Applying blockchain technology in the election process: implications for the legitimacy of public authority and trust in public policy

Abstract

The article is devoted to researching the impact of blockchain technologies on the legitimacy of the electoral process and the level of public trust in public authorities in the context of the digitalization of democratic institutions. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to find effective mechanisms to increase the transparency of electoral processes, minimize the risks of fraud, and ensure an adequate level of trust in the results of the expression of will in the context of the growing need for remote voting formats. The main results of the study indicate the contradictory nature of the impact of blockchain technologies on electoral processes. On the one hand, the experience of Estonia demonstrates the potential of electronic voting to increase voter turnout and speed up vote counting. On the other hand, American experiments in West Virginia and Utah have revealed serious vulnerabilities in cybersecurity and problems with ensuring voting secrecy. The study identified critical challenges to the implementation of blockchain voting: the digital divide, which threatens to exclude socially vulnerable groups from the electoral process; the problem of balancing voter anonymity and verification; the risks of centralizing control over technological infrastructure; and the lack of established legal standards for regulation. In the Ukrainian context, legislative barriers were analyzed, in particular the incompatibility of the existing Electoral Code with the requirements of digital technologies and the lack of a specialized regulatory framework for cryptographic voting systems.
It has been established that the impact of blockchain voting on the legitimacy of power is twofold: technological transparency can increase trust through the possibility of independent verification of results, but the technical complexity and opacity of algorithms for ordinary citizens can lead to a decline in trust and the perception of elections as manipulated by the technocratic elite.
The study’s conclusions emphasize the need for a balanced approach to the introduction of blockchain technologies into the electoral process, which should take into account not only technological capabilities but also socio-political consequences, ensuring the inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability of electoral systems as the basis for democratic legitimacy.