2022 Kenya general elections are here with us. ‘Here with us’, not because they are in a few weeks or even months’ time, but because of the heated campaign activities that are becoming the order of the day all over the country, in a very fervent way. Now, during this period of political agitation, you watch the TV news and deep in a far-flung Kenyan market, the area rabble-rouser or the head of a local car wash is railing against a foreseen election rigging, and he is categorically warning the iebc and the government of the day against meddling with the results and saying how he will not accept it. For you see, a free, fair and transparent election is a very elusive term in Kenya, and so it is in 99.999% of the other African countries. Such a term has never existed, thanks to men and women who think that they should die on their elective seats, and citizens who are utterly divided and irredeemably brainwashed. The electoral process in these countries is characterized by massive rigging, voter bribery, and declaration of false results. In this short article I will tell you why the blockchain technology is a timely savior in dealing with election rigging and declaration of false results. As for voter bribery, that is a matter of moral principles and I am not going to get into the discourse of the rightness and the wrongness of it. Not that I do not think it is wrong, far from that; I am just not good at platitudes. Besides, Africa (Kenya in particular) has more than its fair share of moral prefects (most of whom, by the way, never miss an opportunity of pocketing a bribe).
Blockchain technology
Blockchain technology, sometimes referred to as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is most simply defined as a decentralized, distributed ledger that records the provenance of a digital asset. It makes the history of any digital asset unalterable and transparent through the use of decentralization and cryptographic hashing. A blockchain is, in the simplest of terms, a time-stamped series of immutable records of data that is managed by a cluster of computers not owned by any single entity. Each of these blocks of data (i.e. block) is secured and bound to each other using cryptographic principles (i.e. chain). The blockchain network has no central authority — it is the very definition of a democratized system. Since it is a shared and immutable ledger, the information in it is open for anyone and everyone to see. Hence, anything that is built on the blockchain is by its very nature transparent and everyone involved is accountable for their actions.
Since as humans we cannot completely trust each other, I think we can reduce the degree/level of human interference with the voting system by allowing machines and computers to take over most phases of verification/authentication, counting and public display of results for transparency. With the emergence of the blockchain technology, we should tap from it and build a reliable, secure, and convenient electoral voting system. A blockchain electoral voting system will eliminate most of the electoral malpractices and will be very essential to conducting a free, fair and transparent election with low cost and total security.
One notable trait of this technology is that in a block-chain network, once data is entered, it cannot be changed or erased. The issue of election rigging is therefore almost completely eradicated with this technology (if properly installed). An attempt to alter/manipulate records (votes) in the system’s database can be spotted easily. In addition, because of its rigorous consensus rules, such an attempt is considered void and denied permission to access, alter, or destroy any of the previously saved votes. Unlike a record stored in one computer or server managed by the government, it is easy to detect if a record is tampered with or altered from its original submission because all other nodes in the network will have a copy of the original record.
Block-chain technology is also almost indestructible. It provides high-end cryptographic security, and having been utilized in numerous transactions such as advanced resources, settlement, currency and direct peer-to-peer on-line payments, this technology is a sure fix to the numerous electoral systemic weaknesses and the mistrust we are facing in our country. The blockchain itself can be designed as a public immutable ledger, making it very transparent. It is also economically cheaper to run and maintain compared to the traditional ballot-box system.
With this technology properly integrated into the electoral processes in Kenya and the other African nations, citizens can exercise their voting right with no fear of violence, interference or incredible results. Complete anonymity of voters and all votes being publicly verifiable are just some of the other many advantages of this technology.