I’ve written a number of times about attempts from around the world to provide voters with better information with which to make their decisions. For instance, FullFact was launched in the run up to the recent UK elections to try and verify the various statements made by politicians during the campaign.
It was very much in this vein that the Knight Foundation ran its recent Knight News Challenge. The competition was designed to provide better information and increase participation during election campaigns. The winners of the challenge were recently announced, with some fascinating projects emerging.
Information and engagement
The winners congregated around two core themes: providing voters with better information, and increasing voter engagement. Ten of the winning entrants will receive up to $525,000 in backing, whilst a further 12 will receive $35,000 to help get their early stage ideas off the ground.
“Focusing on the critical area of elections, the winners explore new ways to use data and technology to enable citizens to determine their own best interests,” the Knight Foundation say.
Providing better information
Here are some of the winning projects that attempt to provide better information to voters during elections:
- Political Ad Tracker, which aimed to provide a public library of political advertising in key statesCampaign Hound, which provides a searchable transcript of all campaign speeches given by politiciansInside the 990 Treasure Trove, which aims to make campaign funding more transparent
Boosting voter engagement
Among the winners in the voter engagement category were:
- Civic Engagement Toolkit, which offers local governments a toolkit to boost their civic engagement. This includes website templates and the like.
Informed Voting From Start to Finish, which combines the voter service of TurboVote (a service to help register people to vote), and the local guides and candidate information of E.thePeopleSharp Insight, which aims to bolster engagement in minority communities by encouraging barbers in those communities to disseminate nonpartisan informationVote-by-Smartphone, which aims to make it easier to vote by post by using mobile devices to allow voters to request ballot papers
You can find out more about each of the winners, and the 12 prototype fund winners at the challenge website.
