ICO Review: VOTEM (VAST) and the Future of Election Management
This is the first issue of my new series on ICO coverage and analysis. I hope you enjoy!
Since the beginning of democracy election fraud has managed to decide the outcomes on far too many occasions. In Venezuela, we have a dictator who essentially ran a ‘sham’ election and holds onto power while the country under him breaks apart at the seams. In Kenya, a recent election ended up being totally annulled due to how fraudulent the results ended up being.
Even though cryptocurrency and blockchain are tools that are being utilized to help restore trust and verifiability to our world, scams still run rampant in this space (Think BitConnect… or as Carlos Matos says, “BEEEEETCONNNNEEEEECCCTTTT!!!”).
What I am trying to say is that Cryptocurrency truly is the Wild West of Finance and we don’t live in a Utopia; We live in the real world which is prone to all forms of scammers, scandals and criminals.
But cryptocurrency scams are beside this fact. We are talking about Election Fraud which has much harsher consequences than just on an individual level. Entire societies collapse because of political unrest and violence, just like in Venezuela or Syria. In a world rife with untrustworthy people, Votem is working to restore trust and verifiability to democracy.
What is Votem?
Votem (VAST) is an EIP-20 compliant digital token that is being issued by the Votem Corporation. The token it uses for access is known as VAST, which stands for Verifiability, Accessibility, Security and Transparency. Use of this token allows access to the Votem CastIron platform, which is the Election Management System they are building the platform around.
So Votem is working to enable citizens around the world with easy access to trustworthy online voting, which has yet to come to full fruition in our democratic societies of the world. Through the use of blockchain for tallying up votes, the process becomes independently verifiable by election management bodies. The system is designed to be far more secure than paper-based voting, and only through a trustless and verifiable system will online voting become a reality.
At this time, elections in democratic societies do not maintain global standards, so the perceived corruption of differing countries can vary. There is no global player in the market for voting, so Votem is working on expanding their platform to more and more governments over time.
Customers & Partners
Current customers include the State of Montana, District of Columbia, City of Detroit, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Ohio State Bar Association. Partners of the project include the National Association of Secretaries of State, Election Center, Chamber of Digital COmmerce and the International Association of Government Officials.
As a politically engaged consumer the concept of Votem is a welcome one. I for one have indeed lost faith in our electoral process, and this is a quality first step in reviving the public's faith in elections.
Keep your eye on the Votem ICO in the future. We are all hoping for its success!
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