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Local election navigation system: New online help for voters in North Rhine-Westphalia launched!
Local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia will take place on September 14, 2025. The local election navigation system developed by the University of Münster helps voters find their political positions.
Local election navigation system: New online help for voters in North Rhine-Westphalia launched!
Local elections are taking place in North Rhine-Westphalia on September 14, 2025, in which voters are called upon to vote on the political situation in their communities. The election campaign has already gained full momentum six weeks before the election. The focus of the election preparations is that of an interdisciplinary team led by Prof. Dr. Norbert Kersting from the University of Münster developed “local election navigation system”.
This innovative online tool, available online since August 4, 2023, is aimed at citizens and helps them make an informed voting decision. It is primarily available in Münster, Bielefeld and Paderborn, although an expansion to Cologne is also planned.
Functions of the local election navigation system
The local election navigation system is a further development of the already known tools “Wahl-O-Mat” and “Wahl-Kompass”. Users have the opportunity to deal with over 30 theses on various political topics. They can agree with the respective theses, remain neutral or reject them, which reflects their personal political position. The NRW School of Governance and the University of Münster have launched this platform to create transparency about political positions.
After answering and weighing the theses, the navigation system shows to what extent your own position agrees with the parties' answers and offers detailed justifications for the parties' respective positions. This allows voters to make well-informed decisions by comparing not only the overall picture but also the positions of individual parties on specific issues.
Eligible voters and candidacies in Münster
In Münster, around 250,000 voters are entitled to cast their votes. In the coming elections, the mayor, the city council and six district representatives will be re-elected. Eight candidates are running for mayor. These include, among others, Dr. Georg Lunemann from the CDU, Tilman Fuchs from Alliance 90/Greens and Stephan Brinktrine from the SPD.
The city council in Münster is made up of 66 council members, consisting of 41 councilors and 25 councilwomen. The CDU is the strongest faction with 23 seats, followed by Alliance 90/The Greens/GAL with 20 seats and the SPD with 11 seats. The other parties in the council are the FDP, The Left and The Party/ÖDP, which each hold 3 seats, the Volt council group with 2 seats and the AfD with 1 seat.
Together with the local election navigation system, which is also to be developed for the cities of Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Bochum, the election aid offers a comprehensive source of information for citizens to find out about relevant topics and the positions of the parties before the election. The theses workshop, which took place on July 3rd under the leadership of experts, represented a further step in this process and contributed to the development of theses that take into account the municipal challenges in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The local election navigation system therefore proves to be a valuable tool that can both promote voter participation and sharpen understanding of local political issues, which is particularly important in the current political landscape.