Digital Democracy

Still reeling from the earthquake nine months ago and with elections later this month, what do Haitians living in the camps think about voting and the opportunities for changing their country? Last week, Dd’s Emily Jacobi, Emilie Reiser, and I traveled there to find out.

We are thrilled to announce support from United States Institute of Peace for our work with grassroots Haitian Women’s groups. Thanks to an urgent grant from their Haiti program, we are launching a citizen reporting initiative for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Haiti, scheduled for November 28. This week, I’m in Port-au-Prince to [...]

Violence is closely correlated to elections in the minds of many voters in young democracies. With elections and democracy correlated as well, there’s a dangerous chance that people will draw causation between violence and democracy. We launched Ethiopia Vote Report with a local partner in Ethiopia knowing that the turnout would be low. The project [...]

Elections are an important part of any democracy, but only when they’re properly executed. When an election happens, how can one be sure that they’re actually free and fair? Is it international monitors that ensure this or local grassroots organizations? The answer is complicated and varies in different places. That’s why it was so exciting [...]