Notice Board

Blockchain and Voting:
An Exploration into Elections Alberta’s Voting System and
How it Can Be Improved with Blockchain

Guest Speaker: Peter Hurd-Watler (Peter is a 4th year B. Mgt/B.A student working on an applied study with Prof. Robert Benkoczi)
Day/Date: Friday, October 25 2019
Time: 12 to 12:50 p.m.
Location: C640

Abstract:

All current election systems are littered with vulnerabilities and cannot be fully

trusted. They urge us to ask, is democracy dead? Paper ballots and unsecure voting

machines need to be replaced in order to create a trusted voting system and bring

democracy back to life. In order to solve these problems, we made it a goal to research

our current election systems and find a way to improve them. We found a potential

solution to these problems in blockchain. For our study, we researched voters,

organizations, and companies to understand how our election system works, what the

important problems are within it, and how it could be improved with blockchain. We

interviewed people working in organizations at the municipal, provincial, and federal

levels. We decided to use Elections Alberta as a case study to adequately explain how

an already-used election system can be improved with blockchain.

This presentation aims to explain the value of blockchain in reducing

vulnerabilities in Alberta’s voting process and how it can be used to create cheaper,

faster, and more legitimate elections.