Potential Opportunities Ahead

The Local-o-Mat, a new and exciting tool designed to encourage engagement with local politics, is now available for voters in ten cities across North Rhine-Westphalia. The cities include Düsseldorf, Aachen, Coesfeld, Duisburg, Gütersloh, Haan, Cologne, Krefeld, Münster, and Witten.

This innovative platform, led by Marschall, a political scientist at Heinrich Heine University, is similar to the Wahl-O-Mat but focuses specifically on city council elections. It allows voters to compare their positions on 30 communal political theses with those of participating parties and voter groups on lokal-o-mat.de.

The local-o-mat is more than just a comparison tool. It is a comprehensive resource that includes theses tailored to the individual cities, following a thorough analysis of local debates. The final selection of topics covers the interests of all eligible voters, not just young people, and discussions range from traffic planning and housing policy to various other pressing issues.

The positions of participating parties and voter groups serve as a basis for users to compare their own views with those of the political actors. The research team fact-checked the theses worked out in the workshop before asking participating parties and voter groups to provide their positions on the statements. The development of the local-o-mat also incorporates the local peculiarities of the participating cities.

The local-o-mat aims to raise awareness among young people about long-term local participation opportunities. In fact, Jonas Bongartz, the project coordinator of the local-o-mat, emphasises the importance of involving young people in the tool's development. A multi-day workshop was held with teenagers and young adults from the participating cities to contribute to the creation of the theses.

NRW Minister of Culture Ina Brandes supports the local-o-mat, stating that it helps voters make informed decisions in a scientifically sound and playful way. The local-o-mat also supports voters in making their city's politics concretely tangible and encourages as many people as possible to exercise their right to participate.

The political parties and voter groups participating in the city council elections in the ten cities and their positions on 30 municipal political theses in the lokal-o-mat tool on lokal-o-mat.de can be found directly on the lokal-o-mat platform. The local-o-mat is a valuable resource for anyone looking to engage with local politics and make informed decisions during the upcoming elections.