While interest in online voting remains at the level it was during the pandemic shutdowns, anonymized statistics from Polys, a blockchain-based voting platform backed by Kaspersky, show that remote voting is becoming increasingly popular among new user groups. Business-related voting has become the second most common type of poll held on the blockchain-based platform in 2022.
The number of online polls skyrocketed in 2020, as restrictive measures forced people to study and work from home without the ability to communicate in person. However, despite the massive return to the workplace, some aspects of external interaction seem to have persisted. Online joint decision-making is among these aspects: a comparison of 2021 and 2022 Poly’s statistics[1] proves that the number of polls conducted remains at the same high level as during the pandemic.
However, researchers have observed several differences in the proportion and range of sectors that organize and participate in e-voting. While educational entities still lead, accounting for a share of 57% of polls, business has become the second most active sector, representing 14% of all sessions, compared to 7% in the same period in 2021. The platform’s users used polls to stay in control . elections, choose nominations for and winners of company competitions, and solve work-related questions, such as choosing the best team-building activity, organizing a conference or choosing a date to return to the office. E-voting was also used to obtain feedback from employees about the company’s solutions and services, and to obtain opinions on how to improve products and functions.
Among other changes in the past year, there has been a decline in sessions among voluntary organizations and government institutions, with activity almost halving. The data also shows that blockchain-based voting is gaining attention from new target groups, such as the gaming community, which were not previously among Polys’ users. Players usually use the platform to select guild commanders or top players and choose their team names.
“The fact that the number of voting sessions has remained at a consistently high level for a long time proves that our users perceive Polys not only as a temporary solution during lockdowns, but as a practical and reliable tool for a diverse set of tasks,” comments Daniil Kaptsan, leader of Polys. “We will continue to develop our product to ensure its versatile usability without compromising the confidentiality and security of voting.”
In 2022, Polys was listed among solid eDemocracy providers in the Digital Democracy Report by the Solonian Digital Democracy Institute for the second consecutive year. Experts particularly noted the solution for its extremely simple interface along with the ability to guarantee the secrecy of the vote while allowing voters to confirm that their vote has not been manipulated.
More information about Poly’s voting system is available via the link.
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[1] The results for H1 2021 and 2022 were compared during the study
