Virginia

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States (US) principal federal law enforcement agency, has started investigations into the alleged hack attempt on a blockchain-powered voting app in the 2018 midterm polls in West Virginia. The event has put the future of Voatz at stake notwithstanding securing funds of around $7 mln to upgrade its distributed ledger technology (DLT) voting app.

In 2018, West Virginia used the blockchain to conduct voting for a midterm election, and this made it the first U.S state to replace the ballot with a new technology. The state will go forward with the use of blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) in all voting exercises, as stated by Donald Kersey, elections director in the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office.

Since the earliest inception of Crypto and Blockchain technology, one of the principal uses for the technology outside of monetary related transactions has been as a method for safe, digital voting.