2026/01/29 by Marius Fröhle, Judith Reinbold, Ronald Schleehauf +2 · 2 voices
Social Sciences · #Social Media and Politics #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #Electoral Systems and Political Participation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/poi3.70028
ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) have become widely used tools that provide personalized political information to help voters make informed choices and strengthen democratic processes. However, little research has examined their potential unintended effects. This article analyzes data from a follow‐up survey of the VAA Voteswiper during the 2025 German federal election campaign to assess whether VAA results align with users' prior voting intentions and how they correlate with subsequent short‐term voting intentions. We find that users intending to vote for fringe parties are most likely to receive a VAA match consistent with their initial preferences. In contrast, those initially favoring more centrist parties are less likely to receive a match with their preferred party and more often match with populist or fringe parties—particularly the far‐right Alternative for Germany. Moreover, we identify substantial differences across social groups in both the alignment between VAA results and prior preferences and the extent to which VAA results influence intended short‐term vote choices. These findings suggest that VAAs may disproportionately benefit populist parties, especially on the radical right, potentially shifting user preferences and challenging the widely held view of VAAs as neutral tools of political education.