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Comment by timfrietas | Hacker News Reader

I am suprised applications of blockchain outside cryptocurrency is not higher on this list. For example:

* Election fraud and recounts can become a thing of the past * Everything that requires a contract could become completely electronic (the mortgage industry alone is probably a multi-billion dollar opportunity)

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I think it's a crypto-utopian view that election fraud can be fixed with a better record. Election fraud is a fairly small problem in countries like the US and the problems are around voters not voting in the right place, having a new address, losing their proof of identity, etc.

The security community thinks a paper trail is essential - less computers, not more - not a public database. I'm not an expert, but I tend to trust them.

> I'm not an expert, but I tend to trust them.

and blockchain proponents want an infallible system audit-able by the public, instead of having to trust anyone. they haven't figured it out completely, they push towards it.

in any case blockchain networks can function without computers. very cumbersome though.

Voting systems are hard because most democracies expect ballots to be confidential. Is there a blockchain-based voting system that allows a voter to have high confidence that their vote was counted, but doesn't allow someone else to be able to know how that voter voted?

Not only that; to insure that all of the other anonymous votes correspond to other real, eligible voters!

Aparrently, someone has it figured out: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_bismark_e_voting_without_fra...

That's not a blockchain solution, though. It's using paper ballots plus some additional cryptography.

His solution doesn't seem to solve the hard problem of "stuffing the ballot box." Any voter can verify their own vote is correct, but they can't verify that each vote is cast by a real citizen.

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