Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Facebook has joined hands to provide citizens the up to date candidates’ information for the upcoming state assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections to help them make an informed choice. Voters will now be able to access election candidates’ criminal, financial, educational, and professional information directly on their mobile via Facebook.

To access the information users have to 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.

“At ADR, we are committed to strengthening democracy by continuously empowering the electorate through greater dissemination of information relating to the candidates and the parties, for a better and informed choice. This initiative with Facebook will allow us to expand our reach,” said Prof. Trilochan Sastry, founder and trustee, Association for Democratic Reforms.

“Voters will be able to know the poll worthiness of candidates, their educational, criminal and financial information and choose wisely. Simply voting in an uninformed manner is not enough, citizens need to make an informed choice,” he added.

“Over 82 million Indian citizens access Facebook regularly, and an increasing number of users access the platform on mobile. 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,” said Ankhi Das, director of public policy, Facebook India

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.