On November 5th, 2024, Georgia’s Screven County became the first ever US state to rely on blockchain technology for securing election results. The country partnered with experts from Simple Proof to ensure more transparency and prevent any potential tampering with the election results. Let’s take a better look at how the tech was implemented and whether this could pave the way for broader adoption of blockchain in elections across the nation.
The growing role of Blockchain
Initially a research project, blockchain rose to popularity when Satoshi Nakamoto created a blockchain to serve as a public ledger for Bitcoin transactions. However, the technology has expanded significantly since then, finding its use across various industries. It’s used to power secure and real-time transactions in the finance sector and to track goods from origin to delivery in supply chain management. Blockchain has also revolutionized the world of gambling, with players no longer having to provide any personal info when registering if they choose to make transactions through the secure ledger. Besides playing traditional casino games and betting on sports, you can now even visit the best crypto eSports betting sites and bet on your favorite video game competitions. Now, the technology has made its historic debut in the US elections, marking the next big step in Blockchain adoption.
The 2024 Elections in Screven County
The 2024 US Presidential Elections were grounds for many historic firsts, one of which was the use of blockchain technology in the election process. Screven County, Georgia, became the first US state ever to use the secure ledger for safeguarding the results of its elections. The state partnered with Simple Proof who has previously safeguarded the results of the 2023 Presidential Elections in Guatemala, documenting the entire process in its Immutable Democracy video on YouTube. Stacy Scott Mincey who serves as the Election Supervisor in Screven County said that one of her main goals was to make sure that everyone feels secure that their votes are counted. She sent the documents to Simple Proof’s immutable proof service, which then time-stamped them on the blockchain automatically. That way, block 869047 became the first block in Bitcoin’s chain that contains proof of a US election.
Further use of Simple Proof
Mincey’s meetup group met the Elections Lead at Simple Proof, Carlos Toriello, and the company’s booth at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July as they were raising awareness of how the tech can be used for protecting public records. In October, the board meeting decided on using Simple Proof for the 2024 elections and the rest is history. Now, Toriello, said that he’s optimistic about the service being used statewide for its next elections. He commented that the company implemented this system in a week, proving that it can be introduced in the entire state as well. Mincey also said she’d like to see each county in Georgia use Simple Proof in future elections.