By Shawn Beighle

It’s not always about coming up with new technologies, but rather applying proven technologies in new ways. The International Republican Institute (IRI) put that principle into practice during the April 14 and April 21 elections in Nigeria, where IRI used Interactive Voice Response technology, more commonly known as IVR, to collect important information on the electoral process in real-time.

For anyone who has called their local phone, electric or cable company, the automated message telling you to press 1 for sales or press 2 for technical support, has become common place - if not frustrating. In the mission of promoting freedom and lending validity to democratic processes however, this new application of a tried and tested technology is one method being used by IRI in helping to empower those seeking to hold their government accountable to the will of the people.

During the 2007 Nigerian elections, IRI deployed 17 monitoring teams comprised of 59 international delegates throughout the country. As standard cellular coverage is unreliable in the region, each team used a satellite phone along with a short questionnaire of eight key questions that would help IRI gauge the voting process at each polling station visited. Examples of the questions asked were:

• Were voting materials available?

1. Yes
2. No

• Have you witnessed any voting irregularities?

1. No irregularities witnessed
2. Procedures not being followed, but not affecting outcome
3. Procedures not being followed, and may affect outcome
4. Significant irregularities that will affect outcome
5. Extreme irregularities to the benefit of one party/candidate

When delegates called into the IVR system they could simply enter the answer to each question by pressing the corresponding number on the phone. The answers were then collected into a database, which collectively gave a precise account of the overall electoral process throughout the country.

For those instances where a listed answer was not sufficient to describe what was being observed, delegates could leave a detailed voicemail to give context to the answers that they provided. Those voicemail messages were instantly sent via e-mail to IRI’s election observation command center where they were listened to and incorporated into the overall findings.

Through the use of this technology, IRI was able to collect enough quantitative data to confidently release its findings to the media soon after the elections, and thus provide U.S. policy makers and the citizens of Nigeria with additional information to judge the validity of the country’s electoral process.

IRI has been committed to the advancement of freedom and democratic principles for more than two decades. Though the most important ingredient for any democracy to thrive is its people, IRI strives to harness the power of technology to serve as a tool for people to use in protecting and providing transparency in their democratic process.