Herramientas para elegir en medio del ruido en las elecciones presidenciales
Diana Dajer, democracy manager at the Corona Foundation.
May 27, 2026
According to the most recent report by International IDEA on disinformation in Colombia, the country began the current electoral cycle with a record-breaking digital ecosystem. There are more than 49.7 million mobile internet connections (in a country of 52 million inhabitants) and 95.6 million active cell phone lines. This infrastructure has amplified online political information and discourse. In 2018, the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) recorded more than 44 million posts and messages related to the elections. The MOE also reported that, between January 1, 2025, and February 15, 2026, presidential pre-candidates spent over $5.573 billion on ads on Facebook and Instagram, not including TikTok, YouTube, or other platforms.
Despite the wealth of information available online, one of the main barriers citizens face in participating in democracy is the lack of accurate information. According to the 2025 Youth in Society survey, the primary obstacle reported by young people in Colombia to participating in democracy is the lack of information on how to get involved, while only 12% feel confident searching for information online.
For its part, in its latest monitoring of electoral disinformation, the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) has warned of the increase in digital disinformation strategies in Colombia. For example, in its report for the 14th National Commission for Coordination and Monitoring of Electoral Processes, the MOE highlighted that 76.1% of the disinformation identified has the primary objective of distorting public debate ; that is, manipulating the electorate's perception by editing or taking facts out of context to present them as true.
Election advisory apps: a commitment to strengthening informed voting
In this context, marked by an abundance of information, the spread of disinformation, and the difficulty of accessing reliable electoral content, various initiatives have emerged from civil society in recent years to promote informed voting through what the literature calls electoral advisory apps. These tools aim to help people make informed electoral decisions by, among other things, comparing their own opinions with the positions of parties or candidates, and by organizing political information in a way that is understandable and useful for the electorate.
The first documented version of such a tool was created in the Netherlands using traditional methods, with pencil and paper, in 1989. Today, several countries have similar initiatives. For example, for the recent presidential elections in Peru, the organization Digital Democracy shared eight web platforms aimed at promoting informed voting in that country. In Argentina, Me Representa, promoted by Democracy Network, Legislative Directory, and Citizen Power, was designed to help citizens make informed choices about the candidates who represent their interests.
Over the past eight years, Colombia has also had several election advisory apps to promote informed voting. For example, in the 2018 presidential elections, tools like Candidater emerged to compare the candidates' positions with those of the public. In 2022, the offerings expanded with tools like Populus. Presidential , from Congreso Visible. That year also saw the launch of the first version of Electoral Match, from Fescol, Cifras & Conceptos, and El Espectador, as well as Cupibot , from La Silla Vacía. For the 2023 local elections, Electoral Match incorporated comparisons of public investment priorities in four cities and a measurement, supported by Fundación Corona, which showed that its use increased voter decision-making by 5% among its users, suggesting the potential of these tools to foster more informed electoral decisions.
Platforms for decision-making in 2026
For the 2026 presidential elections, the ecosystem of electoral advisory tools in Colombia has been further enriched, with initiatives that, although they share the goal of informed voting, respond to different approaches and purposes.
For example, the 2026 Presidential Match , led by Fescol, Cifras & Conceptos, El Espectador, and Fundación Corona, begins with a probabilistic in-person survey that gathers citizens' opinions on economic, social, and political issues on the national agenda. These same questions were sent to the presidential candidates. For two candidates who did not respond, the results were generated using artificial intelligence tools. With both sets of responses, the tool places each candidate and each user on a map of political trends defined by two axes: the role of the State in the economy and the approach to rights and authority. The result is not only a percentage of affinity but also a visualization that allows citizens to see where the candidates stand in relation to their own position and to each other, highlighting convergences, differences, and groupings on the political spectrum.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Toad-Eating Tool , recently launched by La Silla Vacía, starts with a different question: not who best represents the person, but what they are willing to accept or sacrifice with their vote. Thus, the tool invites citizens to take a stand on the cost they are willing to accept with their choice. Each disagreement is a "toad." In the end, the user receives a balance of agreements and concessions.
Meanwhile, Candidateados , a platform created by the Colombia 2050 Foundation with support from the European Union and the European Partnership for Democracy, organizes information on presidential candidates into various categories, such as security, employment, health, and education. The tool's formats are specifically designed to allow young people to explore and compare the proposals of multiple candidates in one place.
Rather than an increase in the number of platforms, what we are seeing in 2026 is a greater sophistication of the ecosystem. Current platforms allow for the translation of proposals, the visualization of positions, the organization of information, and the weighing of electoral concessions, with a focus also on population.
However, these platforms rely on design decisions that are not neutral, especially when leveraged with artificial intelligence tools. Furthermore, their reach is limited by digital divides and the difficulty of connecting with sectors that do not typically actively seek political information. Nevertheless, it is highly valuable that the country continues to invest in tools that help citizens make better-informed electoral decisions.
Democracy needs judgment, not just information
The experiences cited show that, faced with information overload and the increasing sophistication of disinformation, democracy needs more than just access to content; it needs tools that help interpret, compare, and form informed opinions. This is where the value of these applications lies: in offering better conditions for making decisions in an election that will determine the country's course for the next four years.
Published in La Silla Vacía: https://www.lasillavacia.com/red-de-expertos/red-de-democracia-y-tecnologia/herramientas-para-elegir-en-medio-del-ruido-en-las-elecciones-presidenciales/