On Thursday 30 April, Electis will showcase their proof of concept of voting on the Tezos blockchain with students and staff participating in elections from 23 universities spread across 14 countries.
The development of such an open-source voting platform by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and subjecting it to scientific evaluation is aimed at proving the “…the suitability of blockchain for secure e-voting…”
Fit for Purpose
Issues surrounding ballot tampering and voting fraud in conventional elections are a worldwide concern and regularly undermining belief in the democratic process.
While the USA are not alone in failing scrutiny, they are currently the most prominent with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) publishing an open letter to Governors and Secretaries of State stating the “…insecurity of online voting.”
In this context, while the Electis trial is confined to a cross-university project, a successful test would contribute to proving the secure and immutable nature of blockchain voting and may have wider implications.
Electis were one of the projects awarded an ecosystem grant by the Tezos Foundation in January and a member of the project’s core team, Gilles Mentre, recently discussed “Blockchain for Good” at the Paris Blockchain Day at the French National Assembly.
Earlier this month, Mentre recognised that there is probably “…no unique solution that meets all needs…” but suggested that the Cross-University Vote project “…is a first step towards a trustworthy e-voting platform in the hands of the community to be an opposing force to growing centralisation of our political system.”
*Academic Institutions confirmed to be involved in the Cross-University Vote project: Estonia: Tallin University of Technology. France: Polytechnique Paris, Strate University, Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University, Sorbonne Paris 1, Assas Paris 2. Georgia: University of Georgia. Germany: CODE University, Frankfurt School, Universität Freiburg. India: Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Japan: Ritsumeikan University. Mexico: National Autonomous University of Mexico. Morocco: Mohammed 6 Polytechnique. Switzerland: École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne. Tunisia: Polytechnique Tunis. UK: University of Edinburgh, King’s College London. USA: New York University, Howard University, West Virginia University.
