Forget what politicians say. What truly matters is what they do. And what they do is vote, to write our laws which affect us all.
— They Vote For You
Australia got a new Prime Minister last week. As the media detailed the step by step drama, tens of thousands of people visited and shared They Vote For You to see how the players had actually voted in Parliament.
Well over 30,000 people have visited They Vote For You since the leadership challenge was announced. This is over three times as many people as on the project’s launch day when it featured in the Guardian Australia’s comment section and Datablog.
Most people looked at the new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s voting record, while others looked up their own representative or the newly promoted ministers when they were announced. Dozens more people have subscribed to be notified when policies that interest them are updated and we even saw one wonderful person start contributing summaries of divisions. The vast majority of people came from Facebook (70%!), and over 90% came from social media more generally.
In a week of so many words, it was fantastic to see people looking for and sharing real information about what MPs do in Parliament. We hope to see more people holding their representatives accountable for their votes on the laws that effect our society.
Henare went on FBi Radio’s Backchat on Saturday morning to talk about the project and why people are looking for the kind of information it provides.
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter