Aktivisti - Die Linke Election Campaign App

What it is about

Since October 2020, we have been developing a digital solution for Die Linke to support their campaign activities. We were looking for a versatile tool that would facilitate activities such as door-to-door campaigning, distributing flyers and putting up posters. The application should support a broad user base - from state association coordinators who are deeply involved in planning, to locally active people who organise individual campaigns, to interested citizens who want to be informed about upcoming events in their area.

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Data economy and analysis

Die Linke needs an application that enables coordinated planning and smooth execution of campaign activities. The main requirements include:

• A structure that recognises different user roles, each with specific access rights and functionalities.
• Provision of analysis and evaluation functions to optimise future campaign strategies.
• Ensuring data security and minimising data collection to protect user privacy.

In addition, the application must be further developed and improved in a timely manner, as it serves to continuously support future campaign activities. The challenge is to continuously harmonise these diverse requirements and provide a fully functional solution.

A Flexible, Privacy-Friendly, and Location-Based Campaign Tool

To meet these requirements, we rely on an agile, iterative development process that enables us to quickly evaluate and adapt solutions. Key elements of our approach are:

• Technology stack: Due to the diversity of users and devices, we opted for a progressive web app (PWA). Our backend is based on Django, the frontend on Vue.js to make the application flexible and device-independent. We rely on the Quasar framework and Capacitor for PWA integration.
• Map display & analyses: As the election campaign is location-based, we integrate MapLibre (MapBox Fork) for map and location services. For analyses, we use the open source Vue library Apexcharts, which supports useful functions such as zoom, interactive legends and data export.
• Data protection and access control: A complex authorisation model was implemented to control access to various functionalities based on user roles. We attach great importance to data minimisation and only collect the most necessary data in order to provide valuable insights for future campaign planning.

Before the election is after the election

One particular aspect of this project is the intensive collaboration and rapid development cycles required to meet the fixed deadlines. As election dates are unchangeable deadlines and the app must be ready for use in time to support the campaigns, close, regular coordination with the client is essential. In this way, we continuously refine our approach to tailor it to the real requirements and ensure that the application is ready on time and reliably.

In addition, the source code of the application is available under a free licence on GitLab and invites the community to participate and develop it further.