An innovative concept for voting in public space



The idea
With EasyVote, the Department for Public Appearances has developed a new set of instruments allowing to register the votes of all users of public space without temporal limitations and beyond mechanisms of exclusion. The Department's EasyVote invites all pedestrians, cyclists and drivers of all kinds of motor vehicles to answer questions regarding phenomena of public life.

EasyVote has been developed in analgoy to the form of voting in the German Parliament known as the "Hammelsprung."* The Department has modified this form of voting for use in the public realm.

*(Literally: "wether jump." Division. The "Hammelsprung" takes place if the Presidium of the Parliament does not agree on the outcome of a voting in spite of counter-verification. For the final vote, the Members of Parliament then enter the chamber through separate doors for "yes," "no," and "abstention" votes while being counted out loud by the Secretary General.


EasyVote for pedestrians consists of a ca. 5 m wide three-lane passageway which can be used in two directions. By simply passing through, passersby can express their opinion and have it registered as a vote.





EasyVote for cyclists consists of two three-lane passageways. In order to avoid accidents, each of them can only be used in one direction. The direction of traffic is regulated through the usual traffic signs. Additional signs announce easyVote ahead of the voting station so that the cyclists can change to the lane of their choice in time.



EasyVote for drivers of motor vehicles is installed on multi-lane roads. Speed-restricted circular roads or ends of highways are particularly suitable for the purpose. The drivers are already informed about EasyVote 2000 and 1000 m ahead of the actual voting station. Signs by the roadside and displays above the road show the current question and give information about the allocation of answer lanes. Each driver can thus participate in the voting without any danger of accidents or traffic jams.





A modified version for voting in public space in for Usti nad Labem
The personal opinion and co-determination – both not heared in the political history of a communist regime – are an important and powerful property in a democratic society. The need and desire of co-determination has increased in the last years. At the same time the voter participation and the intention of the citizens to have a real influance decreased noticable.

With easyVote the Department for Public Appearances developed a new set of instruments allowing to register the votes of all users of public space without temporal limitations and beyond mechanisms of exclusion. The concept of easyVote and its idea is the starting point of the project for Usti nad Labem.

Phenomena of public urban life and forms of contemporary communication are the starting point for the works and projects of the Department for Public Appearances.
Among the founding members is Silke Witzsch, who also organized inbetween Stereotypical readability.
You can see some of her videos on Directors Lounge television