Afghanistan Election Results Site Raising Questions - As Designed

One of the key goals of our AfghanistanElectionData site is to make the election process more transparent. The site combines raw election results with data from several sources, then provides tools that make that data easy to use so that people could better understand and assess the quality of the election process.

The site uses data browsers, visualization tools like maps and graphs, and a clean design to make this information as easy to use as possible. It was created not to draw conclusions about the process and share them, but rather to provide tools that make the process more transparent by allowing anyone to slice and dice the data as they see fit for their own analysis and to draw their own conclusions.

For example, we're delighted to have seen the tool used as intended by Garrett Schure, blogging last weekend at Daily Kos. Garrett used the site to do an analysis of the 2009 results data, then looked at the available media coverage of last week's Wolesi Jirga elections (the results data from the 9/18 election won't be available for several weeks but will be added to the website along with data browsing tools and maps asap).

He uses the data and maps extensively in his analysis, and while he draws different inferences from the data and reports than NDI's observers as our first statement on the election points out  - this is exactly the idea behind using open data as a tool for transparency and accountability. We want to empower journalists, bloggers, activists, citizens, election officials, government officials, academics and anyone else with an interest in democracy and elections in Afghanistan to use the tool to do their own research and draw their own conclusions.