Wahl-O-Mat for the 2025 Bundestag election hits the finish line with a new record
Political education as a national pastime: With the federal elections coming to a close, this modern classic is breaking all records at breakneck speed and is more popular than ever before.
With almost 26 million hits in just two and a half weeks, the Wahl-O-Mat has once again impressively proven its position as a must-have for German election preparation.
For more than two decades, we have been responsible for the design of what is probably Germany's best-known orange-coloured box. Now, together with the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb), for whom we design and develop the Wahl-O-Mat, we are delighted about the incredible new record!
This time, everything went faster than usual: early federal elections, a compressed election campaign, less time to decide which party to vote for. And because the parties in the running were only finalised so late, those hungry for information only had two and a half weeks to play the Wahl-O-Mat this time instead of the usual four.
Oldie, but Goldie
Why has the Wahl-O-Mat become an integral part of the pre-election period in Germany and is becoming increasingly popular despite its age? It's actually quite clear: because the principle is old, but at the same time reduction at its best. It focusses on the essentials and reduces the sometimes confusing information gathering on parties, topics and theses to a manageable formula: agree, neutral, disagree or skip.
Top seller in political education
Since the beginning, in the early 2000s, Wahl-O-Mat has withstood every fast-moving design trend and every multimedia overload and has remained true to its minimalist, smart success model.
However, the simple, orange box is continuously evaluated and further developed in terms of content, technology and design in order to take user feedback into account.
Positions and weightings can now be tuned - even small changes can have a major impact on the alignment of your own opinion with the positions of the parties. And if you want, you can continue to analyse the results after answering the questions and discover interesting facts: individual theses in the party comparison, the reasons for these theses or the parties' most important positions.
What does the Wahl-O-Mat do best?
This little tool makes us think, it forces us to take a stand: Only by answering the various questions on climate change, school policy or the minimum wage, for example, can I find out which party is closest to me. A playful tool for political decision-making - what more could you want?
And as always: after the election is before the election! After a breather, the next round of state elections will take place next spring. With Wahl-O-Mat - we promise!