The Super Tuesday primaries marked the debut of Los Angeles County’s Voting Solutions for All People (VSAP). The Ballot Marking Devices, which allowed voters to mark their choice, received excellent reviews from voters. According to Loyola Marymount University’s 2020 LA Votes Exit Poll, more than 90 percent of voters described their overall voting experience as good ...
September 15 is the yearly observance to celebrate International Democracy Day. This year’s theme is “Participation.†Given that genuine democracy relies on people’s full involvement, human rights protection, collective decision-making, respect of fundamental freedoms, and political equality and inclusion, this global event is an excellent opportunity to evaluate how we can promote stronger involvement of citizens ...
A significant 43.75% of Estonian voters who participated in the latest EU Elections cast their ballot online, a new record for Internet voting. The Baltic country keeps dominating the global statistics with its online voting as a secure and convenient option among voters. In May 2004 the European Union had its most significant single expansion after ...
“An election, to be inclusive, must cover all categories of the population and ensure all measures are taken to enable every eligible voter to vote†SY Quraishi, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India Managing general elections in India is an epic endeavor. 1.3 billion Indians embody the world’s second-most populous country and the global largest democracy. ...
The idea of using the blockchain technology to improve security, transparency, and flexibility of online voting has already proven to be a groundbreaking concept. The implementation of this innovation entails that every data captured in the election process can be documented on a ledger that is publicly verifiable, with outcomes available immediately. At a time when ...
The Democratic Republic of Congo conducted its highly awaited general elections on December 30, 2018. The elections were expected to restore peace and stability as well as creating hope for the future given the country has had a fair share of turbulence and violence in the past electoral processes. Kabila picked on former interior ...
“We recognize that women in various parts of the world are at different stages of participation in the life of their community, that some of them are prevented by law from assuming full rights of citizenship, and that they, therefore, may see their immediate problems somewhat differently.†With this "Open letter to the women of ...
"Elections on the continent must be fair, based on the democratic principles of universal suffrage and political equality following international, continental and regional norms and standards." AUC Commissioner for Political Affairs SE Amb. Minata Samaté Cessouma Africa is preparing to hold several national elections in 2019. All the fifty-five AU member states are obligated to hold ...
Afghanistan Afghanistan’s presidential elections were scheduled for April 2019, but they are now being postponed for at least a few months to address technical problems evident in recent parliamentary elections. There is also the consideration that the Taliban, who have a presence in 70% of Afghanistan, might reject peace negotiations if elections were held before a deal ...
As the world’s innovations and communications channels keep on evolving and reshaping human existence and interactions, political participation and election integrity rise above the leading issues to monitor in 2019 elections. Critical matters include immigration, the war on disinformation, fighting against corruption, re-connecting with disengaged and disillusioned voters, defending human rights, improving cyber-security, limiting the rise ...
The EU elections of 2019 together with the finalization of Brexit are reasonably close. The amalgamation of the two events is set to interrupt the present-day patterns of policy-making in Brussels, starting a new-fangled age for the European Union. This means there are many expectations by EU ahead of the 2019 general elections in its ...
Fake news can be detrimental to election processes in any democracy. Political leaders have even gone as far as considering digital misinformation a pandemic. The spread of false or manipulated election information got a ton of consideration in the outcome of the 2016 US presidential race. Today, it continues strengthening its influence on election cycles ...
Though the U.S. Presidential elections are just around the corner, there are cybersecurity and policymaking experts still pondering the 2016 results. Meanwhile, voters and elected officials are still adjusting to the outcome of the 2018 midterm polls. The election technology to be used during next year’s election will be a critical. There are at least four ...
Rwanda held elections last month to choose legislators for the 80-seat Chamber of Deputies, 24 of which were reserved for women, two for youth candidates and one for people with disabilities. Independently of the results, the event saw two substantial victories for election integrity: heightening gender equality and a first-time democratic aperture for two opposition political ...
The cost of elections is a challenging number to study as it varies drastically depending on the political, socio-economic, legal or historic contex. Broadly speaking, costs can include a variety of things, such as the fixed cost, which is how much the administration spends regularly, even in the absence of an election. And it can also ...
Elections are critical to support healthier democracies within a sustainable and peaceful environment. As we celebrate the International Day of Peace, let us focus on eight ways in which election processes can help peace-building and prevent political violence. This year’s theme: “The Right to Peace - The Universal Declaration of Human Rights†celebrates the 70th anniversary ...
Democracy is as much a process as a goal. It represents a mode of government and community coexistence that requires broad engagement and input by ruling bodies, individuals and all socio-political stakeholders. And this 15 of September, we celebrate the International Day of Democracy. To agree on a set of values and principles to follow is ...
Africa has been experiencing swift political transitions during the last few decades. Reforms have come with demands for greater transparency and accountability. In consequence many of the election management bodies have accepted the challenge. They have realized that weak election administration can lead to poll manipulation and decreased trust in democratic institutions. The adoption of election ...
Promoting the participation of women in politics must be a priority for all election management bodies. As the legendary American civil rights leader, Susan B. Anthony stated, “There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.†Women should be encouraged to participate in politics as voters, candidates, officials, ...
Last April, more than four million Paraguayans were registered to hit the polls for a general election. Voters went to choose both national and local authorities. The event is the seventh election since 1992 when democracy was established as the country's form of government. More than 700 posts were up for election. The most noteworthy being ...
The controversy around the upcoming DRC elections has only increased after the South Korean Government distanced itself from Miru Systems, the Korean company that will be providing voting equipment to the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI in French). The decision of the Korean government to cut ties with Miru for this project comes as a surprise ...
The three national elections scheduled in Colombia for 2018 are keeping election authorities quite busy. The first round of elections were held on March 11, when citizens elected members of Senate and House Representatives. Later this month -on May 27- Colombia will hold the most awaited presidential race in years, with a runoff on June 17 ...
Although Turkmenistan is recognized internationally as a repressive and authoritarian regime, citizens are scheduled to head to the polls on March 25 to elect 125 five seats in the Turkmenistan Parliament Meljis. According to the 2017 World Report published by Human Rights Watch, “Turkmenistan is among the world’s most repressive and closed countries, where the president ...
Illiteracy has always been a major exclusionary factor in elections. Voters who lack the ability to read and write often find themselves unable to exercise their right to choose their leaders, given most elections system’s dependence on these critical skills. Yet a new paper by a leading provider of electronic voting offers the encouraging insight that ...
There is a persistent perception that democracy is on the wane. In fact, a report from Freedom House showed that 71 countries registered declines in political rights and civil liberties, with only 35 registering gains, marking the 12th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. The report revealed that over the period since the 12-year global slide ...
Election Day is scheduled for January 12-13. If none of the candidates wins a majority of the votes, the top two will head to a second round set for January 26-27. This will be the second direct presidential election in the history of the Czech Republic. From 1918 until 2013 the head of state ...
Arguably the biggest story in the last two years is how fake news has contaminated the news ecosystem, deceiving millions and even unduly influencing the outcome of some elections. Fake news is not a new phenomenon, and has existed in various forms through the years either as propaganda being manufactured by governments, as slanted reportage churned ...
The year 2018 will be an important one for the Americas as roughly 82% of the approximately 580 million eligible voters in the region are expected to cast a ballot in presidential, legislative or local elections. The unusually high number of expected voters is due to the fact that the four most populated countries in the ...
Around the world, key democratic institutions are taking a bad hit on their trust index. This “implosion of confidence†was revealed in the 2017 Trust Barometer conducted by Edelman Intelligence, which determined that three fourths of the general population’s trust in all four key institutions — government, media, business, and NGOs has been eroding significantly. Of ...
Nepalese voters are set to vote for federal and provincial members of parliaments in a two-phase elections set for November 26 and December 7. Local and foreign observers are closely watching the polls which they regard as the final step in the long and tumultuous process of implementing the country’s new constitution. While as many as ...
While largely underreported, well-run elections can significantly impact the economy of a country. Credible results that are acceptable to the general public have the effect of immediately dousing whatever political heat generated by the campaign and allowing for a peaceful transfer of power. Â This dispels any cloud of uncertainty and fosters a stable political climate which ...
On September 24, Germany is set to elect members of the Bundestag, the country’s lower house. Some 61 million eligible voters are expected to cast their votes that could decide whether Angela Merkel would stay on as Chancellor. As voters enter the polling precincts, they will be given two ballots, one for a direct representative and ...
Following recent elections in Algeria, Gabon, Republic of Congo and Senegal, the African continent is preparing to observe several more elections- including the first local elections in Tunisia, legislative elections in Angola, general elections in Somaliland, and presidential elections in Rwanda. This dynamic region has historically drawn much attention to their electoral processes, and as a ...
With the month of July soon ending, the international community still waits to see a number of critical elections be held in Europe- including presidential elections in Slovenia, parliamentary elections in Norway, municipal elections in Denmark, and an independence referendums in Catalunya, Lombardy, and Veneto. As anticipated, these upcoming elections pose potential changes to the framework ...
Noted internet entrepreneur Kalev Leetaru recently cited the Estonian online voting system saying that the ability it gives to voters to cast their vote and verify it by using two different devices is an important feature that addresses common security concerns about internet voting. In a recent Forbes article, Leetaru, who has founded several internet companies and ...
The Penn Wharton Public Policy Institute  of the University of Pennsylvania recently published a comprehensive report on the U.S. election technology industry. ‘The Business of Voting’ closely analyzes the market trends, competitors, competiveness, among other interesting topics, and sheds light on how to proceed with the pending modernization of the U.S. election infrastructure. An introductory video ...
Eighty six per cent of the 58 million registered Turkish voters turned up in polling precincts to decide whether or not to adopt 18 proposed amendments in the Constitution. While Turkish elections regularly draw good turnout, the 2017 polls elicited one of the biggest voter participation in recent history. Early count has “Yes†winning with 51.36% of ...
Bulgaria will hold parliamentary elections on March 26. Originally scheduled in 2018, the elections were bumped up following the resignation of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the failure of the political parties to form a government. Bulgaria is parliamentary democratic where the party (or a coalition of parties) with the greatest representation in the parliament forms the ...
In January, WebRoots Democracy published a report entitled ‘Democracy 2.0’, which analyzes the progress made since 2015 when the UK’s Speaker of the House, John Bercow, reported the findings of his Digital Democracy Commission. Recognizing accomplishments, areas where progress is dismal and the raise of new challenges, Democracy 2.0 presents clear and concise recommendations to bring ...
In an age when so much can be accomplished without ever stepping outside, it seems anachronistic and downright anomalous to hear of voters still not able to vote just because they cannot be physically present at a polling center. For Paul DeGregorio, former chairman of US Elections Assistance Commission, disenfranchised groups such as the disabled and ...
Technology is playing a big role in strengthening democracy by modernizing election administration. This was noted by Brigalia Bam, former chairperson of Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa who wrote in an article about the growing number of electoral commissions in the region relying on technology to improve election processes, particularly voter registration. “A credible voter ...
Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, former head of the Election Commission of India, recently penned an article in which he provides some interesting insights on the benefits technology has brought to Indian elections. India, the largest democracy in the world -over 815 million voters- deploys has used electronic voting machines since 2004. In his piece, Quraishi claims that accurate ...
An online survey conducted by Edelman Intelligence right after the recent U.S. presidential election revealed that voters are ready for an overhaul of the election technology inventory. According to survey results, 82% of voters believe improving U.S. voting technology would make the voting process more efficient, increase voter turnout and strengthen democracy. In the months prior to ...
Richard Soudriette, founder and former president of International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), labeled Philippines, Estonia, Brazil, India and Estonia as pioneers for their pioneering efforts in implementing electoral technology. In his essay, which is part of the Future of Elections report, he noted that Brazil adopted nationwide electronic voting as early as 2000 and had ...
Photo courtesy of: http://beyondthe.eu/e-democracy-ukraine/ Political observers who are quick to spot movements just bubbling under the surface have recently taken notice of how e-Democracy is enabling more and more citizens to contribute in policy-making. At its core, e-democracy (or digital democracy) is that political school of thought that espouses the use of information and communications technology (ICT) ...
Pundits have started to speculate how close the US presidential race will be. Is it going to be a blowout similar to when President Lyndon Jonson trounced Barry Goldwater (R) in 1954 by winning 61.05 percent of the popular vote? Or will it be a cliffhanger that will keep the public on the edge of their ...
“The 21st Century is truly the golden age of technology. Humanity depends on technology for everything with one notable exception, voting. For more than two centuries democracies have relied on hand counted paper ballots and ballot boxes to conduct elections. Reluctance to invest in election technology often comes from unfounded misgivings about the reliability, accuracy ...
Persons with disabilities (PWDs) have always been consigned to the fringes of society and generally do not enjoy the same access to services as more able-bodied citizens. Even in the exercise of the right to suffrage, PWDs are fighting an uphill battle for inclusion. On such PWD in the United States, Katy Hoel, has decided she’s ...
Once a fringe area, e-government is fast gaining acceptance worldwide as governments finally turn to the internet to amplify their service delivery capabilities. At the moment, UK, Australia, and South Korea are leading the rest of the world when it comes to e-government adoption. Nearly 96 percent of Australians have used the internet to access government ...
A recent survey of Toronto voters showed an extremely high support for internet voting, with as much as 98% of respondents saying that they are likely to again vote online in future municipal elections. The study, which polled voters who participated in the 2014 Toronto municipal election, was conducted by Dr Nicole Goodman of The Centre ...
In what observers are considering a strong indicator of Vietnam’s resoluteness in adopting e-Governance, the country has just moved up ten places in a UN study ranking the progress of its member states in regard to development of e-Governance. Vietnam has taken the 89th spot in the ranking contained in the recently released United Nations E-Government ...
Speaking at the Tallinn e-Governance Conference last May, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves underscored the importance of a reliable identification technology in ensuring better e-Government services. "I believe that the role of the government in the 21st century should be security and the protection of rights in the digital environment, and an inescapable tool in this ...
Residents of the Gasabo District in Rwanda finally got a taste of e-Government services with the launch of an e-Government online portal. The initiative garnered praises from residents who expressed optimism that e-Government would improve their lives. A local resident Laurent Turimumahoro shared how the portal has lessened the time needed to acquire specific services compared ...
Automated elections in the Philippines got a boost when an election watchdog announced that its random manual (RMA) showed a 99.8% match between the electronic count and the manual count. "It is already high," said Tammy Lipana of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), adding that "there is no perfect system, but as we can ...
On May 9 the Philippines automated its third national election with great result. Leveraging technology, basically all candidates vying for local offices were proclaimed between Election Night and the next day. The staggering speed of past three automated elections stands in stark contrast against the slowness of the process under the manual system where it it ...
Smartmatic, a world leader in election technology, recently conducted a market research study to explore the relationship between voter turnouts and the voter experience and the voting technology in the U. S. Here are some of the key findings of the research: 33% of US registered voters stated that there had been at least one previous election ...
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is going to great lengths to ensure that all registered voters in the Philippines are equipped with knowledge on how to properly cast their votes in the May 9 national and local elections. As part of its voter education efforts, the Comelec recently launched www.Pili-Pinas2016.com. The site, which is envisioned to ...
For the first time since 2005 when municipal council elections were carried out in Saudi Arabia, women were able to participate as both voters and candidates. In this election there were 5,938 male candidates and 978 women running for half of the seats in a municipal council of 2,100 posts. Although only 20 women won seats (1% ...
On October 25th a general election was held in Argentina. Voters went to the polls in order to choose both the President and the Congress, while some provinces also elected governors. For the presidential race a second round was needed according to the electoral laws in Argentina after the surprisingly close results of the first ...
On December 6, Venezuelans headed to the polls to elect 167 representatives to the National Assembly. Electronic voting played a key role in helping authorities run the election. Only a few hours after polls closed, a first election results bulletin was published by Venezuela’s National Election Council. With 96% of the data transmitted, the opposition coalition was ...
On October 25th, elections to both the lower chamber of the Polish parliament (Sejm) and the upper chamber (Senate) were held for the 2015-2019 period. 460 seats were contested for the Sejm and 100 for the Senate. Over 30 million people were registered to vote, with a turnout of more than 15 million voters for a ...
On November 8th the citizens of Burma headed to the polls in order to cast their votes in the first elections since 1990 when the military government recognise the victory of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy. Now, 25 years later, voters have participated en masse with an estimated turnout of 80% of ...
A total of 167 deputies will be elected on December 6, 2015. 164 deputies will be chosen at the state level while 3 additional deputies will be elected to represent Venezuela’s indigenous population. 1,799 candidates are competing in these elections. 19,504,106 voters are registered to participate. 40,528 electronic voting machines will be deployed across 14,566 polling stations. This same automated election ...
Amit Singhal, senior vice president and software engineer at Google, responded Robert Epstein’s article which suggested that Google had the power to shift the voting preferences of undecided voters. Given the importance of this topic, we had written a post about Epstein’s piece last month. In this new article, published in Politico on August 26, Singhal ...
September 22 was National Voter Registration Day in the United States, and what a better day to discuss the current registration system. One point of view adding value to the debate was the release of The Brennan Center for Justice new paper: Case for Voter Registration Modernization in 2015. This Voter Registration Modernisation project is a comprehensive ...
According to a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice (New York University School of Law), authored by Lawrence Norden and Christopher Famighetti, the United States’ election technology is facing a new challenge. Fifteen years after HAVA financed the acquisition of election technology “the majority of systems in use today are either perilously close ...
“How Google Could Rig the 2016 Election†is the title of an article written by Robert Epstein and published by Politico in August. According to Epstein, Senior Research Psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, “Google has amassed far more power to control elections than any company in history has ever had.†Epstein’s assertion ...
Next Sunday, September 6, Guatemalans will head to the polls to elect the President and Vice President, Congress (158 deputies), Central American Parliament (20 deputies), and Mayors and councils for its Municipalities (338). Authorities will be elected for a four-year term. A two round system is used for the election of the President. If no candidate receives ...
As Canada prepares for its 42nd federal election, some advocacy groups are rising concerns over the possible disenfranchisement of voters resulting from the recent changes in election legislation. The Fair Election Act (Bill C-23) Earlier this year, Parliament passed a bill with multiple amendments to the Canada Elections Act. While the law known as The Fair Election Act is meant ...
Antonio Mugica, CEO and founder of Smartmatic, recently published an article titled “The Case for election Technology†in the European View journal. According to Mugica, despite the ubiquity of technology in our everyday lives, many countries have yet to embrace its benefits for strengthening their democratic processes. He writes: “One area where developments in technology have ...
1. Scope of the elections. One of the major challenges Haiti will be facing this year is having to put nearly all of its elected officials to the test. To schedule such ambitious electoral processes implies enormous political, social and economic efforts from the Haitian government, its international supporters and the general public. According to UN reports, ...
On 8 November Myanmar will hold its first open general election in 25 years to elect a second government under the 2008 constitution. The president in Myanmar is not directly elected by the people, but chosen by MPs following the vote. For these upcoming autumn historic polls, the president Thein Sein has reaffirmed his vow to ...
Burundi’s presidential election will be held July 21, after been postponed by nearly a week. The postponement comes as a response to a request by leaders from the East African Community plus South Africa, to try to stop worsening violence in the central African state. The Government agreed with a delay in the vote, but said ...
With a little over ten months to go before the Philippines goes to the polls to select the next president, the country’s poll body is itself deep in the process to select a technology provider to automate the electoral process. The  Commission on Elections (Comelec), which is riding on an all-time approval rating high  after the ...
The 2020 U.S. general elections are around the corner. Approximately four hundred more days to go. The Election Commissions across the country have already started voting preparations, which include assessing and acting upon lessons learned from the last midterm polls. Both the U.S. Census Bureau and the Election Assistance Commission recently released crucial findings on voting ...