A host of civil society organizations gathered today in Abuja, Nigeria to share strategies and discuss tools for better monitoring the upcoming presidential elections (currently scheduled or January 2011). Against the backdrop of heavy irregularities in the 2007 election, there is a good opportunity during this election cycle for both domestic and international election monitors to better use technology to help communicate the data they are collecting and speed up data collection time.
Today I presented on the latest mapping work we are doing with NDI's team in Afghanistan, explaining how mapping and visualizing results can help tell better stories and make information more concrete. We also discussed how these tools should be used not just for elections, but during then entire run up to the elections, from mapping voter registration to redistricting.
