author: Mark Belinsky
date: 2010-05-20 16:17:00+00:00
slug: election-monitoring-in-the-philippines
title: Election Monitoring in the Philippines
wordpress_id: 1761
categories:
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 for us to be involved in another election monitoring project, this time with Philippines Clean Election 2010. Presidential elections, legislative elections and local elections in the Philippines were held just last week. Working as an all-volunteer effort with grassroots organizations, we were able to plot over 100 reports and follow 4 times as many tweets. An all-volunteer effort, this project came together quickly and effectively. It also added to the monitoring of another group in the Philippines with Vote Report.
As elections continue to occur around the world, it will be increasingly important to engage local populations in not only the process itself, but also in the oversight of it. The beauty is in taking a moment that captures the hearts and minds of participants and teaching the lesson that democracy is more than casting the ballot, but it’s the process of civic engagement and protecting those votes. Whether in the USA with Twitter Vote Report or in the Philippines, citizens are starting to engage more and we’ll continue to facilitate this in any way that we can.
