Who we are

It is not always easy to maintain an overview when it comes to the political positions of parties and candidates. smartvote starts exactly at this point and would like to support the voters in making an informed voting decision. A transparent information base is created for this purpose. Using an election-specific questionnaire on a wide variety of political issues, voters can compare their positions with those of the parties and have an election recommendation drawn up.

Smartvote Kosovo is a project of Kosovo Democratic Institute and Politools. The smartvote Kosovo website is an adapted version of smartvote International, a so-called VAA (Voting Advice Application) that was first developed in Switzerland in 2003 and is operated by the politically neutral, not-for-profit association Politools. smartvote International was also used in elections abroad (e.g. in Luxembourg in 2009, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024 and in Australia in 2019 and 2020).

Kosova Democratic Institute is an NGO founded in 2005 as a spin-off of National Democratic Institute’s  election and civic participation programs. The organization stands for participatory democracy and fight against corruption through promotion of transparency, accountability and integrity across all sectors of the society. During its 19 years journey, KDI has developed a distinct identity and portfolio as of the most active, credible and influential CSO in Kosovo.  The organization’s human assets, valuable thematic expertise and presence at local and central level, have enabled the Institute to pioneer and tackle the most pressing political and social topics. KDI is well-known to the public and stakeholders for leading and engaging in a wide range of activities - from parliament monitoring, election monitoring and electoral reforms to influencing good governance policies and practices, promoting and demanding institutional transparency, integrity and accountability, scrutinizing public procurements; extending hand to whistle-blowers and victims of corruption while empowering youth and women participation in political processes. In 2015 KDI became accredited as a full member of Transparency International , a leading global movement against corruption. Since 2007 KDI also leads the only CSO coalition for election monitoring called “Democracy in Action” and since it has led all election monitoring missions in Kosovo.

Kosova Democratic Institute (KDI) >

smartvote is a Swiss Voting Advice Application (VAA) developed and run by the politically neutral, non-profit organization Politools. Politools is an interdisciplinary scientific network located in Bern, Switzerland, which operates internet-based projects to promote civic education and political transparency, and to provide political analysis. Since 2003, smartvote has informed voters in over 300 elections throughout Switzerland, Europe and Australia.

Politools >
smartvote International >
smartvote Switzerland >

Zeilenwerk is an information technology company based in Bern, Switzerland, which focuses on the conception, architecture and development of sophisticated custom-made software and web applications. As the main IT partner of Politools, Zeilenwerk (formerly known as soom-it) has supported the development of the smartvote web platform since 2014.

Zeilenwerk >