· February, 2013

Stories about Elections from February, 2013

Online Course in Spanish on Election Coverage

  28 February 2013

The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas is offering a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in Spanish on “How to Improve Electoral Coverage.” The course will be taught by Colombian journalist María Teresa Ronderos from March 8 to April 19, 2013. Ronderos says the course is for journalists and...

Monitoring Dangerous Speech in Kenya

  27 February 2013

Umati is a project that seeks to monitor and report the role of new media on an election: “Our Kenya-based project has citizens at its core and uses relevant technologies to collect,organize, analyze, and disseminate the information collected.”

The Land Problem in Kenya

  27 February 2013

Chrenyan discusses the land problem, which has become an election issue in Kenya: “It is a historical injustice for the Kenyatta family to own (it is said) half a million acres of land, all over this country (including thousands of acres in Coast Province). The defence that this land was...

How Would Africans Feel about A Black Pope ?

  25 February 2013

Following the surprise resignation, the debate on Benedict XVI's succession was immediately launched. In particular, Africans, on the basis of the fastest growing contingent of Catholics on their continent, began to put forward the names of their favourites among the 18 cardinal Africans who are part of the College of Cardinal and who will meet in conclave to elect the new pope.

Ecuador's Political Future After Correa's Reelection

  22 February 2013

On February 17 Rafael Correa was re-elected as the president of Ecuador. According to the quick count, the ruling party also obtained at least 96 of the 137 seats in the new National Assembly. Bloggers were quick to analyze the political future of Ecuador under a new Correa mandate and a new political force in the role of the opposition.

St. Vincent, Grenada: Silly Electoral System?

  21 February 2013

The stupidity is the electoral system we operate under that leaves thousands without a political voice in the Parliamentary Halls. A landslide victory for the opposition in Grenada's national elections prompts Abeni to wonder whether the region needs constitutional and electoral reform.

Egyptians Elected Morsi Because …

  18 February 2013

On Twitter, Egyptians who voted for Mohamed Morsi in the Egyptian presidential elections in June 24 are remorseful - and their regret is evident in a new hashtag which reads: I elected Morsi because .. The hashtag [ar] #انا_انتخبت_مرسي_عشان generated tongue-in-cheek and sarcasm. Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, won the presidential runoff elections against Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister of Hosni Mubarak, who resigned after 32 years following 18 days of country-wide protests against his rule.

Ecuador: No Place for ICTs

  15 February 2013

With the elections in Ecuador approaching on Sunday, February 17, blog Bitácora de Calú shares its surprise [es] that “NONE of the candidates [running for the National Assembly] focus their proposals on information and communication technology (ICT) as platform for development, NONE OF THEM”, and goes on on listing the...

Kenya's Presidential Debate Ends on TV, Continues on Twitter

  15 February 2013

With only three weeks until Kenya's presidential elections, technology continues to change how the country participates in the electoral process. Kenyans submitted questions via Twitter for the first ever presidential debate on February 11, and an online election monitoring meant to keep the upcoming elections fair launched the same day.

Malaysians to Psy: “Don't Perform for Corrupt Ruling Party”

  9 February 2013

Global pop sensation Psy has been invited to perform at an event in Malaysia hosted by Prime Minister Najib Razak and the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, but instead of being welcomed, many fans have turned to his Facebook page pleading him not to attend and perform at the Chinese New Year event.