Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) are digital tools – online questionnaires that help voters gather information on parties, policies, and candidates in the pre-election phase. VAAs deliver online data that can assist voters to identify the party or candidate that aligns with their political values and preferences. This can help to save time and also build political literacy in young and first-time voters. 

VAAs are an increasingly popular tool in democracies, being used to drive civic engagement and electoral participation, and influence voter turnout. Debate continues on the efficacy of VAAs; critics maintain that they are not capable of delivering impartial advice, while supporters credit their capacity to help voters in the decision-making process. VAAs are widely used in Europe: Switzerland’s SmartVote program matches voters and candidates, with both completing the online questionnaire. SmartVote has proven popular with young voters, and is seen as likely to influence youth voter turnout. 

Example: The Vote Compass application was developed in Canada by political scientists, and is now used by democracies around the world. Participants complete an online questionnaire, covering a series of issues. Vote Compass analyses responses and compares them against the policies of candidates. The results show the participant how their views compare to candidates’ policies. Vote Compass generally partners with a media organization to promote the initiative in the pre-election cycle (votecompass.com).