Political process

Done by; Dennis Muhirwa

Nkurunziza and
Carlton Sserunkuma

Online Campaigning

This is defined as the use of

electronic communication
technologies such as social media to
enable faster communication to
citizens regarding their campaign.

How it works

Politicians first create a website then

they fill the site with information
regarding their goals i.e. what they
hope to achieve and how they want
to achieve it.
They can also use social media as a
method of getting their message out.

Voting

E-voting is a term that embraces both

electronic means of casting a vote and
electronic means of counting votes via
electronic devices such as touch screen
voting machines
Online voting is where citizens vote via the
internet. Online voting isnt the same thing as
e-voting because for e-voting, stations with
touch screen voting machines can be placed
where anyone can vote without having to go
online

How it works
There are several types of e-voting
techniques;
Paper based electronic voting
system:
Paper sheets are marked by hand and
counted electronically.
They are counted using an optical
scanning voting device

How it works
Direct recording electronic voting
system(DRE)
This machine records votes by means of a
ballot display, it then tabulates the votes
after the elections are done and prints out
a copy of the results.
The user would just vote by selecting his
preferred politician on a touch screen.
A separate device is used to optically scan
the ballots and tabulate the results

Public network DRE voting system:

A public network DRE voting system is an
election system that uses electronic ballots
and transmits vote data from the polling
place to another location over a public
network.
Data can be sent as individual votes, a batch
of votes or as all the votes at the end of
voting.
E-voting by smartphone:
This is mostly used for TV reality shows
using toll-free number voting, sms or a
voting app for the show such as American
Idols.

 Online

voting can be done from the

comfort of your home.
One would log on to the website with
his/her user ID and password. Submit
their vote and it would be sent to the
tallying centre.

Benefits and drawbacks of e-voting

to voters
advantages

disadvantages

Access to more information via

websites, blogs, wiki etc.

Voters may be exposed to

misinformation.

Can express opinions/join debates Not all voters may have access to
by leaving comments on the web the internet
page
Convenience- accessible anytime
and videos can be replayed

Software bugs can corrupt the

voting data

Voting is private and the internet

allows voters to be more
anonymous

There have been complaints of

conspiracy concerning the
machines creator i.e. computers
have been programmed to add
votes for a certain party etc.

Easy to pass on information to

friends e.g. forwarding
links/emails

Benefits and drawbacks of e-voting to

candidates
advantages

Disadvantages

Access to party information is

available 24/7

Some of the potential voters may not

have internet

Social networking sites are free and

appeal to the younger voters who
may be able to leave comments

Hackers can deface/change web

pages negatively affecting a
campaign

Candidates can collect voter details

through forms on their webpage/
subscriptions to newsletters etc.

Authenticity is a problem because

people can set up webpages
pretending to be candidates and
spread false information,

Web pages allow voters to donate

online

It is easier for the community to react

negatively e.g. posting comments on
the blog

Web pages can incorporate images

and multimedia which enhances the
campaign and make it personalised.
This reaches a wider range of people
and is cheaper compared to using
billboards and flyers.

Candidates must be cautious of what

is written on their webpages as once
data gets on the internet it is easily
shared and its effects can be
irreversible.

Social and Ethical issues

Security:
Hackers are able to hack the digital
signatures used by voters for security
purpose(privacy also becomes an issue in this
case)
Digital divide:
Not everyone has access to the internet or
even computers.
Authenticity:
People can set up webpages pretending to be
a candidate to hinder their campaign.

lobbying

This is when a group of people try to

influence politicians on a particular issue.
It can also be defined as using personal
contacts, public pressure or political action
to persuade legislators to vote in a
particular manner.

Advantages and Disadvantages of

lobbying
advantages

Disadvantages

Allows people around the world to Some petitions may be forged.

sign online petitions and make a
change
Lets petitions reach a wider
audience
This type of lobbying is cheap and
effective because people check
their emails several times in a
day.

Lobbyists face several attention

demands and negative public
opinions.

Social and Ethical issues

Authenticity:
Citizens may be misled by forged
petitions.
Digital divide:
Not everyone will be able to access
the internet in order to take part in
these petitions.

Fund raising and

Advertising

Fund raising online is the use of

internet to collect funds for a cause
or political campaign.
Online advertising is when politicians
create advertisements to grab
peoples attention.

How they work

FUND-RAISING
1.
2.
3.

Sign in to a site used for

fundraising e.g. rally.org
Advertise your cause to
gain more donations
Users pay using credit
cards/debit cards
4.
The website only
collects a small amount
for their services.

ADVERTISING
1.

2.

3.

write your ad, choose

the search terms that
describe your product
When the search term
is typed in, customers
are more likely to see
your add.
For the case of google,
you only pay when a
user clicks on your ad.

Advantages of each
ONLINE FUND-RAISING

There is an extended
reach to possible donors
Peace of mind in
knowing that a donation
has been made
Immediate
acknowledgment and
receipt of the
transaction.
Word of the campaign
can be spread faster
through social
networking sites.

ONLINE ADVERTISING
Advertising online is fast
.
it reaches out to a global
audience.
Online advertising is very
affordable when
compared to handing out
flyers and using
billboards, also, no need
to hire advertising
agencies hence saving
money.

Disadvantages of each
ONLINE FUND-RAISING

Cost of hardware, software,

network connection,
consultants, staff time and
training
There is a lot of competition
online
Computer glitches can affect
the fund-raising process
For some online fundraising
sites you cant edit the
details of your project once
you launch your page.

ONLINE ADVERTISING

Most ads are pop-ups and

quite irritating therefore
users can set their
browsers to block the ads.
Your advertising material
are available to everyone
therefore someone can
just replicate your ad for
their gain unlike in
traditional advertising
Most customers tend to
ignore.

references
www.howstuffworks.com
www.google.com
www.Ib2012-itgs.wikispaces.com
www.ehow.com
www.wikianswers.com
www.rally.org