European Elections starting points

This week see our recommendations for finding information on the European Elections. Here are some basic starting points.

Voter education guides on the European Elections.

In 2013 the European Commission declared an aim of increasing voter turnout.
In an effort to make voting more interesting the EP has sponsored a number of tools to help voters. In addition to the traditional 2014 elections website which has news and guides on voting. They have create a Box your EP app for tablets and the hashtag EP#2014 and a special website called Happy Vote which is based on the pop song. They have also had a  presidential debate format

Votewatch has created a My Vote 2014 site for young voters which has a game that will help pick a party with similar views.

EUvox is another voter application sponsored by the Open Society Institute. Voters are encouraged to select the party that meets their preferences.

Euandi from the European University Insitute is another site which covers Europe Wide.

EuroVote+ is a research project which provides information to voters about different electoral systems. It asks people to consider if they would vote isf the system was different.

Electio2014 from Votewatch Europe has vote matching, interestingly this is based not just on policies but European Parliament activities. Other features of the site are a poll watching feature.

 Academic dossiers on the European Elections.

European Parliamentary Information service has some interesting blog postings.
European Sources online has a guide to the role and legal operation of the parliament.
Robert Schuman Centre has a really good page with a basic guide, quizzes and interactive maps of candidates.
European Policy Centre is aggregating polls in the run up to the elections.
Europe Decides is website created by Burson-Marsteller Brussels it includes a pollwatch feature from Votewatch and also extensive coverage of the use of social media in the elections.