The New Zealand political party, The Opportunities Party, plans to use distributed ledger blockchain technology to process a vote for the first time in the country’s history next month.

Announced today, TOP intends to make use of Horizon State Pty Ltd.’s ballot box blockchain technology platform to provide secure voting for party member leadership from members’ mobile phones.

“When I took over as leader of The Opportunities Party, I committed to giving our members a greater say,” said Geoff Simmons, the interim party leader of TOP. “I hope that more people join our already healthy membership of around 4,000 and they all take the chance to have their say.”

TOP’s leadership election will use Preferential Voting, a system where each voter would indicate their preferences ranked from first to last.

The ballot initiative starts today, Nov. 6, with nominations for candidates and finishes in December with the vote occurring on Dec. 1 and closes on Dec. 8 with the selection of the winner.

The Horizon State blockchain platform would be used to record votes and provide a secure, tamperproof historical record of who voted, when and for whom. Using blockchain technology, the system would also allow the vote to be audited without revealing personal information on individual voters.

In August, Horizon State announced that its blockchain ballot platform will be used by the Democratic Party of India to consult citizens before determining its policy decisions. The system, launched as MiVote India, reaches an audience of more than 3 million members across the country.

Blockchains have been explored to secure voting records for a few years, but organizations have been slow to implement the technology. In part, this is because voting systems are deeply rooted in tradition and electronic voting is still better understood. And security concerns remain.

Several different platforms have been developed in recent years, including Polys by antivirus developer Kaspersky Labs, a shareholder voting solution developed by Accenture PLC for TMX Group Ltd. and a mobile-based blockchain voting platform from Voatz Inc. In January, Voatz also raised $2.2 million in seed funding.

Not all blockchain platforms have come up roses, however. Voatz landed its first big contract with the State of West Virginia, agreeing to use the platform for military member voting, and this news led to security concerns. Although the concern raised focused more on the use of mobile apps, a potential vulnerability in a secure communication of voting information, not the underlying blockchain technology itself.

As for the election of the leadership of New Zealand’s The Opportunities Party, Nimo Naamani, Horizon State’s co-founder, said he believes that this partnership will only bolster democracy as a “fully transparent and inclusive process.”

Naamani described the choice as brave since it would provide the potential to tap into a wider audience and increase engagement amid membership in a way not seen before by political parties in New Zealand. “This act has the potential to set a new standard in the NZ political arena, and is the kind of forward and inclusive thinking that I believe appeals to many in our country,” said Naamani.

Simmons, who will stand down at TOP leader during the election, said he looks forward to the vote and the use of a blockchain ballot system. “I encourage anyone who has what it takes to lead this unique party to stand,” said Simmons, who himself will be campaigning for a leadership position and thus will be on the blockchain ballot. “Whoever wins will have my full support.”

Image: Horizon State