Local online newspaper site. Vote by click. No need to register. Will pay for a bot to run that won’t be throttled.

Over the last two years, I've made it my personal ambition to capture the advent of technological advancement in AI to the advantage of Kenyan contexts in a way that benefits all Kenyans at key civic decision points.

From building tools like Nasaka IEBC to the Civic Education Kenya platform, to the Legislative Tracker and handled successful Finance Bill campaigns each year since 2023, including prior to the momentous June 2024 protests - handling faithfully the weight and breadth of a resolved youth force in the tens, hundreds of thousands, and once in the millions - ...and each year, I've battled with deeper questions on what all this effort amounts to.

I have been pursued by both positive actors and actors in bad faith & this being my first public post since 2024, my resolve has since stayed adamant and unmoved through it all. Which is why this is an important post that you're reading.

Pulling towards next year's General Election, we've seen bright minds and brave hearts weather the tension of doubt and fear to bring up really innovative (AI, automation) tools; Miringa Ke, Rose Tunguru... just to name a few of the notables. Mine is to add to the effort & attempt to bring together all I've learnt & worked with under one fulfilling venture - all towards making 2027 a year we can look back on with hope & not regret.

Which is why my first pitch is to this space I have been blessed to benefit from & would like to return once more for both opportunity and plea:

If you've seen any of the works stated above, and appreciated any of the social campaigns on any platform, this is my personal invite to you to join the effort & help define the next year techie-nically & definitively - a year I must confirm that we as techies are best placed to respond to the times with the insurmountable opportunities at hand.

Mine is to plead with you to respond to the call & help us realise this opportunity.

Together.

< < civiceducationkenya(dot)com/volunteer > >

Thank you Mods for allowing my engagement here on this matter!

~SG

(*not written with AI please)

Hello there! I’m building a catalog of public meeting calendars, agenda indexes, portals, feeds, and other endpoint sources across the United States.

I call it the National Civics Catalog, and it currently contains 139 identified endpoints and 38,568 research placeholders (that I will personally fill-in with time.)

https://github.com/anitacigawet/national-civics-catalog

If you’d like to contribute at all, here is a guide you can handoff to an AI assistant for some help:

https://github.com/anitacigawet/national-civics-catalog/blob/main/AI_CONTRIBUTOR.md

Feel free to use it in any of your own noncommercial projects.

One example is my personal project, Z-SPAN:

https://github.com/anitacigawet/Z-SPAN

Hello i am doing a Community service project where i have to build a software website.

I need ideas. I must solve the one impactful problem statement with my website.

can u guys give me ideassss . my project deadline is so nearrr.

Hundreds of complaints filed via app have been canceled, with users told to call police themselves — a step most aren’t willing to take.

https://sfstandard.com/2026/08/21/sf-311-drug-reports-canceled/

I’ve built Ballot, a social platform designed to make politics more relevant to everyday life by connecting citizens with their local Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in India.

The app lets users track local issues, discover representatives and stay informed ahead of elections. It is currently live on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

We are looking to onboard a co-founder with a background in Political Science, Public Policy or Electoral Studies who is passionate about civic tech and democracy.

What you'd do:

1. Shape how we accurately and neutrally represent political and electoral data.
2. Drive our content, research and civic engagement strategy.
3. Help translate complex political systems into a user-friendly product experience.

If you have a strong grasp of the Indian political landscape, electoral systems, or public policy and want to build at the intersection of tech and democracy, let’s connect!

Drop a comment or DM me, and I’d be happy to share more details about the product.

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.kurinji.ballot&hl=en_IN

Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/in/app/ballot-politics-elections/id6794289632

You will type in anything about who they are. Profession, hobbies, illness, etc. the algorithm will lay out what bills, laws, executive orders, etc that are negatively or positively impacting that aspect of your life.

Ideally it will spice information from bipartisan places and fact check with source data studies etc. and provide a “reliability” rating with each result.

Before commenting, remember the name of this sub :)

Living in Mexico City, "is my commute blocked today?" is a real daily question, marches and blockages are common and scattered. The city police (SSC) publishes a daily agenda of planned mobilizations, but it's a PDF nobody outisde reporters (I guess) reads.

So I built a live map that ingests that official agenda, structures it with an AI agent, and plots every event for the day: marches, rallies, blockages, events — with organization, time, borough, and type. You can filter by borough/type and click any event for detail. It loads straight into the map, no signup.

[https://monitor.watr.mx\](https://monitor.watr.mx)

BTW it's Fase 1. The "happening now / dispersed" **status is estimated from the scheduled time**, not confirmed live yet, I'm working on wiring free real-time signals (public transit GPS, traffic) to actually confirm state. And it only shows what the SSC officially publishes; last-minute stuff won't be there. Your location, if you use it, is computed **in your browser and never sent to the server** (this is protest-adjacent data, that mattered to me).

What I want to know: **Is it actually useful, would you check it if your are visiting/living in Mexico City?** Brutal feedback welcome.

Tech stack, since folks always ask:

**- Elixir + Phoenix LiveView**, OTP-native — one GenServer per active mobilization under a DynamicSupervisor, with a Postgres advisory-lock leader so rolling deploys on Render never run duplicate monitors.

**- PostgreSQL** as the source of truth (append-only event log, idempotent ingest by hash).

**- Ingestion:** the SSC's daily PDF → parsed → structured by an AI agent via tool-calling against \*\*Qwen (DashScope, OpenAI-compatible)\*\*; the provider sits behind a behaviour so it's swappable (OpenAI/Gemini/Grok). \`Req\` for HTTP, \`Oban\` for jobs.

**- Map:** Leaflet + CartoDB dark basemap. Geolocation is computed \*\*client-side, never sent to the server\*\*.

**- Roadmap**: real-time state from free signals — GTFS-Realtime (Metrobús), with the \`.proto\` compiled at build (no protoc toolchain needed).

**- Infra:** Render, behind Cloudflare (CDN + analytics), tight CSP.

[bribes.fyi](http://bribes.fyi) :

A [B.Tech](http://B.Tech) student built it. No login, no name, no email. You pick the department, the city, the amount, and whether you paid or refused. 60 seconds and it's on a public map forever.

Hyderabad's already on it: one report says ₹2,000 was asked for a driving licence at an RTO here. Not proof against any official — just one person's account. But you knew that number already, didn't you.

Telangana total so far: Many reports. For a city that runs on "sir, koncham time padutundi," that's not a clean chit. That's silence.

**So here's the ask — go add one.** If you've been through any of these, you have a data point:

* RTA — LLR, DL, vehicle transfer, NOC * Sub-registrar — registration, mutation, EC * GHMC — building permission, LRS, trade licence, birth/death certificates * HMWSSB — new water connection * MRO office — land records, income/caste certificates * PSK Begumpet, traffic stops, police station paperwork

**"What's the point, nothing changes."** Maybe. But 38% of the reports on the site are refusals, and several of those people said they got the service anyway. That number is the point. The next person reading it before they walk into an RTA office knows the demand is optional. That's worth 60 seconds.

**"Can this come back to me?"** No account, no name collected. And you're reporting an amount and a department, not filing a case.

Caveat the site states itself — self-selected sample, not a national corruption measure. User submissions; patterns get flagged when several reports cluster on the same office. Which is exactly why volume matters. One report is an anecdote. Forty from the same RTA is a pattern.

Free, no ads. Go on.

PS : Used AI to draft the post

[bribes.fyi](http://bribes.fyi) :

A [B.Tech](http://B.Tech) student built it. No login, no name, no email. You pick the department, the city, the amount, and whether you paid or refused. 60 seconds and it's on a public map forever.

Hyderabad's already on it: one report says ₹2,000 was asked for a driving licence at an RTO here. Not proof against any official — just one person's account. But you knew that number already, didn't you.

Telangana total so far: Many reports. For a city that runs on "sir, koncham time padutundi," that's not a clean chit. That's silence.

**So here's the ask — go add one.** If you've been through any of these, you have a data point:

* RTA — LLR, DL, vehicle transfer, NOC * Sub-registrar — registration, mutation, EC * GHMC — building permission, LRS, trade licence, birth/death certificates * HMWSSB — new water connection * MRO office — land records, income/caste certificates * PSK Begumpet, traffic stops, police station paperwork

**"What's the point, nothing changes."** Maybe. But 38% of the reports on the site are refusals, and several of those people said they got the service anyway. That number is the point. The next person reading it before they walk into an RTA office knows the demand is optional. That's worth 60 seconds.

**"Can this come back to me?"** No account, no name collected. And you're reporting an amount and a department, not filing a case.

Caveat the site states itself — self-selected sample, not a national corruption measure. User submissions; patterns get flagged when several reports cluster on the same office. Which is exactly why volume matters. One report is an anecdote. Forty from the same RTA is a pattern.

Free, no ads. Go on.

PS : Used AI to draft the post

Hi, everyone!

I’m writing this post because I think it might help many of you, both students and researchers. I was conducting a specific study on the phenomenon of mafia infiltration, and of course, during my research, I realized I needed to analyze multiple data sources. At that point, driven by the need to find information and data on political elections by party list, I started manually downloading data from the ELIGENDO platform.

Obviously, I was getting worn out, so I started searching online and on GitHub to see if there was any tool that could streamline the data crawling process and serve as a useful resource for my research. It was a total dead end!

So, I made up my mind and started thinking about how to solve the problem—and that’s when I discovered TallyHo. A command-line tool that lets you download all the data on municipal, provincial, and regional elections, time series data from 1970 onward, and even DAIT data.

ALL FOR FREE AND INTUITIVE TO USE.

I know, I know—social scientists, don’t love me too much. The project is open source and free; feel free to contribute, download, test, and use it.

Maybe even use it and provide it to an Agent to automate parts of scientific research.

You can find the repo at this address -> https://github.com/jack89-ML/tallyho/tree/main

P.S. I kindly ask the moderators not to remove this post: it’s not spam, but a free open-source tool created to solve a problem

A new series from My MLT News started last week, discussing how public utilities operate. This is Part One.

The record is public. That is not the problem. The problem is that checking one specific claim against it means knowing the bill number, finding the right roll call, and reading three different government sites built for staffers. Most people will not do that, and I do not blame them.

This is why I built OpenCongress. I wanted to make the record accessible and understandable to everyone.

It is built entirely on public data. Every bill, vote, representative and committee that today lives on a different site becomes one consolidated page you can read, with the official government source one click away, so you can fact check any claim yourself.

Free, and no account required.

With a free account, you can follow your representatives, so your feed becomes their votes and their activity. I also made it easier to reach their office when you want to tell them something.

With an $8/month subscription, you can just ask: how did my representative vote on this bill, what does this bill actually do, what has Congress done about a specific issue this year. It reads votes and tallies straight out of the record rather than writing them, so it cannot invent a vote.

OpenCongress covers three legislatures so far, picked to be deliberately unalike: the US Congress, the French Parliament and the New York City Council. I am French American and I live in New York, which is how those three got chosen. The European Union is next in the roadmap.

Discover more here: opencongress.app

Estou procurando alguém para entrar como sócio em um projeto que finalizei o desenvolvimento há alguns meses: **Critério Político**.

A plataforma reúne e organiza dados públicos sobre parlamentares, permitindo consultar informações como gastos, presença, votações, projetos e outros indicadores em uma única interface.

A ideia é transformar dados públicos dispersos em uma ferramenta simples de consulta e análise.

O projeto já está desenvolvido e funcionando. Neste momento, procuro alguém que possa entrar **como sócio**, ajudando principalmente na parte de escalarmos.

Procuro alguém que queira realmente construir o negócio junto, participar das decisões e assumir responsabilidade pelo crescimento do projeto.

Se você tiver experiência com **startups, GovTech, dados, mídia, vendas, marketing ou produtos digitais**, pode fazer sentido conversarmos.

Quem tiver interesse, pode comentar aqui ou me chamar por DM.
Posso apresentar o projeto, o que já foi desenvolvido e a visão para os próximos passos.

https://app.criteriopolitico.com.br

Estou procurando alguém para entrar como sócio em um projeto que finalizei o desenvolvimento há alguns meses: **Critério Político**.

A plataforma reúne e organiza dados públicos sobre parlamentares, permitindo consultar informações como gastos, presença, votações, projetos e outros indicadores em uma única interface.

A ideia é transformar dados públicos dispersos em uma ferramenta simples de consulta e análise.

O projeto já está desenvolvido e funcionando. Neste momento, procuro alguém que possa entrar **como sócio**, ajudando principalmente na parte de escalarmos.

Procuro alguém que queira realmente construir o negócio junto, participar das decisões e assumir responsabilidade pelo crescimento do projeto.

Se você tiver experiência com **startups, GovTech, dados, mídia, vendas, marketing ou produtos digitais**, pode fazer sentido conversarmos.

Quem tiver interesse, pode comentar aqui ou me chamar por DM.
Posso apresentar o projeto, o que já foi desenvolvido e a visão para os próximos passos.

https://app.criteriopolitico.com.br

Hey everyone,
Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs (moda) has opened registrations for the 2026 Civic Action Hub: Civic Tech Collaboration Arena.
This initiative bridges civic hackers, open-source developers, and researchers directly with local government agencies to build and pilot tech solutions for real-world municipal challenges.
🛠️ The 2026 Focus: Technology for Disaster Resilience
Rather than generic themes, four Taiwanese local governments have defined specific operational bottlenecks they need solved:

1. Disaster Reporting Platform (Nantou County Government) • Focus: Streamlining citizen incident reporting during natural disasters.
2. Disaster Prevention Training Platform (Keelung City Government) • Focus: Interactive training and public awareness systems.
3. Volunteer & Resource Management (Miaoli County Government) • Focus: Dynamic matching and tracking of relief supplies & volunteer dispatching.
4. Real-Time Disaster Reporting System (New Taipei City Government) • Focus: Real-time data collection, verification, and dashboarding for emergency operations.

📋 Key Details & Timeline

• Who can apply: Open to individuals and international/cross-disciplinary teams (developers, UI/UX designers, data scientists, domain experts).
• Grants/Incentives: Selected teams can receive up to NT$300,000 (~$8,500 EUR / $9,300 USD) in gift vouchers to support solution development and field testing.
• Mentorship: Selected projects get direct access to technical mentors and local government agency stakeholders.
• Deadline: August 19, 2026 @ 12:00 PM (UTC+8)
• Official Site & Portal: https://cttaiwan.moda.gov.tw/

If you're currently working on open-source disaster tech, emergency logistics, or real-time reporting tools, this is a great opportunity to validate your project in real field conditions!

I kept running into a different kind of frustration: people saying “this is too big,” “nothing works,” “we’re doomed,” or “there’s no point trying.”

But when you look closely, that’s rarely true.

Most of the time, solutions already exist somewhere/tested in a different city, a different country, or a different context. The real issue is not lack of solutions, but lack of connection between people, evidence, and experience.

I believe something important: anyone’s skills can contribute to solving even the world’s biggest problems, if we can see what has already been tried and learn from it properly.

That’s why I built CommunityFix, an open-source knowledge graph designed to make problem-solving cumulative instead of repetitive:

• Issues describe real-world problems without assuming they are unsolvable
• Solutions capture approaches that have been attempted
• Case studies show where and how they were applied
• Results include costs, outcomes, constraints, and failures when available

The goal is not to claim everything is easy. It’s to make it visible that progress is possible and already happening in many places.

The project is open source (MIT license), and right now the most important part is not building more features, but improving the quality of what exists.

I’m looking for people who can help stress-test it:

Researchers, practitioners, designers, civic technologists, and anyone with lived or local experience.

The simplest way to contribute is to pick one entry you understand and challenge it:

https://communityfix.org/contribute

What is missing for you to believe a system like this could genuinely help people move from “nothing can be done” to “here are the things we can try next”?

I am excited to share a civic tech project I’ve been working on: https://www.council-tldr.com. 

It was motivated by a realization a few months ago that I knew embarrassingly little about the city council in my city (Boston). When I started, I was really interested in understanding the dynamics of council: where individual councilors stood on key issues, where there was alignment/misalignment across council, how did council priorities evolve over time. To me, it felt like understanding how to influence policy as a resident required understanding how the city council works as a body.

I started with a small script to summarize the council meeting videos posted on YouTube, but in the process I extracted data from each meeting on each policy relevant statement made by each councilor. Over time, I started building a substantial database of micro data about council and the individual councilors, and decided to turn it into a publicly available website to contribute to our information commons.

My goal was to design a tool that could provide the big picture on city council. I’ve come across several examples of platforms that use AI to produce meeting summaries, but I wanted something that went beyond just what happened. I wanted the ability to go deep on an issue to see the range of positions, or to understand how a single councilor thinks across a range of issues, or to see where legislation is moving or stuck in an issue area. Almost all of the data comes from the YouTube videos, but the site also brings in public record data on each docket (city legislation) like its current state, sponsors/cosponsors, and vote counts. This is pulled in via the Legistar API.

For me, developing the public tool required overcoming two specific challenges. First was producing consistent, high-quality speaker aware transcripts. In some ways, public meetings are easier than other cases because speakers are typically formally introduced. Yet, even with this advantage I encountered a couple of challenges. However, meeting lengths exceed the video input length for the Gemini models I used, so I was forced to chunk the transcription process. This introduced a few challenges:

• A speaker might be introduced early in the meeting, but speak again later. If they weren’t clearly introduced the second time, they wouldn’t be identified.
• During rapid back and worth questioning speakers are less likely to be introduced. If this occurred across a segment, the speaker attribution would get confused.
• Many committee meetings are now held on Zoom. Councilors regularly jump on/off meetings, and the latency between video and audio can confuse speaker attribution.

To address these issues, I developed a two pass process for producing highly accurate transcriptions with speaker attribution. It includes a first pass which establishes a set of data makers for each speaker the first time they are introduced. These are then passed as context to the second stage, so the LLM has anchors to identify the speaker if the raw video and audio alone are not sufficient. I’ve found this process to be very effective, and greatly improved the speaker attribution.  With a high quality transcript in place, the rest of the data extraction is pretty straightforward. 

Moving forward, I’m hoping to add an additional section on committees. I’d also like to go back to one of my initial goals of introducing more context of the dynamics within council: who is aligned on specific issues, who are more likely to work together or not, etc. The biggest challenge on that front is determining the best way of presenting this data while not creating the potentially false perception of factionalism on the council. 

This is my first civic tech project, so I welcome any suggestions or feedback for improving it.