Ecosystem of free digital solutions for free elections 2024, made and implemented by Code for Romania / Commit Global

1. WeVote4.EU is the first platform to provide all EU citizens with essential information about the 2024 European Parliament elections in 26 official EU languages:

• how to cast their votes, regardless of their location;

• real-time information on the progress of the elections in each country - such as voter turnout;

• simultaneous monitoring of the elections for the first time in several European countries through the Vote Monitor app.

2. Vote Monitor, created by Code for Romania/Commit Global in 2016, is the first election monitoring app in Romania and one of the few used worldwide. It provides real-time insight into the evolution of elections in Romania and any other country whose legislation allows election monitoring by independent observers.

Independent election observation is therefore carried out by independent accredited observers through Vote Monitor. It has so far been used to monitor eight separate election rounds in Romania and Poland. The Vote Monitor application is only available to independent observers and accredited organizations that are entitled to carry out monitoring activities and supports them in the secured collection of real-time data from polling stations.

NGOs accrediting observers receive real-time reports on the situation on the ground, allowing them to provide support to their observers and react in a timely manner when problems or irregularities are reported.

For the first time in 2024, the European Parliamentary elections can be observed by citizens in a synchronized way in polling stations in eight EU countries via the dedicated Vote Monitor app.

The Vote Monitor application is made of:

- a native mobile app (iOS and Android) through which commissioned observers can easily report back to their respective NGOs on Election Day;

- a platform for NGOs that centralizes in real time all information submitted by their observers.

History of Vote Monitor:

2016: The first digital vote monitoring solution used in Romanian elections, under the name ”Monitorizare Vot”. Vote Monitor was the first digital solution developed free of charge by Code for Romania with the support of volunteers.

2017: The app receives first prize for Civic Behaviour and Public Participation at the Civil Society Gala.

2018: Independent observers monitored the Polish elections for the first time. Vote Monitoring was adapted for the specifics of the elections and implemented for the Polish elections together with Code for Poland and used in the first round of elections where observation was allowed in Poland.

2019: Three rounds of elections in Romania (Referendum, Presidential, European Parliament). Vote Monitoring was used for the third time in Romania. The ecosystem of digital solutions dedicated to elections included the Vot Diaspora platform and a new web application, Voting Results, which contains all of Romania's electoral history over the last 34 years.

2023: Parliamentary elections in Poland.

2024: Preparing for elections around the world. In our efforts to create scalable solutions, we are redesigning the ecosystem of digital solutions dedicated to elections:

• European Parliament elections observed across the EU;

• Local, parliamentary and presidential elections observed in Romania;

• Elections observed in other countries around the world.

3. Vote Results is the platform launched in 2019 by Code for Romania to help users inform and develop critical thinking by contextualizing electoral information with its own analysis. A free digital solution developed open source, made possible through volunteer effort, which aims to make public data accessible and open through a civic technology solution.

The place where anyone can access all relevant information about the Romanian elections, on Vote Results you have access to:
detailed maps with the turnout at country/county level;

• partial election results after the polls close, as they are communicated by the authorities;

• information from the digital election monitoring system - Vote Monitor;

• Romania's electoral history for all election rounds since 1992; 

• live stream of commentary and analysis by sociologists from leading Romanian universities.

4. Vote Diaspora is a simple and interactive guidance platform for voters in the diaspora on the rules for registering to vote in the parliamentary, presidential and Euro-parliamentary elections abroad. Here, Romanians find out which is the nearest polling station and which documents they need to vote.

In the 2019 European Parliament elections, the app was used by more than 25% of all voters in the diaspora, and in the last round of presidential elections, more than 185,000 voters informed themselves using the app.

Through Vote Diaspora, citizens can:

• check the documents and procedures required to vote at the polling station or by post if they are abroad;

• which polling station they are registered at according to their status. 

With each election round, the platform provides updated information.

In 2020, for the Vote Diaspora platform, our organization won the First Prize for Civic Behaviour and Public Participation at the Civil Society Gala in Romania.