The Bureau des avocats internationaux and the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti are launching this weekend an innovating "groundsourcing" platform that will permit Haitian citizens to denounce electoral irregularities. By calling the number 4400 1414, a citizen who wishes to report a case of fraud, violence or any other incident at their voting center will receive a call to record the incident. In addition, tens of thousands of randomly-selected people will receive calls over the course of election day on October 25 in order to verify if there have been any irregularities at their voting center.

Through an easy-to-answer survey, incidents will be classified, offenders identified and the location of the respondent determined. This service is offered free of charge and is available throughout the country. To raise awareness about the service, approximately 80,000 SMS will be sent to the population in the days preceding the vote.

The data generated by the survey will be made freely available, posted online over the course of day at www.haitielections2015.blogspot.com. The individual responses, however, will be kept strictly anonymous. This data will allow journalists and electoral observers to discern where the greatest "problem" constituencies are in real-time.

"The right to vote is a human right. This right was violated on August 9," declared Mario Joseph, lawyer and director of the BAI. "While the international community try to pass off an electoral coup d’état as 'a step forward for democracy,' this service will allow the people to conduct their own 'observation mission.'"

IH/ iciHaiti