Dong-A Ilbo 15.11.2023 'Blockchain Promotion Week' to share the status of government-led blockchain service development
'Online Voting' Using Zero-Knowledge Proof
Oh Hyun-ok, a professor at Hanyang University and a representative of zkypto, introduced the online voting system currently underway under the topic of 'Blockchain-based trust platform, online voting'. He said, "Existing voting is still subject to manipulation by administrators, but social trust can be strengthened with a system."
"In the case of elections, blockchain is a technology that can instil trust," said Oh.
The reasons are ▲ transparency that anyone can access publicly ▲ immutability that information cannot be modified ▲ smart contracts that can be automated ▲ decentralization that can be stored in multiple places ▲ real-time processing that checks the results in real time.
Currently, zkrypto is working with the Election Commission to build a blockchain-based online voting system. We are enhancing the existing online voting system to allow more voters to participate, and applying zero-knowledge proof technology to further improve reliability.
Professor Oh explained that the biggest difference from the existing system is the zero-knowledge proof technology. In the case of blockchain, anyone can see the internal data, which violates the principle of secret voting. To prevent this, voting results are encrypted and stored. However, there is still a problem. It is difficult to verify the validity of the vote. "By using zero-knowledge proof technology, which can be validated without disclosing the original, it is possible to verify the validity of the vote," said Oh.
The online voting system that zkrypto is currently developing records both the encrypted votes and the validity of the votes on the blockchain. Another advantage is that it can be processed in less than three seconds while applying zero-knowledge proof technology. Development began in June and is expected to take seven months of development and three months of stabilisation.
"Online voting is the cornerstone of digital direct democracy," said Professor Oh. "We will strive to further develop blockchain-based online voting services."