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In order for citizens to participate in, understand, evaluate and, ultimately, accept an election process and its outcome as representing their will, election data must be open to citizens. As described in the section on open data principles, election data is open when it is released in a manner that is timely, granular, available for free on the internet, complete and in bulk, analyzable, non-proprietary, non-discriminatory and available to anyone, license-free and permanent. When these conditions are met, citizens can, among other things, use election data to participate more fully as voters or contestants, make informed choices about whom to elect, understand and accept how winners are determined, recommend reforms to improve the next election and hold electoral stakeholders accountable. In these ways, open election data enhances the inclusiveness, transparency, accountability and competitiveness of elections.
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