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Hot Topics: Blockchain for Election Integrity with Nimit Sawhney from Voatz
On this Hot Topics episode of The Edge of Show, host January Jones and guest co-host Isabel Castro (creator of Utopia in Beta) sit down with Nimit Sawhney, co-founder and CEO of Voatz, to unpack how blockchain election integrity is moving from buzzword to real-world infrastructure. Together, they explore what a U.S. government shutdown means for blockchain election integrity, why New York is revisiting a bill to test blockchain for voter records, and how Voatz used a mobile-first, blockchain-backed platform to power overseas voting in Mexico’s 2024 federal elections. With a focus on blockchain election integrity as “radical transparency” and a “source of truth” beyond finance, this episode shows how mobile voting, zero-knowledge proofs, and verifiable audit trails can protect democracy without forcing voters to learn crypto. If you care about election security, accessible voting, and where blockchain election integrity is really heading, this conversation belongs on your must-listen list.
Key Topics Covered
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**U.S. government shutdown and blockchain election integrity ** The crew explores how a U.S. government shutdown stalled digital asset bills and ETF approvals, yet blockchain election integrity and crypto markets kept moving. They highlight the irony of regulators pausing while decentralized systems stay online and self-governing.
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**Self-regulation, trust and blockchain election integrity ** January, Isabel and Nimit debate whether crypto can prove it’s capable of self-regulation during regulatory pauses. They connect trust, bad actors, and blockchain election integrity, asking how far decentralized systems can go without constant government oversight.
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**New York’s blockchain election integrity bill ** The episode examines New York’s renewed effort to study whether blockchain can secure voter records and results. Nimit explains why voter registration databases and results reporting are prime targets for blockchain election integrity, especially for auditability and tamper-resistance.
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**How Voatz applies blockchain election integrity in practice ** Nimit walks through Voatz’s mobile-first design for overseas, military, and disabled voters, where ballots are recorded on a blockchain network and printed on paper for tabulation. This blend of digital verification and paper audits showcases applied blockchain election integrity at scale.
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**Mexico’s 2024 federal election case study ** The team dives into how Voatz supported overseas voting for Mexico’s historic 2024 federal elections, enabling more than 100,000 citizens abroad to vote electronically while logging key election events on-chain—an ambitious live test of blockchain election integrity and radical transparency.
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**Digital Democracy Project and bottom-up blockchain election integrity ** Nimit explains the Digital Democracy Project, where citizens use Voatz to vote on state and federal bills and lawmakers can see district-level sentiment. It’s a bottom-up experiment in blockchain election integrity that doesn’t require changing election law but still pressures representatives.
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**Blockchain as a “source of truth” beyond money ** In closing, Nimit reframes blockchain from pure finance tool to “source of truth” for disputed data—from elections to voter rolls and beyond. The panel argues that blockchain election integrity is really about preserving truth, resolving disputes, and reducing conspiracy-fueling information gaps.
Episode Highlights
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“Is this where crypto can show we’re self-governing? If the SEC is shut down for a month and blockchain election integrity keeps moving, maybe we don’t actually need them in every corner of this industry.” — **January Jones **
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“We aren’t asking users to worry about keys or crypto wallets. Elections are complicated enough. Our focus is making blockchain election integrity feel simple—verify your identity, mark your ballot, get a receipt, and know your vote counted.” — **Nimit Sawhney **
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“For many absentee voters, a paper ballot in a box is just blind trust. With a blockchain-based network, your ballot stays secret, but you know it’s there, you know it counted, and you know it mattered. That’s a completely different level of election integrity.” — **Nimit Sawhney **
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“Some people say paper ballots are safer because they’re physical. But when those paper ballots are going into Tupperware and car trunks, blockchain election integrity starts to look a lot more serious than people realize.” — **January Jones **
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“Think of blockchain beyond money—as a preserver of truth. If blockchain election integrity can transparently log what really happened, we can resolve so many disputes, from how we vote to how we register voters.” — **Nimit Sawhney **
People and Resources Mentioned
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January Jones
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Isabel Castro
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Nimit Sawhney
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Voatz
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Utopia in Beta
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Digital Democracy Project
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Government Blockchain Association
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Future of Money, Governance and the Law Summit
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U.S. federal government / Congress
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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
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New York State Assembly
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Mexican federal elections / Mexican electoral authorities
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Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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Ontario municipal governments (Canada) using Voatz pilots
About Our Guest
Nimit Sawhney is the co-founder and CEO of Voatz, a mobile elections platform that uses remote identity verification, biometrics, and blockchain to enable secure, accessible voting via smartphones, tablets, and kiosks. Under his leadership, Voatz has powered more than 150 public and private elections worldwide, including pilots for military and overseas voters in U.S. states such as West Virginia, Utah, and Colorado, helping pioneer blockchain election integrity in real civic processes. Voatz has also supported large-scale projects like Mexico’s 2024 federal elections for citizens abroad and municipal elections in dozens of Canadian cities, demonstrating how verifiable audit trails and mobile-first design can expand participation while preserving security. Nimit continues to advocate for using blockchain as a transparent “source of truth” for democratic systems, pushing forward practical applications of blockchain election integrity far beyond speculative crypto markets.
Guest & Guest Co-Host Contacts
**Nimit Sawhney ** LinkedIn Link https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimsim/[ Apple Podcasts ](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hot-topics-blockchain-for-election-integrity-with/id1568943338?i=1000729966195&l=fr-FR&utm_source=chatgpt.com) Website Link https://voatz.com/ Wikipedia+1 Twitter Link https://x.com/yenhwas[ Apple Podcasts+1](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hot-topics-blockchain-for-election-integrity-with/id1568943338?i=1000729966195&l=fr-FR&utm_source=chatgpt.com)
**Isabel Castro ** LinkedIn Link https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelle-castro-43187763[ Apple Podcasts ](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hot-topics-blockchain-for-election-integrity-with/id1568943338?i=1000729966195&l=fr-FR&utm_source=chatgpt.com) Website Link https://utopiainbeta.substack.com/ Apple Podcasts Twitter Link https://x.com/IZYcastrowrites
Transcript:
Isabel Castro:
Foreign.
January Jones:
Welcome to Hot Topics on the Edge of Show. I’m January Jones here with my special co host Isabel Castro, creator of Utopia in Beta.
Isabel Castro:
Good to be here. I’m joining from the talent of Token in Singapore today.
January Jones:
We are a real trooper because it is the middle of the night, but come on, crypto never sleeps, right?
Isabel Castro:
Absolutely.
January Jones:
We also have Nimit Shani from the Votas. Votas is joining us today. They are a sponsor of our upcoming summit in D.C. with the government blockchain association called the Future of Money, Governance and the law on October 30. And Votas is a mobile first elections platform with a blockchain backed in infrastructure. So we’re very happy to have you here and we’ve kind of styled the stories today to focus around issues around blockchain and elections, which is a really interesting topic and pretty hopeful. So thanks for being here, Nimit.
Nimit Shani:
Thank you for having me here, Annmarie.
Isabel Castro:
Coming up, we will talk about the US Government shutdown’s impact on crypto blockchain for Election Integrity Bill in New York. And we’ll talk with Nimit about how votes implemented online voting during Mexico’s federal elections.
January Jones:
This is another production of The Edge of Company, a rapidly growing media ecosystem empowering the pioneers of Web3 technology, culture and innovation. Let’s get into it. Well, we are just two days into a US government shutdown that began on October 4, first after Congress failed to reach a funding deal, halting legislative work completely, including Senate action on the closely watched digital Asset market structure bill. It also means the SEC has to pause most activities, including the highly anticipated spot ETF approvals. So this impact is really across the board in the United States. And so not to withhold compassion from all the other things, that this is really shutting down a lot of services for people. But we’re going to keep this in a crypto focused view. And so there’s some few angles here that are, that are coming up for me as far as what this looks like.
January Jones:
And I think in the least, I think we can see a little bit of irony of the government trying to regulate crypto but shutting down because they can’t agree. I mean, like we just said, It’s 1:00am for you, Isabel. Crypto never sleeps. But the government can shut down indefinitely over these politics.
January Jones:
And so there’s that irony of this entity trying to regulate crypto. And so, you know, some people are seeing this as a self regulation opportunity. You know, maybe the crypto industry doesn’t need government in these respects. Just laying it out there. There’s a few other ways to look at this, of course, lots of implications. So, Nimit, Isabel, what are your thoughts on this? Let’s go to Nimit first.
Nimit Shani:
Yeah, I do agree there’s a sense of. I knew there. Obviously the shutdown was disappointing for many people who are looking forward to some of these bills making progress, particularly in the Senate. So that’s gonna get further delayed and obviously there isn’t consensus in the Senate to move ahead. I think some changes might, might come up. Obviously one side of the political spectrum isn’t supporting some of the changes, so. Yeah, it is interesting. And also, like you rightly said, looking at it from an independent outsider’s perspective, it is curious to look at some of the things that are happening in the background.
Nimit Shani:
Almost like you scratch my back, I scratch your back, and stablecoins is one area where one country is investing or promising to invest money and suddenly the stablecoin linked to them is being promoted. So I think that part is disappointing because that isn’t. It wasn’t the original idea behind, you know, blockchain and crypto. And so it does seem like we lost our way a little bit.
Isabel Castro:
Yeah, I mean, what I found quite interesting. I don’t really want to talk too much about price action because that’s not primarily what I focus on in crypto, but it hasn’t made much of a dent. So I think, like the fact that the government shut down and crypto’s a little going up, it’s still going up. And yeah, I mean, I think everyone there is like this consensus that we ETF approval, all of that kind of stuff, it is going to happen. It’s just delayed and crypto happens anyway. I think this just kind of like highlights that regardless of what the government’s doing, crypto exists and crypto can happen, whatever they want to do. It’s obviously not great for legitimization and kind of like moving the industry into kind of a mature state, but I mean, I think it will go through. As you said, it will be business as usual too.
Isabel Castro:
So I don’t think it’s too much to worry about. It’s just highlighting a couple of things in regards to crypto versus the government, which we are so well versed on after the past I don’t know how many years.
January Jones:
Yeah, I mean, you know, is this, is this where crypto can show we’re self governing? You know, like if the, if the shutdown happens for a month, the SEC is not doing anything, it could prove the case that we don’t actually need you in this industry. We police each other. Also opens the door for a lot of bad actors as well, doesn’t it? And so it is always that balance. But in the scheme of things, we’re looking at a US Government shutdown of many vital services. And so that has a lot of impacts that a lot of people aren’t even concerned, you know, with what’s going on with crypto. But I think from both of your comments, you know, we do see confidence in the industry. So no matter what, like, things are going to move forward. It’s just a pause right now.
January Jones:
But it’s an ironic pause, isn’t it? Yeah. Anyways, yeah, it’s like, oh, we told you. Well, let’s move on to the next topic. So we’ve been talking about the federal government, but let’s turn our focus to the states. So much of the crypto story there has been centered on reserves for states and Wyoming’s stablecoin experiment, which is launching, which is very fascinating. Wyoming is also doing a lot of other crypto friendly legislation there that people are paying attention to. But another blockchain application that’s been quietly resurfacing for many years is election integrity. And specifically in New York, an Assembly member recently reintroduced a bill and it’s a continuing legislated effort dating back to 2017.
January Jones:
And the bill says, let’s study whether blockchain technology can protect voter records and election results. So we’re seeing this rapid acceleration of crypto adoption and technological understanding in some ways.
January Jones:
So could this finally be the moment when states are ready to take using the blockchain for election Integrity seriously? So, Nimit, you have been on the cutting edge of this coming out of the gates early in 2020 with your company and your intention. What is your perspective on this?
Nimit Shani:
Yeah, it’s, it’s good to see there is a lot of negativity associated with elections. There has been for the past few years. So anything new or innovative is usually swept aside in that negativity. So it’s definitely good to see the New York bill come up again. So in our case, the very first election we worked on was in the 2018 Midterms in the state of West Virginia, which was the first election in U.S. history. Do we utilize a blockchain based infrastructure? And was a few voters from the military and so that expanded in 2019 to other states like Utah and Oregon and then, you know, continues to grow. But it’s a small, small segment of voters who have access to that Primarily military voters, people living overseas, people with disabilities.
Nimit Shani:
So it hasn’t expanded beyond that small demographic in the U.S. oh, decade.
January Jones:
So you’re saying states are using it for voters who are in residence anymore, right?
Nimit Shani:
Yeah, yeah, they’re primarily, you know, military personnel or people who are US Citizens outside the country. And then in a small number of cases, people. People with disabilities, anybody who can hand mark a paper ballot.
January Jones:
Yeah. Provincial votes.
January Jones:
That’s. That’s what they call those. Yeah. And sometimes those don’t get counted if the election isn’t close, so. Right, that’s another body. Yeah.
Nimit Shani:
Yeah. So one of the advantages of using a digital system is, you know, your ballot makes it okay. You get a confirmation before 8pm on election night. It’s going to, you know, it’s going to count. So it’s good for the voters. But the New York bill is interesting because it’s also expanding the scope. It’s also looking at one of the other areas which is often underlooked, which is the voter registration systems and the results reporting systems. So those are very good candidates for using blockchain based auditing or blockchain based verification mechanisms.
Nimit Shani:
So definitely good to see. And you know, small pilots happening all over the place. So it’s positive, but it’s, it’s also slow than we all would like, but it’s still positive.
January Jones:
Yeah, I think it has so much potential. And if anybody, you know, has been a voter in small elections, county and local elections, it could be paper plus digital.
January Jones:
But you’ve never had a way to track your vote. I mean, I did election coverage for a local government for many years in a small town, and I watched like, the election officials put paper votes in like Tupperware containers and like put them in their trunk and then drive them over to be counted. Are you kidding me?
Isabel Castro:
That’s ridiculous.
January Jones:
It is, but it still happens. It still happens.
January Jones:
So, Isabel, what are your thoughts? Like, you’ve been researching this as we’ve been talking about it, and I know you have a lot of questions that comes up, like, what are some things that you, you want to ask them?
Isabel Castro:
Yeah, I mean, like when I was doing the research around this, obviously, like looking at kind of different opinions, and I was surprised at a lot of the sentiment towards kind of blockchain 4 voting was kind of negative. And like, I saw some things talking about paper ballots, some things saying that paper ballots were more secure than blockchain because they were physical.
January Jones:
But I just told you they put them in the trunk.
Isabel Castro:
Exactly, exactly. It just to me it doesn’t make sense. And then there was this other kind of like take that. We aren’t at the level of blockchain adoption yet for this to warrant exploring and it’s just too complicated for people. So Nimit, I kind of wanted to ask you, in the development of votes, has the level of blockchain adoption really been much of a friction point? And if so, how have you approached it to reach the level of users that you’ve achieved?
Nimit Shani:
Yeah, it hasn’t because we aren’t asking users to worry about their keys or their crypto wallets. The moment you get there, then you create a friction point. Elections are complicated enough, right? You don’t want to add that another level of complexity. So what we’ve tried to do is make the voters process relatively simple and you know, straightforward. Where they verify themselves, you know, with the government issued photo ID selfie creates a, we call as a self sovereign ID credential that’s stored in a device and then depending on your eligibility, you use your ballot on your, you know, phone or computer and then you can market submit. It gets recorded on a blockchain network and you get a receipt and then at your election officials office it prints out the paper ballot. And that’s in the US because the law requires it all tabulation happens on paper.
Nimit Shani:
So with that approach, you know, you’re not, you’re not creating education as a barrier. You actually, you know, enabling people to just get started in a very simple way. And if somebody wants to dive in, you know, do the mathematical verification of the zero knowledge proof, they still have the ability to do that, that’s a very small number of people right now who choose to do that. So I absolutely agree. Making the process simple and you know, very kind of as friendly as you can from a visual perspective. That’s, that’s been key for us. And then the other aspect is for a lot of these absentee voters, no pay per A is not an option. And even for those like who can mail in a ballot they feel like they have, obviously can track your mail, but it doesn’t give you the confidence that your ballot was actually, you know, really did it really count? Because you don’t get that assurance, paper ballot goes in a box like you said, and then you’re trusting the rest of the process.
Nimit Shani:
Somebody didn’t throw it away, the machine actually counted it, it really mattered. With a digital network, with a blockchain based network, the user, right until the last point tabulation is happening and then even the post Selection stage. The ballot is secret. You know, it’s there, nobody can see it, but, you know, it actually counted. So it’s actually giving you a higher level of assurance than a physical paper. So that’s the part people miss, but the people who use the system actually realize, oh, wow, I can actually. I know that’s my vote.
Nimit Shani:
January Jones:
January Jones:
Nimit Shani:
Nimit Shani:
Nimit Shani:
Nimit Shani:
Nimit Shani:
Any citizen can participate.
January Jones:
January Jones:
January Jones:
Nimit Shani:
Nimit Shani:
Nimit Shani:
Nimit Shani:
January Jones:
January Jones:
Nimit Shani:
So let’s hope so. Let’s hope so.
January Jones:
Isabel Castro:
January Jones:
January Jones:
January Jones:
January Jones:
Like human error. It happens all the time.
January Jones:
January Jones:
January Jones:
Nimit Shani:
Isabel Castro:
January Jones:
I’m January here with our guest co host Isabel Castro from Utopian. Don’t forget to stay curious and keep pushing boundaries. Subscribe to us on your platform of choice and follow us on socials so you never miss what’s next on the edge of show.