Now people wanting to know the past records of the candidates fighting the upcoming state assembly and the Lok Sabha elections don’t have to depend on the newspapers and the internet.

To make people aware of the election candidates’ criminal, financial, educational, professional records, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has partnered Facebook to help them make an informed choice.

ADR has been providing these information to the media for many years.

“This initiative combines ADR’s strong experience in electoral research to millions of Facebook users in India. The USSD election feature will allow citizens to access information more easily and will enable them to make an informed choice”, ADR said in a statement.

All users have to do is dial *325# from their mobile to access Facebook and select the election menu (option 6) or directly dial *325*35# to access the election menu for no charge.

ADR said that the initiative is aimed at continuously empowering the electorate through greater dissemination of information relating to the candidates and the parties, for a better and informed choice

Prof. Trilochan Sastry, Founder and Trustee, Association for Democratic Reforms, said, “This initiative with Facebook will allow us to expand our reach. Voters will be able to know the poll worthiness of candidates -- their educational, criminal and financial information -- at their fingertips and choose wisely. Simply voting in an uninformed manner is not enough, citizens need to make an informed choice.”
 
The initiative could become an instant hit with the people turning to social media for social intercourse and latest information.  Facebook said that over 82 million Indian citizens access Facebook regularly, and an increasing number of users access the platform on mobile. It hopes that the move will engage people with issues of governance.

Ankhi Das, Director of Public Policy, Facebook India, said, “ Together with ADR, an organization that has built its reputation by empowering citizens with informed updates and analysis, we hope to make information more readily available to users about the antecedents and performance of political candidates.”