Democracies are facing major challenges today. Social media, populism and the post-factual age are challenging our previous perceptions of a democratic society. In addition, fraud and accusations of lying are increasingly becoming a political reality. In the USA, previously a bastion of the Western understanding of democracy, political leaders are now denying election results. In Georgia and Venezuela, it is highly likely that elections were rigged. Even in Switzerland, signature collections for initiatives are being cheated. These events show that democracy needs to evolve. The rapid technological progress that makes the developments described possible also provides opportunities to strengthen democracies and arm them against attacks.

Opportunities in Cryptography and Decentralization

Such promising technologies include distributed ledger technology (DLT), aka. blockchain. It combines aspects of encryption and decentralization, thus enabling unforgeable, transparent and unchangeable electronic applications. Of course, some of these future applications would also be conceivable with today’s (centralized, non-transparent) systems, but they would then be very easy to attack and misuse. DLT technology was conceived over 40 years ago. Today, however, it is primarily known in connection with the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Aside from the much-discussed speculation and hype surrounding these cryptocurrencies and tokens, blockchain technology offers enormous potential in much more fundamental digital applications.

This potential must now be harnessed in the interests of democracy. The key characteristics of DLT, namely decentralization, transparency and encryption, provide a perfect foundation for corresponding applications. As an example, we will look at secure digital signature collection, which is already being discussed in the Swiss Government following the 2024 forgery scandal.

Smart Contracts

Computer programs that run on blockchains are called smart contracts. So how can these smart contracts be used in the service of democracy? The answer lies in the above-mentioned properties of DLT. Firstly, smart contracts have the advantage that, once started, they cannot be manipulated (immutability). Secondly, the published program code can be independently verified (transparency). Furthermore, all interactions with the program are publicly visible. In contrast to counting by voting machine (or by hand), it is therefore not possible to cheat on the blockchain, as such unauthorized interventions would be either impossible or at least publicly visible.

Implementing smart contracts in the democratic process can offer a fundamental improvement for democratic systems. The task of election observers becomes much easier and publicly traceable. Election fraud, as with the aforementioned signature collections, will no longer be possible in this form because a digital signature cannot simply be copied in comparison to a physical one. It will also be much more difficult to deny an election result if it can be verified independently in the smart contract by anyone.

What is needed

The following section explains some of the technical requirements for the introduction of such a DLT-based petition system. 

The basis is formed by smart contract platforms, i.e. decentralized computer systems. The best-known platform today is Ethereum. These platforms enable the transparent and cryptographically secure operation of smart contracts for signature counting.

An important task is to ensure that only authorized voters can sign in order to prevent electoral fraud using bots. Digital proof of identity, which will be introduced in Switzerland (e-ID) and the EU starting in 2026, offers a solution here.

Just like the physical ID card, the Swiss e-ID will be issued by the Federal Office of Police at passport offices. It is based on a cryptographic key (private key) that is only stored on the respective device (smartphone). Not even the issuing authority knows the private key. There is a public key to go with the private key. The public key can be used to verify proof of identity signed with the private key. The Swiss Government will provide a database with all public keys issued so that digital identities can be verified by anyone at any time.

Decentralized Oracle Networks (DON) such as Chainlink form the link for secure data transmission between the state e-ID and the smart contract. Such networks make it possible to feed the identity verification results into the smart contracts in a forgery-proof manner.

Let’s now return to the example of collecting signatures. Let’s assume I would like to sign a digital petition in a smart contract. To do this, I identify myself to the DON with my e-ID. The DON checks my identity using the federal government’s public key database and passes the result on to the smart contract. The smart contract uses my verified identity to check whether I am authorized to sign. The smart contract then writes my signature under the digital petition on the blockchain. The signature has now been submitted and can be viewed independently on the blockchain, but can no longer be deleted.

Although my identity was used to verify my signature, it does not have to be publicly visible. It can be encrypted by the DON and sent to the smart contract without restricting the smart contract itself.

Outlook

The open beta of the Swiss e-ID starts this year. Chainlink has already made access to its Oracle network available in October 2024. Even the political will, which is often the biggest obstacle when it comes to advancing digital issues, is in place in Switzerland. The parts are coming together as we speak. They just need to be put in place correctly so that trials and tests can begin.

The right time to take our democracy to the next level is now. Switzerland is a small country, but our system of direct democracy is robust and highly regarded worldwide. At a time when democracy is under attack around the globe, we have the potential to lead by example and shape the democracy of the future.

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