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Open Source Tech Used To Monitor Afghan Election

Posted by samzenpus on from the free-as-in-voting dept.

chrb writes "BBC News is reporting on how the Alive in Afghanistan project is helping to oversee the Afghan elections using open-source technologies. The site was set up by Brian Conley, who is also responsible for 'Alive in Baghdad', 'Alive in Mexico', and who was arrested for filming protests in China last year. The Afghan site uses FrontlineSMS and Ushahidi to process and visualize SMS texts from Afghani citizens, allowing reports from all over the country to be rapidly collated and re-distributed globally."

51 comments

  1. hope it works by thexdane · · Score: 1, Insightful

    i hope it works, tho somehow i doubt it will do anything even if there is a lot of corruption

    1. Re:hope it works by sys.stdout.write · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, maybe Bin Laden will text "totes votin today u guys!" and we can finally close the curtain on that one.

    2. Re:hope it works by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      Bin Laden will never be captured or killed. He's one hellava resourceful SOB. That, and he has prophet-like status among his twisted followers that will die for him.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    3. Re:hope it works by causality · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Bin Laden will never be captured or killed. He's one hellava resourceful SOB. That, and he has prophet-like status among his twisted followers that will die for him.

      He makes a fine Emmanuel Goldstein.

      --
      It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
    4. Re:hope it works by Admiral+Ag · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The election is a farce, as is the Afghan government, which relies on the support of a federation of armed tribal gangs. Another fake election just like the South Vietnamese ones, held mostly to make our moron governments look good. The BBC in particular is pushing this line of bullshit, for which its members deserve to be abandoned in Afghanistan for the amusement of the locals.

      Osama and his friends are long gone to Pakistan, it seems, and so the "coalition of the idiots" is now stuck in a country where every single attempt at military imposition of a government has failed, and where the largest ethnic group is more or less excluded from power (apart from Karzai, who is a puppet). The Afghans should be left to their own uncivilized devices, but that would be to admit failure (which is inevitable).

      The story is that stabilizing Afghanistan is supposed to stop the terrorists from attacking us. What a pity they've all fucked off to a completely different country then. But since that's the only excuse our glorious leaders have got, we'll just have to keep hearing the same old crap, and it will go on and on until the coalition is forced to withdraw and the terrorists will have achieved their aim of doing to the West what they did to the Soviets.

      --
      "by that I mean people who don't sit on slashdot all day wondering why everyone else isn't building robots" DECS
    5. Re:hope it works by KTheorem · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Bin Laden will never be captured or killed. He's one hellava resourceful SOB. That, and he has prophet-like status among his twisted followers that will die for him.

      He makes a fine Emmanuel Goldstein.

      My first thought upon reading that was a pleasant "Wow. That's pretty insightful." Then I was revolted upon reviewing it and coming to the same conclusion once again. Well done (and screw you for bringing me down ;-) )

    6. Re:hope it works by commodoresloat · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Wait a minute - bin Laden's Jewish?

    7. Re:hope it works by EdZ · · Score: 1

      That, or Osama Bin Laden has become a Dread Pirate Roberts.

    8. Re:hope it works by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      not captured alive anyway. one day a bomb will get him it's amatter of time, though it's likely we won't know it.

    9. Re:hope it works by clarkkent09 · · Score: 1

      Must be, I hear he doesn't eat pork.

      --
      Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
    10. Re:hope it works by V!NCENT · · Score: 1

      I think he is traceable. There is no reason why the USA couldn't have killed him. But think about this, OK? -> If you were the USA government, and you would have killed him, wouldn't it not be extremely beneficial to keep that quite? I mean; no Osama, no war...

      --
      Here be signatures
    11. Re:hope it works by tsa · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You may have been modded Flamebait but I agree with you completely. The whole Afghanistan elections are a waste of time and effort. We should never have gone there.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    12. Re:hope it works by SlashV · · Score: 1

      Maybe, he just doesn't dig on swine :)

    13. Re:hope it works by SylvesterTheCat · · Score: 2, Informative

      The election is a farce, as is the Afghan government, which relies on the support of a federation of armed tribal gangs.

      Citation, please.
      The Afghan Army and Police are far from perfect, however, they exist and, especially the army, are doing good work and are getting better. The police are less mature as a organization and have more problems than the army. I've been there, seen it, lived it. I will be doing all of that again soon. Can you say that?

      The national government is capable of controlling both the army and police and have on occasion, reeled them in from doing stupid stuff before they do it. Again, I've lived it, seen it.

      There are a number of big problems in Afghanistan, including corruption. No argument there. Your last paragraph is not too far off the mark. The problem is that if every neighboring country sees a weak Afghanistan as being in their best interests.

      and it will go on and on until the coalition is forced to withdraw and the terrorists will have achieved their aim of doing to the West what they did to the Soviets.

      So, what is your answer? Bomb the crap out every 5 to 10 years like we (the rest of the world) have been doing?

    14. Re:hope it works by TheDarAve · · Score: 1

      Because making a martyr of someone usually just helps their cause.

    15. Re:hope it works by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      I mean; no Osama, no war...

      Uhh..no. This is a war against Islamic terrorism, not just one man. The fact there are these cells all around the world acting independently nukes your theory.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    16. Re:hope it works by psnyder · · Score: 1

      The story is that stabilizing Afghanistan is supposed to stop the terrorists from attacking us.

      What about the idea of helping to stabilize Afghanistan for the purpose of stabilizing Afghanistan? I'd rather live in a stable country. Maybe there are some individuals in Afghanistan that feel the same.

    17. Re:hope it works by Denial93 · · Score: 1

      You know what? The Soviet invaders claimed to bring them exactly that: stability. And progress. And what they claimed was the most successful political system in the world. We call that attempt contemptible and foolhardy because we aren't Soviets or socialists, but to an Afghan, it was very much the same thing the US are attempting now. And the Afghans have rejected non-Afghan ideas of "stability" for over two millenia.

      Alexander the Great claimed (and probably honestly believed) to bring peace, progress and prosperity. The Afghans would have none of it. The mongols brought the protection of their divine Khan. The Afghans would have none of it. They drove away the Turk kingdoms, the Arab kaliphates and sultanates and everything that came at them out of India. They humiliated the Red Army, the largest and most feared in the world. Even China, which annexed large parts of central Asia, knew better than to fuck with the Afghans. Now the US are making their attempt, and Afghans are simply chalking one up the list.

      Trust me, if they were into buying any "stability", they wouldn't have been fighting this hard for over two thousand years.

      --
      blow your mind already
    18. Re:hope it works by Admiral+Ag · · Score: 1

      No. The answer to 9/11 was to do what the Israelis did in the case of Munich. Clandestine hunting down of those responsible to capture or kill them.

      If that involved putting small assassination teams into Afghanistan, then the Aussies, Kiwis and Brits were always happy to lend out the SAS, the world's finest special forces, to do it.

      --
      "by that I mean people who don't sit on slashdot all day wondering why everyone else isn't building robots" DECS
    19. Re:hope it works by hot+soldering+iron · · Score: 1

      There's another reason. Please wait while I put on my conspiracy freak hat (looks like tin-foil). The Bin Laden family have a looong-time business/social relationship with the Bush family, going back a while (Grandad Bush did oil deals with Grandpa Bin Laden). The Bin Laden name wasn't spoken after 9/11 until Secret Service verified that every Bin Laden was in the air out of the country, and safe from vigilantes. Hell, just Google the whole friggin story.

      --
      When you want something built, come see me. If you want correct grammar and spelling, get a F*ing liberal arts student.
    20. Re:hope it works by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Conspiricy Theory: Bin Ladin is dead, but by keeping him "alive" in the media, it allows the Futile War to continue as planned.

    21. Re:hope it works by psnyder · · Score: 1

      You may be right, and time will tell, however...

      You're main argument is "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." But 3 things keep me optimistic, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. The US still have military bases there but every decision for day to day living is up to those people. In all other examples throughout history, when countries have conquered, they have kept control. If you want to claim that Germany, Japan, and South Korea are just US puppets, go ahead, but I highly disagree.

      The other point I'd like to make is that when even one individual is oppressed, that's one too many. When someone is not free to decide their fate, when someone else decides what they can or cannot do, they are enslaved, and that is not what I call "peace".

      The only restrictions on an individual should be so they do not restrict OTHER people's ability to decide their fates. For example, if they are murdering or kidnapping others, they need to be removed from society as they are taking away the freedoms of others.

      There is no nation on Earth that is perfect in this regard, but the Taliban's POLICY was to take away the freedom of anyone they disagreed with. Now many individuals in Afghanistan are still not free to decide their fates due to social stigmas, and this will take much time, but the policy has changed whether or not all de facto activities have. This allows them to slowly work towards having true control over their own individual lives, just as the people in 1st world nations are still working towards that goal.

    22. Re:hope it works by V!NCENT · · Score: 1

      Or, ofcourse, Osama is still secretly allied with the USA and does something extremely patriotic xD, okey whatever... :P

      --
      Here be signatures
    23. Re:hope it works by MJMullinII · · Score: 1

      What about dog?

      --
      "Don't be a martyr -- BE THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY!"
    24. Re:hope it works by Dr.+Impossible · · Score: 1

      So, what is your answer? Bomb the crap out every 5 to 10 years like we (the rest of the world) have been doing?

      Yes.

    25. Re:hope it works by Dr.+Impossible · · Score: 1

      You're main argument is "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." But 3 things keep me optimistic, Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

      You can't compare them to Afghanistan. At all.

    26. Re:hope it works by psnyder · · Score: 1

      Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

      You can't compare them to Afghanistan. At all.

      I didn't.

      I compared what the US did (put power into the hands of the locals) to what other nations have done throughout history (keep the power for themselves).

    27. Re:hope it works by Dr.+Impossible · · Score: 1

      So why do Germany, Japan and South Korea keep you optimistic? Nothing is going to change in Afghanistan.

  2. Gordon Brown's TED Talk by JuzzFunky · · Score: 1

    If you are interested in this sort of stuff, you might want to check out Gordon Brown's TED Talk on using technology to drive social change.

    --
    Unexpect the expected!
  3. hilarious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    How hilarious would it be if Afghanistan ended up with a more verifiable vote than the U.S. because they used open source technology to track the election?

    The answer, 100% if you aren't a U.S. citizen. 0% if you are.

    1. Re:hilarious by Jurily · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How hilarious would it be if Afghanistan ended up with a more verifiable vote than the U.S. because they used open source technology to track the election?

      It doesn't matter as long as people think a) two candidates are enough, and b) they can let the ruling elite choose those candidates.

    2. Re:hilarious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Hurf durf. Us yuropeeins is pretty hilarious, right gais?!?!?

    3. Re:hilarious by TheDarAve · · Score: 3, Informative

      I counted 6 presidential candidates last election and 4 different "major" parties. Also, I remember about 7-10 candidates for two of those major parties being DEMOCRATICALLY elected as the party's candidate by members of those parties. What election were you watching?

    4. Re:hilarious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      5+ Insightful? Thanks for reminding me why I rarely come to slashdot anymore.

    5. Re:hilarious by Jurily · · Score: 1

      Show me one democratic country where the two biggest parties don't get 70+% of all votes.

  4. Yeah, but... by SilverHatHacker · · Score: 1

    I'll wait to celebrate until I know how the election turns out.

    --
    Funny may not give karma, but +5 Informative never made anyone snort coffee out their nose.
    1. Re:Yeah, but... by mrsurb · · Score: 5, Funny

      Unfortunately a politician will win. They always do...

    2. Re:Yeah, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Well if they didn't vote for a lizard, the wrong lizard might get in.

  5. Results or election results? by lsdi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I wonder if walls can protect castles of cards.

    1. Re:Results or election results? by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      Indeed. The sole lonely single exclusively singular one force alone that supports the puppet regime in Kabul are thousands and thousands of foreign troops from the most powerful countries in the West, with their top of the notch equipment, bombs, airplanes, drones, satellites, etc.

      Yet, significant portion of the country is still in control of Mujahedeen, armed w/ Kalashnikovs.

      What is the difference between those two hugely mismatched sides?

      One side is not afraid to die, the other - is very much afraid of it.

      One person loves his death, the only future event one can be 100% sure event, and his enemy loves his short pathetic life the most.

      May Allah give victory to the Mujahedeen. Ameen.

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    2. Re:Results or election results? by Dr.+Impossible · · Score: 1

      What is the difference between those two hugely mismatched sides?

      One side is not afraid to die, the other - is very much afraid of it.

      One person loves his death, the only future event one can be 100% sure event, and his enemy loves his short pathetic life the most.

      The terrorists are winning because they have more popular support than the US military (read: the country is filled with insane and backwards religious fanatics who think living in the stone age and raping children is the hip thing to do), which is perfectly able yet unwilling to turn the entire country into a parking lot in order to kill the terrorists. Meanwhile, the terrorists don't give a shit about collateral damage, infrastructure or even their own forces, and they have an infinite supply of crazed fanatics to use as cannon fodder. The US is trying to turn Afghanistan into a respectable and modern nation without killing everyone, but this is impossible since it does not with to be a respectable and modern nation. That's why the US is losing.

      It's no wonder Muslims have never accomplished anything since they're too busy killing themselves and everyone else.

      May Allah give victory to the Mujahedeen. Ameen.

      I'm sure Allah wouldn't want you to use an infidel site like Slashdot. So maybe you should just fuck off and go somewhere else.

  6. And, on his return to the U.S. - by painehope · · Score: 2, Funny

    He will be featured in either "Dead In A Seedy Hollywood Motel : Hookers And Blow" or "Dead In Detroit : I Met The Ethnic Equality Paradigm And Didn't Survive".

    --
    PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
  7. Does it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    come with BombBlock Plus?

  8. Alive in... by nomad-9 · · Score: 1

    Open-source software is great, but doesn't really matter when all politicians are corrupt and most of the country have other priorities than voting, like getting to feed their families and avoid being killed by one side or the other.

  9. bit3h by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    BSDI is also dead, dying. See? It's for trolls' are a few gooDd something cool posts. Therefore centralized models Standards should All over America BSD style.' In the a super-organised obligated to care Don't be a sling the reaper BSD's Raymond in his with any sort code.' Don't IS NOT PRONE TO BE NIGGER! BE GAY! [tuxedo.org], project returns NIGGER ASSOCIATION most. Look at the Nigger Association Charnel house. so that you don't collect aCny spilled and its long term

  10. Even IF? ROFL! LOL! by denzacar · · Score: 0, Redundant

    It will be a total sham and a waste of time.

    Votes are being sold for $10 a pop, nobody expects the elections to be fair so whoever wins election results will be contested, election ink safeguard is washable (then again, that may save some people's fingers), 13-year-olds vote, there are reports of people being hanged for voting and somehow Britney Spears is registered to vote.

    But yeah. Sure...
    A map and a bunch of anonymous SMS messages will SURELY fix all that.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  11. Used to Monitor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    What are they running now?

    1. Re:Used to Monitor? by InsertWittyNameHere · · Score: 1

      Windows 7 Election Starter Edition

      It's limited to 3 candidates and the CALs for voters are sold separately.

  12. Sorry to disappoint you, but... by denzacar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    How hilarious would it be if Afghanistan ended up with a more verifiable vote than the U.S. because they used open source technology to track the election?

    Unless women in USA start wearing chadors (and get to vote like that) it is highly unlikely.

    Did Britney even vote in the US election?

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  13. Good Products by stoolpigeon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's unfortunate that this entire thread appears to be about the politics of this situation and none about the tech. Ushahidi is the work of Erik Hersman and the folks at Afrigadget. I've been fortunate enough to hang out with Erik some and he's a really cool guy with some amazing ideas around tech and the developing world (specifically Africa in his case but they are applicable in many other settings.) If you are on twitter he's worth following - @whiteafrican
     
    And FrontlineSMS has been getting great press lately as people have been getting more and more creative in its use. It is producing great results in first world countries as well as the developing world. What I find exciting though is that in the FrontlineSMS forums one meets developers that are helpful and even if they can't solve a persons problem, the code is all open and others are welcome to add the functionality they need. This is huge for the NGOs that they are able to get tools they need at little or no cost while at the same time not getting stuck with vendor lock in that limits their options. And it's a great tool.
     
    Every so often we have an ask slashdot about how tech types can give back. FrontlineSMS and Ushahidi are two great examples of projects that are out their doing it in a big way and provide a great opportunity for geeks to get on board. If you are really hung up on worrying about Afghanistan, go to the sites of both and see all the other places they are being used in meaningful ways to make people's lives better.

    --
    It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
  14. article is overly optimistic by belmolis · · Score: 1

    The article overestimates the effectiveness of this kind of monitoring. That's not to say it won't help to make the election fair, but it can only deal with certain kinds of problems, such as overt intimidation of voters at the polls. It has no effect on what takes place out of view: tampering with voting machines, throwing out ballots, false counting, false reporting of the count, intimidation of voters away from the polls, and intimidation of candidates.