- ElectionMall

EGYPT VOTES
A TOOL FOR LASTING DEMOCRACY
EGYPT VOTES
a tool for lasting democracy
“Social networks have provided a critical outlet for
people’s sentiment and information exchanged
throughout the Arab Spring and technology plays a
pivotal role in monitoring these elections. Our website
built with our strategic partners, gives Egyptian voters
the opportunity to share and discuss their personal
experiences of this historical election online.”
-Ayman Abdellatif, General Manager for Microsoft Egypt
context
The Egyptian revolution started on January 25, 2011. On the so-called
“Day of Rage,” Egyptians, inspired by the Tunisian revolution, took to the
streets of Egypt to protest against the precarious living conditions people
in the country were facing.
The ultimate purpose of these protests was to force the resignation of
Hosni Mubarak and his regime that had been in power for the previous
30 years. In only 18 days of protests, the Egyptian people obtained what
they wanted—Mubarak resigned from office on February 11, 2011.
After months of internal clashes within the country, Mohamed Hussein
Tantawi, Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces, called an
election, and as a result, was elected president of Egypt on July 21, 2011.
This revolution cleared the way for the first legal and legitimate elections
of the country. Yet, the country of Egypt suffered 900 fatalities on its way
to democracy.
“We believe we can make
a difference and share our
resources with local teams
to provide a voice on the
election results. We are in
historical times and we built
this company to promote
democracy world-wide. To
walk on Tahrir Square and
view people on their mobile
phones posting comments
and sharing their voice: this
is why ElectionMall® was
created, as technology can
increase political participation
via technology.”
Ravi Singh
Founder, CEO of ElectionMall®
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the challenge
After the revolution and the elections, one of the main challenges
Egyptians faced was in keeping the flame of democracy alive.
“Under the provisional Constitution, the new Egyptian People’s Assembly
and Sura Council will be chosen in three separate rounds of voting, each
involving a series of run-offs. It would be complicated even for a mature
democracy, and in addition to confusion, some voters, disappointed by
the results of the first or second-round of voting, have found a healthy
outlet to express their frustration.”1
Because of the fragile democracy and the potential for confusion and
misinformation, CEO Ravi Singh travelled to Cairo to promote “Egypt
Votes.” “Egypt Votes” was an innovative website developed to deliver
insight into the experience of voters, publish election results as they were
announced, along with providing all of the information and facts needed
to track the elections.
the strategy
“Democracy requires the unrestrained exchange of thoughts and
experiences, but in a closed society like Egypt, opportunities for open
communication by ordinary citizens had been virtually non-existent –
which is where “Egypt Votes” came in.”1 A forum needed to be created
where this participation could occur from all citizens.
“As Egyptians took to the polls in the first free elections of their lifetimes,
“Egypt Votes” gave them a chance to share their experiences and
observations, not just within the gated neighborhoods of their own
Facebook® friends and Twitter® followers, but with the uninformed
millions of Egyptians, worldwide.”
Another key point on the strategy was that “over 70% of Egyptian
adults are literate, and 1 in 4 has access to the Internet. The popularity
of “Egypt Votes” came as no surprise. After all, Egyptians’ advanced
communications and web involvement played a major role in bringing
about the Tahrir Square Revolution in the first place!”1
1
QUICK FACTS:
EGYPT (Arab Republic of)
EG - 82,079,636 population
(2011)
Country Area: 1,001,450 sq km
Capital city: Cairo - population
7,947,121 (2008)
21,691,776 Internet users as
of Dec.31, 2011, 26.4% of the
population, per ITU.
9,391,580 Facebook® users on
Dec 31/11,11.4% penetration
rate.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-pfeifle/arab-spring-version-20_b_1169106.html
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the technology
““Egypt Votes” was launched in conjunction with ElectionMall®, a nonpartisan political technology company and Microsoft’s® Azure platform
along with Egyptian news portal Masrawy and MSN® Arabia.” “The
site guides first-time voters to their local polling places, helps them
understand registration requirements and provides immediate posting of
official election results.”1
A major difficulty within the “Egypt Votes” project was the large
population involved. In order to keep track of the process, ElectionMall®
used special, specific tools to keep track of the website coding. These
tools then assisted the development of all of the applications needed to
build and maintain the website. Since there were multiple elections being
held over the country, scalability was a big concern. When would people
participate? Before, during, or after the election?
“Egypt Votes”
also came with a
multi-lingual tool
that expanded the
website’s content
to reach more
than just Arabic
speakers.
The integration
of Bing™ Maps
was a key tool.
These maps displayed interactive pins of all governorates across the
country and provided a platform for Egyptians to share and view their
experiences via social networking sites like Facebook® and Twitter® after
posting their ballots to increase and spread involvement.2 Bing™ Maps
also broke down election outcomes governorate by governorate as the
results were released by Egyptian authorities.2
The most important aspect of “Egypt Votes” was to provide transparency
and accurate, reliable information.2 Because “Egypt Votes” was built
using Windows Azure from Microsoft®, an open and flexible cloud
computing platform, users were able to implement applications quickly.
“Egypt Votes” then had the ability to escalate bandwidth depending on
the number of active users at any moment—providing only the best
experience—no matter how heavy the web traffic.
2
My first time voting was in
March of this year, then the
parliamentary elections on the
28th of November. I thought
long and hard about whom
should represent me in the
parliament. I finally decided
that this 65-year-old man
should give his vote to the
young men and women
who gave us this revolution.
Muhammad Hammad (Cairo)
A wonderful experience that
makes you really feels like
a true citizen of Egypt. It
doesn’t matter who wins or
who loses: what’s important is
that the elected officials win
fair-and-square and that our
votes actually count. This is
the wonderful outcome of the
revolution.
Mahmoud al-Huwayty
(Giza)
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/12/prweb9029675.htm
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I have a bed-ridden mother
who can only get around on
a wheelchair. She told me she
wanted to go vote. When the
military officers saw her at the
polling station, four of them
came over to carry her up to
the third floor and then bring
her down. I’m very proud to
be Egyptian.
Ahmad Rizq (Damietta)
positive outcomes
“Egypt Votes” provided citizens with the tools they needed to share their
perspectives on the new democracy and elections in Egypt. It gathered
more than 1,400 comments in record timing from all around the world.
Due to the elections and newfound democracy, Egyptians felt their votes
could actually make a difference. A mutual respect was also created for
those who died for their freedom and for those who could finally act on
it.
““Egypt Votes” has given voters a tool to educate, mobilize and reassure
one another. It’s rather like the Internet phenomenon of “crowdsourcing,” but for voting…While Twitter® and Facebook® gave rise to the
Arab Spring, “Egypt Votes” held the greatest promise for ushering the
Middle East to a period of true and lasting democracy.”1
“Egypt Votes” has been awarded two Web Marketing Association’s 2012
Internet Advertising Competition awards for both the “Best Advocacy
Interactive Application” and the “Best Political Interactive Application.”
All in all, “Egypt Votes” was a success. It gave a voice to citizens that
wanted to participate in the political arena of their country towards
another step into democracy.
to visit the website / participate:
http://arabic.arabia.msn.com/elections/egyptvotes.aspx
http://www.masrawy.com/elections/egyptvotes/
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http://www.advertisingcompetition.org/iac/winner.asp?eid=8478
About ElectionMall®
Technologies
Founded in 1999 ElectionMall.
com is a world wide leader
in providing Internet-based
on non-partisan solutions for
campaigns and electons.
About Masrawy
Masrawy Portal, the first and
largest Egyptian portal, is
currently one of the biggest
Arab Web sites specializing in
news.
About MSN® Arabia
MSN® Arabia is the first
international bilingual Portal
in the Middle East, catering to
all Arabic, English and French
speakers, offering premium
content and services that
include Windows Live Hotmail®
and Live Messenger®.
About Microsoft®
Founded in 1975, Microsoft®
(Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the
worldwide leader in software,
services and solutions that help
people and businesses realize
their full potential.
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copyright
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