votetandem.org

A platform that gives politically excluded people in Switzerland a possibility to vote — simple to use, social, and meant to persist. In Switzerland many inhabitants are excluded from voting, of whom are foreigners making up 25 % of the population. votetandem.org enables a direct possibility to vote by meeting up with Swiss people who supply their vote for exchange.The platform is based on blockchain technology for a secure and independent operation. votetandem.org started a broad public discussion in Switzerland about voting rights, and was featured in various media outlets. The platform purposely aimed to make this abstract political topic more tangible and inclusive by involving political experts and in particular people lacking political vocabulary and opinion making skills – resulting in a discussion on a desirable democratic participation. Among other media outlets, votetandem.org was featured in Switzerland’s most popular newspapers such as 20 Minuten,Tagesanzeiger and Le Temps.TV reports included Ticino’s RSI Telegiornale, ZDF heute+ and additionally, a radio broad- cast by Swiss national radio SRF. In the months and years, votetandem. org was invited to exhibit at the “Refresh #2” exhibition (Zurich Uni- versity of the Arts),“Demokratie Festival” in Basel, and Ars Electronica in Linz during the celebration of 20 years of Interaction Design and ZHdK, including workshops and speeches. Since physical meetings with strangers were not recommended during the highs of the pandemic, we took a break and started to continue to work on votetandem.org together with other organizations.