Digitalising Local Democracy: Citizen Participation in Monitoring Local Government Elections through Crowdsourcing Methods in Tanzania

Abstract

Election is one of the cornerstones of modern liberal democracies and digital crowdsourcing is a growing phenomenon for monitoring electoral process. Election monitoring organisations have embraced digital platforms for crowdsourcing election data. Despite the existence of crowdsourced local information via digital spaces, limited research investigated crowdsourced election monitoring at local government level in Tanzania. We used document analysis to review types of crowdsourcing and semi-structured interviews to explore challenges surrounding citizen participation in monitoring local government elections. We found that digitally enabled crowd-monitors participated in monitoring and sharing information related to malpractices and positive conduct in the 2014 local elections. While crowdsourcing is deployed in local elections, costs, poor preparation and planning, digital divide, trust and poor infrastructure may hamper crowd participation in monitoring. In order to improve existing efforts, we propose opportunities to promote crowdsourcing citizen participation through digital tools in forthcoming local elections. These includes the use of mobile phones for free short message services, early planning and building partnerships among government institutions, election monitoring organisations, and the citizens. Therefore, digital crowdsourcing is not a silver bullet in addressing all challenges of electoral integrity; rather other traditional monitoring approaches are indispensable.