Three law students at Leibniz University Hannover aim to facilitate a better understanding of politics and simplify making an informed choice when voting in elections. They have set up an independent website for the European Elections. What do political parties in Germany intend to achieve in the European Elections on 26 May 2019? Funded by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, the platform www.ausgewaehlt.eu summarises the positions of major political parties in a simple and efficient manner. In 280 characters each, CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, Die Linke, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, AfD, as well as eight other parties answer questions on seven subject areas. Detailed information on each statement is available by clicking on "More". However, once again, there are no lengthy party manifestos but rather concise information in 1,500 characters.
The three creators of the website, Maximilian Nussbaum, Martin Suchrow, and Julian Kay, are law students at Leibniz University Hannover. Although they are not involved in a political party, they are very interested in politics. With ausgewaehlt.eu, they aim to facilitate a better understanding of politics among young voters. The students launched the project "ausgewählt" in 2017, on the occasion of the elections for the German Bundestag. "Back then, we had 46,000 clicks in two weeks and reached 75,000 people via Facebook", says Maximilian Nussbaum. 90 percent of the users were aged between 18 and 34 years.
The website ausgewaehlt.eu is funded by the Federal Agency for Civic Education and Gemeinsam Europa gestalten e.V. within the scope of the Youth Democracy Award 2019. The funding bodies provide up to 500 euros for initiatives by adolescents and young adults focusing on the EU and the European elections. Following successful implementation, all projects can apply for the Youth Democracy Award.
The statements on ausgewaehlt.eu cover the following issues: future of Europe, economy, research and education, migration and refugees, European foreign policy, climate and environment, as well as social affairs and employment. All statements are presented in a simple, unfiltered manner and in direct comparison with other political parties. According to the creators of the website, other voting advice applications such as the Wahl-O-Mat take a different approach. It asks questions that some of the users have not previously considered, so users have to rely on their gut instinct. In contrast, ausgewaehlt.eu, directly compares both the statements and the reasoning behind them.
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For further information, please contact Maximilian Nussbaum (Tel. +49 162 977 38 07, Email info@ausgewaehlt.org).
