What's happening
This bill directs a study on using blockchain technology to protect voter records and election results in New York.
Why it matters
Potential for Enhanced Security. By studying blockchain technology for elections, New York is exploring more tamper-resistant and auditable ways to store sensitive voter records and election results, which could help prevent hacking and data manipulation.
Expert-Driven Evaluation. The bill requires input from specialists in blockchain, voter fraud, cybersecurity, and election administration, ensuring a comprehensive look at both the technology’s promise and its risks or limitations.
Learning from Other Jurisdictions. The study isn’t limited to New York’s context; it will also consider how blockchain has been tested or implemented in other states and formats, potentially accelerating adoption of proven best practices or highlighting pitfalls to avoid.
Laying Groundwork for Future Election Reforms. Even though it’s just a study, this legislation could be the first step toward major modernization of New York’s election infrastructure, influencing future policy choices and public trust in election integrity.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Study Blockchain for Elections
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
19 Co-sponsors
1 Multi-sponsor
History
- Referred to election law
- Referred to election law
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8792
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
November 27, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. VANEL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law
AN ACT directing the study of the use of blockchain technology to protect voter records and election results
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. a. The state board of elections, in consultation with, and using data collected by, the office of information technology services, shall study and evaluate the use of blockchain technology to protect voter records and election results.
b. For purposes of this act, "blockchain technology" shall mean distributed ledger technology that uses a distributed, decentralized, shared and replicated ledger, which may be public or private, permissioned or permissionless, or driven by tokenized crypto economics or tokenless. The data on the ledger is protected with cryptography, is immutable and auditable and provides an uncensored truth.
§ 2. No later than one year after the effective date of this act, the state board of elections shall submit to the governor and the legislature a report on the use of blockchain technology, as described under subdivision a of section one of this act. Such board shall consider the use of blockchain technology in other formats and in other states when creating such report.
§ 3. The state board of elections shall evaluate such data with the assistance of experts in:
a. blockchain technology;
b. voter fraud;
c. cyber security;
d. voter records; and
e. election results.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13757-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.