Citizens Use SMS to Monitor Nigeria's Presidential Election
From Shareideas
In April 2007, the Network of Mobile Election Monitors (NMEM) in Nigeria used FrontlineSMS, a free, downloadable, text messaging application, to mobilize and communicate with citizens in monitoring the Nigerian Presidential elections.
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The primary goal of the project was to use mobile technology to give the ordinary citizen an opportunity to tell the world what really happened in their area on Election Day. The spread and reach of mobile telephony in Nigeria is mind boggling. In the last four years, more than thirty million Nigerians have become mobile phone users.
Traditionally, election observers and monitors deemed credible are often foreign diplomats, bureaucrats, and professionals who are sent to visit as many polling stations as they can and inform the world of their impression of the polls. Their effectiveness is limited to the number of places they can visit in a just one day. In a country as vast as Nigeria (with a land mass of 925,000 km2 and a population of 140 million), without maps or road signs to use in navigation, these foreign observers often limit their activities to Abuja (the Nation's Capital), Lagos, and a few major State Capitals. Places like the Niger Delta with its reputation for violence and kidnapping of foreigners are no go areas. By using citizens to assist with the monitoring operation, NMEM sought to bypass many of these issues.
How they did it
The technology behind this project was made possible using an SMS hub called FrontlineSMS, developed by kiwanja.net, to keep track of all of the incoming texts. The system allows mass-messaging to mobile phones and crucially the ability for recipients to reply to a central computer. Thanks to the system, we could acknowledge receipt of the text (SMS) and make specific enquiries to individual volunteers and associates in any area to confirm the authenticity of reports received. The software alerted us when a report came in from our associates, or a hitherto unknown volunteer, allowing us to rank the accuracy of the information received. In total, we received over 10,000 messages giving us a unique insight into the voting process.
Taken from NMEM’s Election Report, and posted with permission by Ken Banks, kiwanja.net
Technology used
Laptop or personal computer
GSM modem or mobile phone
USB data cable
Local network SIM card
