Foreign Interference | US Electoral Violence | Uganda | Kyrgyzstan | Kazakhstan | Ghana | Data Journalism | Ballot Papers
The Reads
1. Foreign interference in elections
"Cyber-enabled foreign interference in elections and referendums" is a great study from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, tracking and visualizing main target countries as well as source countries. Sobering.
2. USA Electoral Violence and Senate Runoffs in State of Georgia E+6
It’s been a week since the Democrats secured a majority in the US Senate by winning two Georgia Senate seats. It is not often that double senatorial elections take place in one state, in particular with the overall majority of the legislature at stake. This is why it happened.
The USA Presidential elections are not direct and the votes are expressed via electors designated by the voters in each state. Electors collectively meet at the Electoral College and cast their vote. Later on, a joint session of both houses of the US Congress verifies the certificates of election of the electors sent by the Governor of each state and tallies the votes of the Electoral College. This final process, referred to as “certification of results'' by Congress, was interrupted by supporters of the losing candidate who, at that time, still had not conceded the election. Shocking as this may be to the public at large (because of the country where the events took place), electoral violence is not new and a number of resources could serve to avoid it in the future.
International organizations have been tackling the problem of violence in electoral processes for decades now. The United States Institute of Peace has a very comprehensive online course on preventing electoral violence. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) developed an extensive action guide on the matter.
3. Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan E+1
The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe - Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights - OSCE/ODIHR - observed yesterday’s elections in both countries. Here you can follow the press conferences announcing their preliminary reports today:
Kazakhstan: 14:30 local time (GMT +6) on 11 January 2021
Kyrgyzstan: 15:30 local time (GMT +6) on 11 January 2021 - also very useful IFES Guide on Kyrgyzstan elections.
4. Uganda E-3
The United Nations, in a fresh news wire, alarms on ‘Deteriorating’ human rights situation in the run-up to elections due on January 14 (Thursday). The Voice of America reports on the UN's serious doubts about the process.
Sylvie Namwase, a researcher on militarisation and peace at the University of Copenhagen analyses the use of military force in civilian matters in Uganda.
5. Ghana
In Ghana's December elections, civil society gave serious consideration to the problem of fake news. In recent years the country has "seen a rapid increase in internet access with 48% internet penetration rate" and fact-checking journalists from "Ghana Fact" worked around the clock to fight misinformation. This is their story.
Tool: Data Journalism
The European Data Journalism Network has an incredible set for any data visualization and analysis you can imagine. All adjusted to journalists’ needs. But definitely not only for them. Some of their free tools include customizable data graphs and charts, data sets, and quote finders. All for the public good and free of charge. Explore! It's worth it.
Geeky: Vintage USA's Ballot Papers
"This Is What Democracy Looked Like - A Visual History of the Printed Ballot" is a book by NYC-based graphic designer Alicia Yin Cheng, who collected images of archived ballot papers from the USA electoral history. Here you can see some of them - the online exhibition honoring the book.
Food For Thought
“Democratic elections are the only non-violent way to resolve inevitable political conflict, which is inherent in open societies.”
Seemingly Unrelated Extras
Comic graphic
This NPR's comic drawings on disinformation teach how to spot it. The main character? The internet favorite: a cat. "Comic: Fake News Can Be Deadly".
Podcast
The Democracy Group came up with the best way to review last year: with a selection of podcast episodes from multiple sources and media on democracy. Well done!
Seriously Unrelated But Also Good
“Smithsonian”, a US trust composed of a group of museums and research centers, released 2.8 Million Images Into Public Domain with the launch of a new open-access platform. Mindblowing.
That’s it. Until next time.
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