Bolivia Elections: NFTs on Solana for Transparency and Timestamp

The government in Bolivia tested a blockchain solution on Solana during the second round of elections, employing TuVotoSeguro to create immutable and timestamped records of ballot photographs. It is important to note that this approach did not replace paper ballots but aimed to enhance public verifiability, making any tampering in transit detectable.

What the TuVotoSeguro pilot revealed about the elections

The test, limited and deliberately circumscribed, took place in October 2025 during the runoff. TuVotoSeguro was developed by Impera Strategy and operated on a small group of polling stations with bipartisan consensus. Additionally, the system did not alter the paper voting practice nor required citizens to use smartphones; the blockchain served only as a parallel public ledger.

In fact, the pilot aimed to produce a timed and unequivocal trail of ballot photographs, addressing allegations from the previous 2019 crisis regarding alleged alterations during transport.

How ballots became NFTs

The paper ballots were counted on-site and then photographed. The images maintained the priority of the physical document while adding a parallel digital trail. Additionally, a check with AI tools and human review was applied before associating metadata such as timestamp and polling station code.

Subsequently, the images and their metadata were minted as NFTs and published on Solana’s public network, creating a permanent and consultable record.

Who verified the images

The capturing of ballot images was handled by the local polling station staff. Meanwhile, the photos were analyzed by AI-supported tools and then validated by human reviewers to intercept evident inconsistencies before on-chain publication. This double verification aimed to reduce the risk of errors during the publication phase.

Bolivia Elections: Explanation of the ballot-to-NFT process on Solana

The move created an immutable record useful for detecting tampering that occurred in transit, directly addressing the 2019 disputes. However, the timestamp acts as a cryptographic anchor and does not validate the original count.

Overall, by publishing metadata and timestamps, the system produced a verifiable history of the chain of custody for each ballot that can be checked by independent third parties.

Bolivia Elections on Solana: Comparison with other initiatives

In other cases, blockchain experiments have shown significant limitations. Voatz came under fire after its use in 2018; Trail of Bits and academic analyses highlighted vulnerabilities. Additionally, the trial with Agora in Sierra Leone in 2018 showed discrepancies between the digital ledger and paper.

In contrast, Bolivia’s choice not to replace paper seems to be a lesson learned from those experiences, reducing the attack surface compared to systems that eliminated the physical document.

Political context of October 19, 2025

The runoff on October 19, 2025 followed a first round that interrupted two decades of leftist dominance. In particular, the contest between Jorge ‘Tuto’ Quiroga and Rodrigo Paz saw the electoral collapse of the MAS party. Therefore, the political context made a verifiable trail of the Actas urgent for various factions.

Indeed, the high percentage of blank and null ballots, over 20%, indicated tension and protest. Consequently, local stakeholders argued that an auditable record could restore public trust in the document transport phase.

Potential and limitations in detecting tampering in transit

From a technical standpoint, once an NFT is minted, the timestamped record is immutable. However, on-chain immutability exposes potential discrepancies between the published image and a paper document shown later, thus creating an evidentiary trail.

However, the system does not guarantee the integrity of the initial capture: a corrupted camera or compromised device can produce already manipulated images. Therefore, procedural checks at the time of capture are essential.

Comparison with alternative solutions and recommendations

A well-implemented cryptographic database could provide similar temporal receipts without a public blockchain. On the other hand, using a public network promotes visibility and verification by independent observers.

Additionally, experts recommend procedural checks at the source, independent oversight, and enhancing the security of devices used for photography. That said, technical transparency does not replace solid institutions.

Implications for regulation and trust

Overall, the pilot demonstrated that a timestamped record can make the chain of custody auditable during the transport of ballots, offering greater transparency without affecting paper voting. Therefore, the elections in Bolivia where Solana’s blockchain was used represent an interesting experiment to increase verifiability and deter tampering.

Finally, policymakers should evaluate secure capture procedures, independent audits, and the potential use of cryptographic databases in light of local resources and regulations.