Bitcoin and online voting

Fascinating article at http://www.newscientist.com/mobile/article/mg21328476.500-bitcoin-online-currency-gets-new-job-in-web-security.html about using the infrastructure and record keeping features of online currency to ensure integrity in online voting systems.

" Sending a tiny fraction of a bitcoin - a small transaction - to that address would allow the holder of that list to store it in the public record without revealing its contents. When they later publish the message for verification, anyone can repeat the conversion to a Bitcoin address and confirm its age by checking the public record."