got cheated. I dont know what else went on and how many others got fake ballots but I am sure there must have been others.
You must live in a rock. There are alot of pictures showing examples of mail Fraud found. Just the envelopes marked with Democrat or Republican on the back can cause voting issues. The post office is not the agency to take over Americas voting. Stop letting your Hate for someone bring out your ignorance.
Wow, so you think the arrests in NJ was not from voter fraud? You are blinded by CNN..
Democrats can only win elections by cheating and creating hysteria.
trump literally is defunding the USPS in order to win. Seems a little fascist
the USPS cannot be “defunded”. it is self funded, and you have no idea what you’re talking about.
Trump is not and did not defund the post office!!! The post office does not and never has relied on tax dollars. Ever. In fact the only benefit they get for being a govt agency type organization is low interest loans. The post office is required since 2006 (Bush Jr) to pay for healthcare what, 10 years in advance for employees that don’t even work there yet! This is what created such a financial crisis. Trump decided not to give funds as part of economic relief. Not defund. Completely different. Trump asked for them to restructure the workforce and not pay overtime for one thing. Either way you look at it it’s not defunding since we never find the usps.
This is not fascism.
In fact, it is Fascist for a quasi-public agency to give Amazon a different shipping deal than small businesspeople.
There was clearly nothing to see in North Carolina in 2018 when they needed to re-run a Congressional election – nope – nothing at all to do with mail in voting there. I mean it was a Republican on top of it that got caught – so do the Democrats want Republicans stealing the election?
That’s the point. They got caught.
They are trying to apply a technological solution to a political problem. The real problem is republican efforts to undermine confidence in mail in voting and Trump’s dismantling of effective public institutions like the Postal Service. He is running the Postal Service and the country just like his businesses- into the ground. The solution can’t be to make a better voting system- we don’t need one. If you make a perfect voting system, he’ll do his best to disparage it, drive his constituents away from using it, then defund it. The solution has to be to get rid of Trump. He is a cancer that actively undermines democracy. It would be far more effective to hit Trump where he will feel it- in his wallet. Have sit-ins in his businesses. Protest his financial holdings and the holdings of his allies. He doesn’t care about the country or it’s people- he cares about his money. Find a way to legally cost him money.
And you are applying an Ad Hominem attack with no solutions at all.
Trump has commented in the past. a dictatorship would be an efficient way to run a country if the right person was the dictator, he often refers to himself as. the “right person.”. All the tearing down of our institutions, severing relationships all over the world, installing “his people’ in positions of authority rather than qualified people to be in authority, it almost seems like he is setting himself up to declare martial law,
it had better be a stand alone system,
otherwise it will get hacked, count on it
This block chain system was filed as a provisional patent over a year ago. (Feb. 2019) As i understand it, when the provisional patent was filed, it had already been tried and worked. (Under a provisional patent, it allows you to file without a formal claim, oath or declaration or any information disclosure statement) In Feb 7, 2020, it was formally filed by the United States Postal Service and then published on August 13, 2020. Inventors were from Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia…there were 6 inventors in all.
Seems to be a great compromise. Those who are afraid of the virus can vote via mail without fear of fraud. Those who choose to go to the voting polls are free to do so.
Voter fraud is real, the “center for law and justice” sued LA county to remove 1.5 million invalid voters from their voter base.
They won!! LA county had to remove voters who were dead, moved or just didn’t exist. Do your homework on this!!