The team at Women in Toronto Politics (WiTOpoli)
recently launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise money for their newest project: a "one-stop-shop" website outlining the position of every city coucnil candidate running in the upcoming municip
al elections.
The goal was to raise $8,000 over the course of 40 days. WiTOpoli reached it in 10. And the campaign, which runs until August 22, continues to attract donations.
"The momentum has really exceeded our expectations," says Abby Plener, media relations director with WiTOpoli. "We reached out to our networks and people have really gotten behind it. Not only are people supporting it, but we're also hearing that this is a tool that a lot of people would really use."
The yet-to-be-launched website, called Position Primer, will ultimately be a directory of each candidate's stance on important municipal issues; issues such as unemployment, transit, taxation and housing. In order to be of the most benefit to voters, Position Primer will group candidates by ward and will plot the candidates position in chart to allow for side-by-side comparison. The volunteer team at WiTOpoli have already began collecting information, sending out a survey to each candidate requesting positions on 10 key issues in 500 characters or less.
"We came to the conclusion that we needed this website a few months ago when we began organizing for the upcoming elections" says Plener. "There's a lot of media attention always on the mayoral election in Toronto--which is great--but the thing is we also have a very strong council system and our councilors make a big different on issues we care about. But for voters it can be hard to know how a candidate feels about those issues, and there are over 200 candidates running. We wanted to create a platform where voters could examine all equally and in one place."
The current plan, says Plener, is to have the site up and running for September.
The funds raised through the Position Primer indiegogo crowdsource campaign will be used to pay a designer for Position Planner and to fund WiTOpoli's ongoing outreach efforts to get candidates onboard.
It might seem like lot of work for only one election, but it's worth it, says Plener, to get more people engaged and ultimately out to the voting booth. And, stresses Plener, the site will have continued relevance even after the election as a way of holding elected officials accountable for their avowed stances on key Toronto issues.
"The site represents an opportunity for candidates to engage with voters in a different way and gives voters, who might otherwise not know where to access all this information, a new entry point into the election. It will give our city a boost in terms of civic engagement."
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Abby Plener, Media Relations Director, Women in Toronto Politics.