Democratic engagement is an issue. We know it and the European Commission knows it. Voter registration, engagement in the political processes and, crucially, voter turnout are problems as old as democracy itself, which unsurprisingly continue to present challenges in the 21st century. The Commission has, however, released a grant for new technologies to have a go at solving it.
On Friday, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of America. In November last year, he won a bitterly fought campaign against Hilary Clinton. America voted for a significant shift in leadership after eight years with Barack Obama at the helm in the White House. Read about the inauguration here!
Our CEO Ralf Müller gave a speech at the Bitkom Academy in Frankfurt am Main about how Blockchain can help with the verification processes of online voting. We have compiled some of the most important and interesting aspects of using Blockchain technology to help improve online voting systems.
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The new information technology… Internet and e-mail… have practically eliminated the physical costs of communications.
Peter Drucker (1909-2005), US-american economist
Yesterday all eyes were on Brussels. The EU parliamentary president elections took place in the wake of the collapse of the Grand Coalition in 2016 and the previous president, Martin Schulz, stepping down. Read on for more information from our regular #election news blog. Continue reading
EU citizens go to the polls every five years to elect their representatives in the European Parliament, one of the EU’s two legislative bodies alongside the Council of the European Union (not to be confused with the European Council, which is made up of the heads of state or government of EU member states! Simple, […]
The term “online voting” is often confused with “electronic voting”. Electronic voting is namely the use of voting machines whereas online voting is using the internet at your convenience to vote. Online voting needs to break away from under the shadow of voting machines and highlight its potential. Indeed, online and electronic voting have nothing to do with one another.
2017 is around the corner and it’s going to be an exciting year for POLYAS and digital democracy. New projects, new technology and new locations are on the horizon. In 2017 we will continue with our successes from 2016. Continue reading
With its numerous referendums, Switzerland is regarded as the model democratic state. However, a relative low number of citizens use this method of influencing politics directly. Previous referendums have had a voter turnout of around 30%. That is why the Swiss, as well as other countries, are thinking about introducing compulsory voting. In this part of our series, we have collected and summarized the advantages and disadvantages to this proposal. Continue reading
In North America, voting is not compulsory. In a democracy, individuals can decide for themselves if they make use of their right to vote. Still, non-voters are often in the media focus. Newspapers report about the voter turnout in elections even on Election Day. Days before, you can find raising requests to go vote in social media. Continue reading
At the end of the year, it is tradition to look back at the past months. We from POLYAS look back at our year full of achievements. In 2016 we’ve set an important course for our company, our product and the future of digital democracy. Continue reading
In Germany, voting is a right which citizens can refuse to exercise. However, in other countries, it is compulsory. In the second part of our series, we present these countries and explain the consequences on society. Continue reading