In advance of the April 5 elections in Afghanistan, NDI added new material to its Afghanistan election data website showing polling locations and domestic observer deployments. The site uses data from Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission and major domestic election monitoring groups and allows users to examine the geographic coverage of polling stations in each district of the country and how that compares to observer deployments.

The portal, www.afghanistanelectiondata.org, will be updated throughout the election cycle.

NDI launched the portal in 2009 to make election data more accessible and transparent. The site also features demographic, ethnographic, topographic and security information on Afghanistan’s 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2010 elections.

NDI will release detailed data and visualizations of the April 5 results as they become available. That will complement data from the earlier presidential and parliamentary elections, providing users with additional context. Users can examine voting patterns over five electoral cycles, identify areas of potential security risk and examine reports of election irregularities.

The portal data is easily available for download in machine-readable, CSV (comma-separated value) format, allowing users to use the data for their own analysis. This open data approach ensures that Afghan election data is widely available and that those involved in the Afghan political process – including government officials, political parties and domestic monitoring groups – can use the information to improve Afghanistan’s elections.

The Afghan elections portal was developed by NDI in partnership with Development Seed, an online communications firm that specializes in data collection and visualization. NDI has been conducting political development and electoral support programs in Afghanistan since 2002. The elections portal is funded through a grant from the United States Agency for International Development.

Read more:

• Despite Threats of Violence, Afghans Demonstrate Determination to Move Democratic Process Forward»
• Afganistan Elections Update»
• Afghanistan "ElecTech" Conference Engages Government Officials on the Power of Technology in Elections»
• New Technologies Create Opportunities, Risks in Democracy Support»

Published April 3, 2014