Millions of Ghanaians voted in a close election last December that returned incumbent President John Dramani to office by a margin of less than 3 percentage points. An independent vote count by a local election monitoring organization that used SMS technology to verify returns from around the country gave many voters the confidence necessary to ensure a peaceful election process—both during the voting and in the days following.

Kenya is preparing for its first general elections since 2007, when 1,500 people died and 600,000 more were displaced in post-election violence.  Following passage of a new constitution in 2010, many new elected offices were created, so March 4 polls will include many candidates who have never campaigned or held office before. A large number are not schooled in the skills that lead to successful campaigns or in the responsibilities of candidates and elected leaders.

Though few Mauritanians are able to have a say in their country’s political life, one group of dedicated women is determined to be heard. The Advocacy Initiatives Group for Women’s Political Participation (Groupes des Initiatives de Plaidoyer pour la Participation Politique des Femmes, GI3PF), a nonpartisan organization comprising women from all walks of life, is committed to encouraging women’s participation in Mauritanian politics at the local and national levels.

The National Democratic Institute (NDI), celebrating its 30th anniversary and seeking to broaden its network of international support, announced today that Stephen Whisnant, managing director for the United States Olympic Committee, has joined the Institute as director of philanthropy.

In Liberia, where more than 40 percent of adults are illiterate and where citizens who live outside of the capital, Monrovia, have little or no access to the Internet or television, radio is often the only reliable source of news.  Traditionally, getting news to radio stations involves recording it onto CDs, which then need to be driven to the stations.  This is both expensive and time consuming, and stories are usually out of date by the time they are aired.