DemTools 2.0 - Elections

Elections are an essential component of any functioning democracy, but to be credible they must be free and fair and represent the will of the voters. Citizen observation groups or political parties can provide an important, independent validation on the electoral process. An effective observation requires rapidly collecting and managing large amounts of information from hundreds or thousands of observers and interpreting that data in real time, which in turn requires a well-oiled data-crunching machine. That’s where the Elections DemTool comes in.

As a data management platform, Elections aggregates, manages and analyzes data collected through text messaging, a slick smartphone app, or by phone calls from trained observers dispatched across a region or country. With built-in data analysis, election experts can quickly spot trends and flag problems, all while keeping in touch directly with the observers in the field.

Initially built with the experts at TimbaObjects, we’re very proud to share the latest open source version of the Elections DemTool, which has seen many successful deployments. In the last year alone, the tool was used to support the electoral processes and strengthen civil society in Nigeria, Malawi, Zambia, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Cote d’Ivoire. Integrating feedback from its several deployments, the Elections DemTool is now better and more accessible than ever. The database has built-in error-checking and can handle simultaneous submissions from a virtually limitless number of observers. Join the livestream of our DemTools 2.0 launch event on December 9 to learn more!