A New York legislator has submitted a new bill pushing for integrating blockchain technology in elections to combat voter fraud and enhance election integrity.
Assemblyman Clyde Vanel (D-33) submitted his Assembly Bill A7716, which, if passed, directs the New York State Board of Elections to study the use of blockchain to protect election results and voter records. It would require the board to submit a report to the governor and the state assembly on the benefits and risks of the technology in the election process.
The bill requires the board to engage with other states and countries that have implemented the technology to secure their democracy and to consult industry leaders in blockchain, cybersecurity, voter fraud and electoral technology.
Vanel’s bill allows for the use of both public blockchains and private, permissioned ledgers, whether anchored by tokenomics or tokenless. The legislator believes blockchain will provide “immutable, auditable and uncensored truth.”
Vanel submitted his bill to the Election Law Committee, which will debate and vote on it. If a majority of the committee members vote in favor, it will head to the floor of the Assembly, then the Senate, before being handed to Governor Kathy Hochul for her signature.
It’s Vanel’s second blockchain bill this year. A month ago, he tabled Bill A06515, which seeks tough penalties for ‘crypto’ founders orchestrating rug pulls. Last year, investors lost over $500 million to rug pulls, as per a report by Merkle Science.
Meanwhile, the bill is the latest in America’s blockchain and digital asset push. While the country has been the leader in the sector for years, Donald Trump’s election accelerated the sector’s growth with new appointments and legislation. Memecoins and speculative assets were the first to benefit, but this growth is spreading to every facet of the industry, with states passing blockchain-friendly regulations to align with Trump’s agenda.
One such defining bill is HB230 in Utah, which Governor Spencer Cox signed into law two weeks ago. The bill protects the rights of residents to operate blockchain nodes, make digital payments and use self-hosted wallets.
Major Malaysian political party uses blockchain in internal elections
Beyond the U.S., blockchain integration in elections is gaining traction. In Malaysia, one of the country’s major political parties has become the first to integrate the technology to enhance election integrity.
The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), a reformist political party whose leader is the Prime Minister of Malaysia, has implemented blockchain in its ongoing internal elections.
The party’s secretary-general, Fuziah Salleh, revealed that it will integrate the technology at regional and national levels for greater transparency and security. Voting for regional positions started on April 11 and will conclude on April 20. Central leadership elections, including for the presidency, will be in May.
“We have introduced a two-step verification process to ensure transparency. The first step involves electronic ‘know your customer’ (eKYC) verification, which confirms the identity of the party member before they register for e-voting,” she stated, as reported by local media.
“The second step is e-voting using blockchain technology, where the ID of each registered voter is encrypted and unique. This ensures no unauthorised votes can be cast, as an encrypted ID cannot be duplicated.”
PKR boasts nearly 300,000 members eligible to vote in this election. According to Salleh, only 3% opted to cast their ballots physically. The rest will use the blockchain-powered electronic voting system.
“This step makes PKR the first political party in Malaysia to implement a comprehensive technological approach in the internal democratic process. It strengthens our role as a pioneer of progressive political reforms based on technology,” commented Zaliha Mustafa, who heads the party’s Elections Committee.
While some nations like Malaysia trial blockchain in smaller elections where the stakes aren’t as high, others like Romania have gone all out. The Eastern European nation utilized blockchain in its presidential elections last November. The country anchored the voters’ digital fingerprints on a network built atop the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI).
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