{"id":114634,"date":"2018-03-20T05:10:38","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T09:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/?p=114634"},"modified":"2021-08-13T08:19:23","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T12:19:23","slug":"sierra-leone-election-denial-a-reminder-to-look-closer-at-blockchain-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/news\/sierra-leone-election-denial-a-reminder-to-look-closer-at-blockchain-claims","title":{"rendered":"Sierra Leone Election Denial a Reminder to Look Closer at Blockchain Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) of Sierra Leone has denied blockchain technology or the Swiss company Agora played any official role in its recent elections, despite media claims of a \u201cblockchain election\u201d. The incident is a reminder that the public (and especially media and investors) should approach any claim regarding blockchain technology\u2019s real-world applications skeptically at this point. Why? Read on, we\u2019ll explain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also see:\u00a0President Trump Bars Americans From Trading Venezuela\u2019s Petro Currency<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Subscribe to the\u00a0Bitsonline YouTube channel<\/a>\u00a0for more great interviews featuring industry insiders & experts<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

TechCrunch<\/em> reported<\/a> the NEC was vehemently denying any role by Agora<\/a> or blockchain technology, in a follow-up to its original story. The NEC also tweeted its announcement, saying the Commission used an existing MS SQL database to tally official results.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely any suggestion of foreigners deploying new technology that replaced NEC\u2019s employees, or its database developers, ruffled a few feathers at the organization<\/a>.<\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/8cLMVvQPkQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (@NECsalone) March 19, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n

We Were Officially-Recognized Observers, Says Agora<\/p>\n

In response to Bitsonline<\/em>\u2018s and other enquiries, Agora posted a clarification<\/a> on Medium<\/em>. The company, as it claimed in its original press release<\/a> on the topic, attended Sierra Leone\u2019s March 7th election as an officially-accredited observer.<\/p>\n

It also stressed that Agora\u2019s election results were not<\/em> official NEC election results, and were in fact posted five days before the NEC\u2019s manual count of paper ballots.<\/p>\n

The Sierra Leone election was merely a demonstration of its blockchain voting concept, it said. However the demonstration did involve an actual count of actual ballots, not alternative measures or exit-polling. The NEC allowed official observers, including Agora, to view and count the paper ballots \u2014 Agora recorded each individual ballot, and any results that different from the subsequent official count were the result of the NEC declaring some ballots invalid at a later point.<\/p>\n

While Agora\u2019s press release is factually correct, the wording seems to suggest in places that its technology played a larger part. For example, it leads with:<\/p>\n

Sierra Leone\u2019s 2018 presidential elections, which took place on March 7th, represents the first time in history that blockchain technology has been used in a national government election.<\/p>\n

Then later, it added:<\/p>\n

The National Electoral Commission\u2019s decision to work with Agora was also driven by speed, as logistics around transferring and counting ballots have proven cumbersome, expensive and slow in previous elections.<\/p>\n

With statements like those, it\u2019s easy to see how quick-reading media and their readers could erroneously assume that Agora was working in an official capacity to deliver the results.<\/p>\n

What the Media Said<\/p>\n

\u201cSierra Leone just ran the first blockchain-based election\u201d, said TechCrunch<\/em>\u2018s\u00a0March 16th headline<\/a>. Agora did not correct or deny this wording, tweeting<\/a>\u00a0the article and proclaiming \u201cRead more about our blockchain election in Sierra Leone!\u201d in response.<\/p>\n

Bitsonline<\/em>\u2018s own version<\/a>, \u201cYou Can Now Audit Sierra Leone\u2019s Blockchain Election Results for Yourself\u201d, was slightly more muted.\u00a0For the record, whatever the claims made by other media outlets, that\u00a0article noted the trial involved a simple recording of election results in Sierra Leone\u2019s West Districts on Agora\u2019s blockchain.<\/p>\n

In fact, Agora\u2019s own words<\/a>\u00a0on March 9th should have been a hint. It \u201cdeliver(ed) results 2 hours before the official count\u201d. This obviously would have been impossible if Agora were playing any part in delivering the official results.<\/p>\n

The Problem With Blockchains, Election Ballots, and Non-Digital Things<\/p>\n

That Sierra Leone, a country that scored only 4\/10<\/a> on The Economist<\/em>\u2018s healthy democracy scale, would jump at the chance to deploy experimental blockchain tech in the name of transparency was also an eyebrow-raiser. Even if the claim were true,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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