Digital voting aids: This is how young NRW citizens can vote smartly in 2025!

Digital voting aids: This is how young NRW citizens can vote smartly in 2025!

The local elections are just around the corner in North Rhine-Westphalia: On September 14, 2025, around 13.7 million eligible voters will be called upon to cast their votes. In this election the aim is to elect mayors, city councilors and local councillors. Young voters in particular should be supported in their decision-making by digital voting aids, as kommunal.de reports.

Various tools are available to help young voters understand the political landscape. The Düssel-O-Mat, developed by the Jugendring Düsseldorf and Voto, includes 31 local policy theses that revolve around central issues such as daycare centers, quotas of women in management positions, new construction of social housing and climate protection. Users can mark relevant topics with a star.

A variety of digital voting aids

But that's just the beginning. The Bonn-o-mat allows users to respond to 30 theses and signal their agreement or disagreement. In Bonn, 13 parties have published their positions on these theses, which concern, for example, swimming courses for children or referendums on infrastructure projects. If users do not agree with a thesis, they can simply skip it. A similar platform is the Wahlbuddy in Dortmund, which focuses specifically on local political issues for young people and offers 25 thematic points, including free school materials developed by young people and the youth ring.

The communication and information offering is supplemented by the Sol-o-Mat in Solingen, which prepares 20 theses with a strong focus on art and culture in public spaces. In Cologne, Münster, Bielefeld and other cities, the municipal navigation system, developed by a team led by Prof. Dr. Norbert Kersting, which contains 30 relevant theses and has been online since August 4th.

A step into the digital future of elections

Another highlight is the Lokal-o-mat, a city-specific version of the Wahl-O-Mat research from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, which is available for ten municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia, including Aachen, Coesfeld and Krefeld. The platform will also offer the parties the opportunity to represent their positions on the issues. At the end, users can compare their position with that of the parties and see what agreement there is, while they can explicitly see the parties' justifications for their answers.

In addition, the “Local Election Navi” will be introduced by the University of Duisburg-Essen, which will target local issues and will also be available for cities such as Duisburg and Bochum. Special theses are discussed on which the parties have to position themselves, including on Rüttenscheider Straße or problem properties, as WDR reports in detail. Using these digital voting tools could be crucial to igniting voting spirit and giving young people a voice.

Ultimately, the use of digital support measures proves to be an innovative approach to promote interest in political issues and mobilize voters for local elections. The advantages are demonstrated by the fact that young voters can deal with important questions and topics in an uncomplicated and targeted manner. The time until the election remains exciting and educational.