Platform Helps Choose and Monitor City Councilors in Brazilian Municipal Elections

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Those who have already used dating apps know that it can be difficult to select and find the right person among so many options. Filtering the appearance and personality features can be tricky. In politics, this selection is even more challenging: aligning ideas and projects amid so many pledges and speeches would not be possible without the help of technology.

The #TemMeuVoto (#YouHaveMyVote) platform emerged in 2018 when it helped voters choose state and federal deputies and senators according to priority issues, ideals, campaign proposals, and ideological affinity. Similar to relationship apps, but focused on the elections.

“The platform is a tool to help in the search for one’s ideal candidate, by affinity of views,” said the project’s coordinator, André Szajman. “For politicians, it is a great opportunity to reach out to their voters, and show that they deserved their vote. This active approach on both sides is fundamental for the strengthening of Brazilian democracy,” he added.

It’s a match

The tool is based on questions that help identify which politicians have similar views to voters. In order to join this kind of “electoral Tinder” and possibly find a match, users need to answer some questions, such as topics they consider a priority, like transport, health, education, culture, among others.

Some questions are also asked to help define the users’ political direction. No prior registration is required. After the answers, the platform provides a list with the candidates who most identify with the voters’ preferences.

A click on each profile provided will show additional information about the candidate: party, mini-biography, official websites, priorities, ideological position. Voters may refine their choice and define the candidate’s gender and race, according to the official TSE criteria and records. Finally, they can bookmark their favorites and create a kind of “electronic monitoring” of their chosen candidates.

But for the “match” to work even better, Szajman stresses that candidates must also access the website and answer questions, since the platform is cooperative and relies on information entered by candidates. Initially, the information provided by ‘Tem Meu Voto’ is based on official public sources such as the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).

According to Szajman, it is based on these answers that the program lists the candidates most aligned with the voters’ profile. He also considers that the tool may help provide greater visibility to small candidacies, with little structure or party support.

“I believe that candidates should not miss the opportunity to complete their data on the platform. It is very good for a small candidate, a person who would not show up on the radar. This tool has an important inclusion factor. In fact, it is essential to increase the representation of blacks, women, and minorities,” said Szajman.

Electoral disguise

Another important point is that it is always worth researching more about a candidate, rather than being restricted only to the results presented by the platform. One of the reasons is that since there is no “control” over each candidate’s answers, some may take advantage of the tool to exhibit a profile that is not actually theirs, like a right-wing candidate who pretends to be a centrist in order to reach another range of voters.

“We have discussed this point extensively, but the truth is that we don’t have to do this assessment [of each answer]. We must always consider that the answer is based on the politician’s honesty,” Szajman said. “I hope that those who might have this kind of attitude will be dismissed by the voters; we hope that candidates will be more honest,” he said.

Influence

In the 2018 elections, the platform was accessed 34 million times and had 1.5 million affinity matches. In this year’s municipal elections, these numbers are expected to double. Since the platform was launched about two weeks ago, there have been over 500,000 accesses.

Source: Agência Brasil