How2Vote: Compare Voting Records

How2Vote is a non-partisan comparison app by National Digital that compares how political parties' recorded parliamentary votes line up with a user's own positions, in the context of Australian federal elections. The practical problem it addresses is that campaign messaging and party statements are easy to publish but hard to check, while the underlying parliamentary record is public yet awkward to use directly. The app answers that by working from recorded parliamentary votes rather than campaign claims, and by letting users answer 50 propositions that parliament has actually voted on. Each proposition points back to the divisions behind it, so the material can be verified against the original record. Results are presented for the candidates on the user's ballot in official ballot order, and the user then assembles their own voting plan — nothing is ranked automatically and no preference is suggested. The complete dataset is stored inside the app, so questions, scoring and the resulting card all function without a connection, which matters at a polling place with weak or no signal. It connects only for actions the user initiates, such as sending the contact form, opting into anonymous research, or following a link out. No account is required and answers stay on the device. The app is independent and not a government service.

Key features

• Answer 50 propositions drawn from votes parliament has actually taken, then see how each party's recorded votes line up with those positions
• Comparisons are shown against the candidates on your own ballot, listed in official ballot order
• Every proposition links to the parliamentary divisions it is based on, so the underlying record can be checked at the source
• Build a personal voting plan: the app never ranks options for you and recommends no preference
• Full offline operation — questions, scoring and your finished card work without any connection
• No account and no sign-up; answers and weights remain on your device
• Two-tone interface that avoids encoding match quality as party colour, with a public, deterministic and reproducible scoring method
• Open source under AGPL-3.0-or-later, with electoral and parliamentary data drawn from public sources

How to install

1. Tap the download button on this page to get the APK file.
2. When Android asks, allow your browser or file manager to install apps — this is the "Install unknown apps" permission.
3. Open the downloaded APK file; the package is about 10 MB.
4. Tap Install and wait for the process to finish.
5. Open the app. It requires Android 7.0 or newer.

This suits an experienced user who already follows Australian federal politics and wants to compare parties on the parliamentary record rather than on campaign messaging. It is aimed at voters who are comfortable reading division-level evidence, who want to verify what they are shown, and who prefer to construct their own preference order instead of accepting a recommendation. Because it works offline and keeps answers local, it also fits users who are privacy-conscious or who expect to use it at a polling place with poor connectivity. Anyone outside that context, or looking for an official electoral service, will find it of limited use.

Work through the 50 propositions in one or two sittings, since the comparison only becomes useful once your positions are recorded. Follow the links to the parliamentary divisions for propositions that matter most to you, and treat the match percentages as a starting point for reading rather than a final answer. If you opt into the anonymous research contribution, remember that it is a separate, optional action and the rest of the app runs without it.

How2Vote takes a narrow, verifiable question — how recorded parliamentary votes compare with your own positions — and answers it without accounts, ads or a connection. For a careful voter willing to check the divisions behind each proposition and build their own preference order, it is a focused and transparent tool.