Parallel vote tabulation
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The Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) is an election observation methodology that is employed for independent verification (or challenge) of election results. It involves observation of the voting and counting of ballots at the polling stations, collection of official polling station results and independent tabulation of these results, parallel to election authorities. If the PVT is performed on statistical sample of the polling stations, it is called Quick Count
Organizers from the Philippine National Citizen Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) are widely recognized as the pioneers of the quick count, or parallel vote tabulation (PVT), in emerging democracies. During a 1986 election for President, NAMFREL attempted to mirror the official count of all 90,000 polling stations. They performed a remarkable task in collecting data from the majority of polling stations, and they were instrumental in helping uncover the massive vote counting fraud attempted by Marcos supporters.
Thedisputed Zimbabwean election held in March 2008 is another example where parallel vote tabulation played a significant (if not conclusive) role in the outcome. Following a concession gained by then President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa in the much-malgned process of "quiet diplomacy", the results at individual polling stations were displayed on the outside of the polling stations. MDC supporters took pictures, often with camera phones, and sent these to a central location (in Johannesburg), where the resukts were tabulated.
The MDC claimed as a consequence of this process that their candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, had polled 50.3% of the vote, and that he was thus the outright winner of the election. A six-week hiatus followed, in which no new results were officially released by the Zimbabwean election authority. At the end of the process, it was announced that Mr Tsvangirai had secured 48.6% of the votes, and that a run-off election would follow.
Although no clear outcome was gained in that election, the parallel vote tabulation played a significant role in preventing outright electoral fraud.
[edit] External links
- The Quick Count and Election Observation, An NDI Guide for Civic Organizations and Political Parties
- Official NAMFREL Website
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