{"id":18580,"date":"2017-01-06T11:56:07","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T10:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ais.al\/new\/?p=18580"},"modified":"2021-01-06T11:58:22","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T10:58:22","slug":"zalart-albania-free-fair-elections-2017-in-fundraising-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/zalart-albania-free-fair-elections-2017-in-fundraising-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Za\u2019Lart Albania Free &#038; Fair Elections 2017 in fundraising process"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex_column av_one_third  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_two_third  avia-builder-el-first  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><div class='avia-image-container  av-styling-    avia-builder-el-1  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  avia-align-center '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"  ><div class='avia-image-container-inner'><div class='avia-image-overlay-wrap'><img class='avia_image' src='https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/zalart-in-media.jpg' alt='' title='&lt;!--:sq--&gt;zalart-in-media&lt;!--:--&gt;' height=\"300\" width=\"300\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_two_third  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_one_third  avia-builder-el-last  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><p><div style='padding-bottom:10px; font-size:23px;' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h3  blockquote modern-quote modern-centered  avia-builder-el-3  el_before_av_heading  avia-builder-el-first   av-inherit-size '><h3 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Za\u2019Lart Albania Free <span class='special_amp'>&amp;<\/span> Fair Elections 2017 in fundraising process<\/h3><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<div style='padding-bottom:10px; font-size:20px;' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h4  blockquote classic-quote  avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_heading  el_before_av_textblock   av-inherit-size '><h4 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Za\u2019Lart (Raised Voice) 2017 \u2013 AIS\u2019 Project: Citizens Monitor Elections<\/h4><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">2017 is an important year for the Albanian Democracy, Rule of Law, and European Integration. Parliamentary elections are going to take place this year. On June 18<sup>th<\/sup>, Albanian citizens will vote to elect their representatives in the Legislative and Executive. The challenge for voters in these elections is to make sure that they vote for a non-criminalized political class.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the two latest elections, the Albanian Institute of Science (AIS), with donor support, conducted <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.zalart.al\/2015\/\"><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\">Za\u2019Lart<\/span><\/a> <\/em>(Raised Voice) Project for Fair Elections<em>,<\/em> a project enabling citizens to monitor elections in real time. Citizens were invited to report \u00a0problems, difficulties, and cases of abuse with their right to free vote on a web and mobile app. In response to the invitation to Raise Their Voice, and Report Violations,\u00a0 hundreds of citizens <a href=\"http:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/final-report-zalart-2015\/\"><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\">reported <\/span><\/a>through photos, videos, and facts <a href=\"http:\/\/www.zalart.al\/2015\/summary#graf-en\"><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\">problems<\/span><\/a> like: <em>people with criminal records being members of candidates electoral staff, vote buying, misuse of assets and human resource in the public sector, tendencies of manipulating first-time voters through massive sponsorship of student\u2019s end of school parties in public schools, discriminatory electoral speeches, etc.<\/em> a considerable part of such reports were verified by the project <em>ad hoc<\/em> verification teams, and were marked as verified. The reporting database served to collect clear information about the types of election-related problems, and to exercise public pressure with the aim to stop or minimize such abuses.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is the first year when the so-called \u2018Law on Integrity\u2019 might already deliver some pre-election results for the new lawmakers. The country is going to hold elections after a long period of debate on the electoral system and institutions, an environment that brings some distrust and controversy about the process. In this context, in the elections of June 18<sup>th<\/sup>, the <em>Za\u2019Lart<\/em> team deems\u00a0 the citizens monitoring of \u00a0the elections as necessary. The citizens are everywhere violations take place. Through a <em>smart phone<\/em> they can report on the process in real time. Real time monitoring of elections through citizens\u2019 reports would also help the professional teams of election observers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">While the first month of the year is now over and it is a little more than 90 days left from the official starting date of the 2017 Electoral Campaign, the Za\u2019Lart team notices that none of the international organizations and institutions that support the civil society in programs for democratic culture and free elections in the country has allocated any funds or made any call for financially supporting election-related programs. Further to our communication with them, it seems that their budgets for financing NGOs have either been changed in terms of priorities or simply shrunk. Facing such difficulty, Za\u2019Lart team invites donors, embassies, and organizations supporting the civil society in its efforts to establish a democratic culture and standards, to consider the importance of election monitoring by the citizens.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The core budget for implementing such project consists of costs to design a platform and mobile apps; travel costs for our (<em>ad hoc<\/em>) volunteers\u2019 field verification teams; assistance for the platform by an election expert; two-days rent for meeting\u00a0 room; a moderator for checking posts of an offensive and discriminatory nature. The <em>Za\u2019Lart<\/em> team will offer volunteer work for the implementation of the project, while the organization will contribute by allocating its annual membership fees to its implementation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div style='padding-bottom:10px; font-size:20px;' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h4  blockquote modern-quote  avia-builder-el-6  el_after_av_textblock  el_before_av_textblock   av-inherit-size '><h4 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Project specific purpose and objectives :<\/h4><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Za\u00b4Lart 2017 aims at functioning as an <em>online (web+app) <\/em>platform for election monitoring; swift collection and exchange of information about election-related problems; empowering citizens\u2019 voice and role in elections through the civic monitoring of the process; collect information in real time to enable observation; further analysis and reaction at a more technical and professional level. The main <strong>purpose<\/strong> of the project is to ensure civic engagement and strengthen civic culture of election monitoring and participation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div style='padding-bottom:10px; font-size:20px;' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h4  blockquote modern-quote  avia-builder-el-8  el_after_av_textblock  el_before_av_textblock   av-inherit-size '><h4 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Minimum Budget as the Core Budget 24 000 $<\/h4><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Designing of a web platform, reporting map and two mobile apps (Developer and Designer), hosting and server: <strong><span style=\"color: #808080;\">AIS\u2019 Volunteer Staff;\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Travel costs and equipment for the volunteers\u2019 (<em>ad hoc<\/em>) verification teams in the field <strong><span style=\"color: #808080;\">61 municipalities\/districts,<\/span><\/strong> 1 or 2 volunteers each, about <strong><span style=\"color: #808080;\">70 volunteers<\/span><\/strong> in total;\u00a0Assistance for the platform by an electoral expert;\u00a0Two-days rent for a meeting room for the presentation of the interim and final report;\u00a0Moderator for checking all the posts of an offensive and discriminatory nature;\u00a0Administrative costs like office space, printouts, and utilities;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div style='padding-bottom:10px; font-size:20px;' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h4  blockquote modern-quote  avia-builder-el-10  el_after_av_textblock  el_before_av_textblock   av-inherit-size '><h4 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Time of implementation: March &#8211; July 2017.<\/h4><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Project\u2019s slogans and topics: <em>Raise Your Voice<\/em> for Free and Fair Elections; Citizens Monitor the Elections; ICT for Fair Elections; Make Elections Count.<\/p>\n<p>Contact us at <a href=\"mailto:info@ais.al\"><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\">info@ais.al<\/span><\/a> or <a href=\"mailto:lajm\u00ebrime@zalart.al\"><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\">lajmerime@zalart.al<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[323],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects-in-fundraising-process"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18580"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18582,"href":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18580\/revisions\/18582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ais.al\/new\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}