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HyveMind: Election Infrastructure on the Blockchain [pdf]

abenayoke 8y ago
I'm glad someone else found my paper interesting enough to post here. I'd love to get your thoughts on the idea.
- alistproducer2 8y ago
  It seems pretty solid but I'm skeptical that you could ever get regular ppl to be able to use and understand a crypto-system like this.
- SkyMarshal 8y ago
  Aside from obvious things like the immaturity of the various technical components (blockchains, biometric security), I think you’ll have a hard time convincing folks outside small circles of crypto idealists that sampling democracy is desirable. Even if it works at a technical level, most people want to explicitly chose who reps them and makes laws for them. Randomly selecting a sample to vote on a law takes that away, and isn’t a direct digital version of contemporary representative democracies/republics. To channel Neo, the problem is choice.
daveguy 8y ago
I would prefer an anonymous, supervised paper trail. Multiple checks on the trail with the ability to vote anonymously, in person prevents both fraudulent entries and coerced entries. Blockchain only covers 1 of the 2. And makes the coercion part more realizable. Anonymous supervised paper trail is how many many states do elections. Scantron style ballots are simple and reliable.
- seeker61 8y ago
  I believe that the main objections to this approach are subconscious and unstated. Or perhaps people just feel silly saying "That isn't fancy enough!" and "But but but you have to use a computer to do everything!"
SideburnsOfDoom 8y ago
Some day someone will _surely_ find a real use for the block-chain. Today is yet again not that day.
- tuesdayrain 8y ago
  Prior to cryptocurrency there was no way to store your wealth online without relying on a centrallized third party that could theoretically confiscate it at any time. It's niche but it's not something to overlook.
  - SideburnsOfDoom 8y ago
    Which cryptocurrency would you recommend as a reliable store of wealth?
    - seeker61 8y ago
      I see what you did there! LOL
- alistproducer2 8y ago
  So you don't think this system provides any unique capabilities? I'm not aware of any other way to do some of the things proposed in the paper.
  - SideburnsOfDoom 8y ago
    How does it improve on voting by making marks on paper? as per https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18843548 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18843548
    - alistproducer2 8y ago
      Lots of ways. The votes are tabulated by a computer as they come in so results are instant. The totals cannot be changed or otherwise tampered with. There are no conflicts of interest in administering the election like what happen in Georgia with one candidate also being the secretary of state.

I'm glad someone else found my paper interesting enough to post here. I'd love to get your thoughts on the idea.

alistproducer2 8y ago
It seems pretty solid but I'm skeptical that you could ever get regular ppl to be able to use and understand a crypto-system like this.
SkyMarshal 8y ago
Aside from obvious things like the immaturity of the various technical components (blockchains, biometric security), I think you’ll have a hard time convincing folks outside small circles of crypto idealists that sampling democracy is desirable. Even if it works at a technical level, most people want to explicitly chose who reps them and makes laws for them. Randomly selecting a sample to vote on a law takes that away, and isn’t a direct digital version of contemporary representative democracies/republics. To channel Neo, the problem is choice.

I would prefer an anonymous, supervised paper trail. Multiple checks on the trail with the ability to vote anonymously, in person prevents both fraudulent entries and coerced entries. Blockchain only covers 1 of the 2. And makes the coercion part more realizable. Anonymous supervised paper trail is how many many states do elections. Scantron style ballots are simple and reliable.

seeker61 8y ago
I believe that the main objections to this approach are subconscious and unstated. Or perhaps people just feel silly saying "That isn't fancy enough!" and "But but but you have to use a computer to do everything!"

SideburnsOfDoom 8y ago

Some day someone will _surely_ find a real use for the block-chain. Today is yet again not that day.

tuesdayrain 8y ago
Prior to cryptocurrency there was no way to store your wealth online without relying on a centrallized third party that could theoretically confiscate it at any time. It's niche but it's not something to overlook.
- SideburnsOfDoom 8y ago
  Which cryptocurrency would you recommend as a reliable store of wealth?
  - seeker61 8y ago
    I see what you did there! LOL
alistproducer2 8y ago
So you don't think this system provides any unique capabilities? I'm not aware of any other way to do some of the things proposed in the paper.
- SideburnsOfDoom 8y ago
  How does it improve on voting by making marks on paper? as per https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18843548 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18843548
  - alistproducer2 8y ago
    Lots of ways. The votes are tabulated by a computer as they come in so results are instant. The totals cannot be changed or otherwise tampered with. There are no conflicts of interest in administering the election like what happen in Georgia with one candidate also being the secretary of state.