Next week, Brock University students will be on the front lines of a landmark election, the first entirely digital vote with end-to-end verifiability held by a Canadian municipality.<\/p>\n
The mock vote, which will focus on pizza, is non-binding and non-political \u2014 but that doesn\u2019t make it any less significant in the rapidly changing digital-voting landscape. The project is part of Nicole Goodman\u2019s Canadian Politics in the Digital Age course.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur course is all about the impact of digital technology on politics in Canada, and for the Service Learning assignment, students are examining how technology is changing elections, notably through online voting,\u201d says Goodman, an Associate Professor in Brock\u2019s Department of Political Science who holds a Chancellor\u2019s Chair for Research Excellence for her work in this area<\/a>. \u201cIn the last municipal election in 2018, four companies had market share among municipalities, but now at least 14 are bidding on contracts in the run-up to the 2022 election. The nature of the market is changing significantly, largely in response to COVID-19 and the pressures that it has put on governments to offer more accessible voting.\u201d<\/p>\n To create a unique educational experience for her students, Goodman has joined forces with Woolwich Township and Neuvote<\/a> to host and analyze a mock election.<\/p>\n Between Tuesday, Oct. 12 and Friday, Oct. 15, residents of Woolwich will use Neuvote\u2019s voting platform with end-to-end verifiability, which allows individual users to confirm that their votes were correctly received, to participate in the mock election.<\/p>\n Brock students will also take part in voting and then assess the entire process from the standpoint of both policy analysts and private consultants, zeroing in on one key issue and preparing a report with their findings and actionable recommendations for both public- and private-sector partners.<\/p>\n Working in groups, the students will examine the election\u2019s accessibility, security and privacy, turnout and convenience, election evaluation and user experience.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited to partner with Brock University in this mock election and experiential learning project,\u201d says Jeff Smith, Clerk for Woolwich Township. \u201cWe are reviewing ways to provide an exceptional election experience for our voters, and we welcome the feedback and analysis provided by students for the 2022 municipal and school board elections.\u201d<\/p>\n