For Immediate Release
Boston, MA – January 31, 2023: Voatz announces the successful completion of its very first election in Europe. Nearly 50,000 members of the United National Movement (UNM) in Georgia used the Voatz platform to register for the election and vote successfully in a safe, private manner for the position of the party chairperson.
How It Worked:
This was the first-of-its-kind undertaking, allowing Georgian citizens to digitally participate in a major political party’s election at home and overseas. This election’s success amidst the massive threats from a major nation state threat actor next-door will serve as a road map for citizens across the world seeking a similar democratic action without being intimidated or coerced to vote a certain way.
The registration and voting platform was accessible through smartphone applications, web browser applications, and was also integrated with a Facebook based verification system for party members. Participation was made convenient, accessible through the platform’s intuitive design and tutorials for those who needed additional help.
Technology Overview:
The Elections Organizing Committee of the UNM in Georgia tasked Voatz with making this a secure, accessible voting system that would inspire trust and confidence among party members who were skeptical of their ability to conduct a fair election. Eligible party members were verified using a unique Facebook based verification mechanism. Voatz also provided a secure registration system for party members to pass an initial eligibility vetting process managed by the campaigns of all the candidates participating in the election. Voatz helped maintain voter anonymity, train voters, and party administrators, and facilitated a post-election risk-limiting audit using the blockchain.
Results:
Nearly 50000 party members participated in the election for the UNM Chairperson.
Security:
Given the sensitive nature of the project, Voatz was prepared to operate in the presence of cyber threats. The Voatz platform performed resiliently by identifying and blocking attacks as they occurred. Threats seen frequently in the field were broadly in the following categories – DNS tampering attempts, email spoofing, denial of service attacks, SMS blocking, man-in-the-middle attacks, device malware, suspicious mobile application, and unsafe wireless connections.