ACCESS becomes the world’s first association to run on-premise blockchain voting in 2020 AGM
SINGAPORE, 13 January 2020 – The Association of Cryptocurrency Enterprises and Start-ups, Singapore (ACCESS) announced it successfully ran an on-premise blockchain voting during its annual general meeting (AGM). This makes ACCESS the world’s first association to officially implement a blockchain technology solution for on-premise voting beyond a pilot phase, in a live environment for attending members.
The blockchain voting solution was developed by ACCESS member JEDTrade, an enterprise blockchain technology solutions provider, using the Ethereum blockchain and Metamask as the Ethereum wallet to interact with the blockchain. The solution aims to increase transparency in the voting process, protect member anonymity in vote casting, and prevent double voting.
The blockchain voting during the ACCESS AGM was executed based on the following process: members place their votes for future appointment holders and agenda items on a blockchain, utilising the advantages of blockchain technology such as immutability, transparency, and traceability. In addition, anonymity is established through the disconnection between members and their vote, hence a vote cannot be traced back to its originator.
A list of voting codes are randomly generated, hashed and stored in a Code Management Smart Contract, before physical copies are printed as a QR code and randomly distributed to members upon registration at the AGM. It is important to emphasize that the codes are linked to neither voters nor their votes, providing anonymity. Each code status is tracked in the Code Management Smart Contract to ensure voters are only permitted to submit one vote, hence preventing double voting. The Voting Smart Contract is used to initiate and track votes. It will contain the positions, candidates running under each position and the number of seats available for each position. Voters can then send their votes via generic machines (with a fixed blockchain address) to the Voting Smart Contract. The ability to track the hashed codes on the blockchain helps improve the efficiency in verifying authentic votes based on the voting rights assigned, reducing voting errors and fraud.
Figure 2: Swimlane diagram of the on-premise voting process
On-premise blockchain voting presents a secure way in processing member votes with multiple smart contract deployments, which results can be accessed and authenticated by various stakeholders on the blockchain. Further technical documentation on the smart contract deployment can be found here: https://www.access-sg.org/secure/content/f/id/10.
Mr. Anson Zeall, Chairman of ACCESS, said, “ACCESS is proud to be the first association in the world to carry out the first on-premise blockchain voting with JEDTrade and our members at our AGM. The blockchain voting process helps uphold the true values of democratic voting in ensuring authentic votes are being legitimately accounted for with a transparent audit trail. We are seeing the future of corporate governance through the implementation of blockchain technology starting with our most important corporate governance event, our AGM.”
Dr. Ernie Teo, Chief Executive Officer of JEDTrade, said, “JEDTrade is happy to have supported ACCESS for their AGM. The on-premise requirement meant that we needed an effective approach. We are proud to have successfully deployed this unique use case and provide ACCESS members with a smooth and transparent voting process.”
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Notes to Editor: For corporate logos and high res photos, please go to ACCESS Media Kit.
<Image: ACCESS Board Picture. Caption: The incoming ACCESS Board. Pictured from left to right: Mr. Jarrod Luo, Ms. Grace Chong, Mr. Aga Manhao, Ms. Katherine Ng, Mr. Anson Zeall, Mrs. Zann Kwan, Mr. Yu Sarn Chiew>
<Image: JEDTrade voting booth. Caption: The JEDTrade team running the blockchain voting solution at the ACCESS AGM>.
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About the Association of Crypto-Currency Enterprises and Start-ups, Singapore (ACCESS):
ACCESS is a non-profit organisation for the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry in Singapore. Members represent a spectrum of businesses within the Singapore blockchain and cryptocurrency space, including exchanges, merchant transaction services, vending machines suppliers and miners, and abide by a Code of Conduct that is in line with our mission statement. ACCESS has grown its membership from 7 companies since its establishment in 2014 to the current 400 companies. For more information, please visit https://access-sg.org.
About JEDTrade:
JEDTrade (“JED”) is a leading technology company that aims to empower enterprises with blockchain technology. The company offers a suite of solutions focused around business processes and privacy. JED also provides objective guidance and insights that are tailored to each client’s industry and needs, focusing on three domains: data, supply chain and financial services. For more information, please visit https://jedtrade.com/
Media Contacts:
Nora Sng
Kreab Singapore
nsng@kreab.com/ +65 9791 5366
Vanessa Mok
JedTrade
vanessa.mok@jedtrade.com/ +65 8787 9338