Bitcoin vs. Bureaucracy: Ensuring Election Integrity in Guatemala with Carliñ0 | EP.047
“With this place and system, there’s no deciding behind closed doors what happens. People decide.”
On this week’s episode we are joined by Carliño, the founder of DigitalWitness.io, sharing his journey of using Bitcoin and the Lightning Network to safeguard Guatemala's voting system. He highlights the parallels between Bitcoin and the voting system, emphasising the importance of censorship-resistant money and the dangers of giving unelected bureaucrats the power to destroy lives. Carliño explains how he turned auditing the election into a game, gamifying the experience for young people and incentivising them to learn about Bitcoin. He also discusses the use of blockchain certifications and optical character recognition to verify the integrity of the voting system. Carliño discusses the importance of using Bitcoin to protect democracy and ensure the integrity of elections. He shares his experience in Guatemala, where Bitcoin was used to verify and timestamp election data, preventing election fraud accusations. Carliño emphasizes the need for individuals to take responsibility and verify the data themselves, rather than relying on the state. He encourages Bitcoiners to run full nodes and participate in the democratic process by demanding access to primary source data. Carliño believes that Bitcoin can be an anchor of truth in a sea of lies and that it has the power to level the playing field between individuals and the state.
Takeaways
Bitcoin has the potential to transform democracy by providing censorship-resistant money and enhancing transparency and accountability in voting systems.
The voting system in Guatemala is a decentralized consensus algorithm that relies on citizen volunteers to protect and count the votes.
Carlinio's work with DigitalWitness.io and SimpleProof.com demonstrates how blockchain technology can be used to audit and verify election results.
Gamifying the auditing process can engage young people and incentivize them to learn about Bitcoin and participate in the democratic process.
The use of blockchain certifications and optical character recognition can ensure the integrity of voting system data and protect against manipulation. Bitcoin can be used to protect democracy and ensure the integrity of elections by verifying and timestamping election data.
Individuals should take responsibility and verify the data themselves, rather than relying on the state.
Running full nodes and demanding access to primary source data can help ensure transparency and accountability in the democratic process.
Bitcoin serves as an anchor of truth in a sea of lies, allowing individuals to challenge and expose fraudulent practices.
Bitcoiners have the power to participate in the democratic process and make a difference by using Bitcoin to protect democracy.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Carlinio and his work with DigitalWitness.io
07:56 The Value of Censorship-Resistant Money
14:36 The Parallels Between Bitcoin and the Voting System
28:24 Verifying the Integrity of Voting System Data
37:13 Gamifying Auditing: Engaging Young People in the Democratic Process
43:26 Using Bitcoin to Protect Democracy
53:21 Verifying Data and Running Full Nodes
59:23 Bitcoin as an Anchor of Truth
01:09:57 Participating in Democracy with Bitcoin
Connect with Carliño:
X: https://twitter.com/carlostoriello
E-Mail(s): Carlos@FundacionHCG.org / simpleproof@nostr.gt / hello@digitalwitness.io / Support@Stakwork.com
Website(s): https://fundacionhcg.org / https://fiscaldigital.net/english / https://simpleproof.com / https://stakwork.com
Block Height: 847 763
