Introducing Catherine

The idea for Know Your Candidates came to Catherine when she was trying to work out who to vote for in an election. Between work, family and running a household, life can feel too busy sometimes. It's enough just to keep up with the day to day, so when election time comes around, finding the time to research the candidates when there's no easy way to do so can feel like an additional burden.

Thinking how terrific it would be if there was a 'one stop shop' website Catherine could go to at election time to quickly and easily get information on the candidates in her area, the idea for Know Your Candidates was born.

A few years have passed since then. The kids are older and Catherine is hoping to make Know Your Candidates something she can continue to offer to fellow voters to help make it easier for everyone to feel better informed about their voting choices.

When she's not working on Know Your Candidates, Catherine is consulting in corporate affairs and marketing, writing a book and loves to bake for family and friends.

Our purpose

Making an informed vote at election time can be difficult sometimes. Gathering basic information about the candidates running in your electorate, such as what their experience is, what their policies are, and whether their values align with yours can be time consuming. And sometimes the information just doesn't seem to be available. Which is why Know Your Candidates is here to help.

The purpose of Know Your Candidates is to help you answer a few simple questions, like:

Who are the candidates running in my area and what is their experience: life experience and professional experience?
What qualifies them to be the best person to represent me?
What is their vision for my council area/state/ the country?
What are they hoping to achieve if they get elected?
What is their position on the issues I am most interested in?
If I vote for them, how well will they represent me?

Know Your Candidates is strictly non partisan. We gather information on the candidates in your area in one place along with their social media links so that you can have somewhere easy to come and get to know them a little better.

How it works

As soon as the electoral register closes, candidates are contacted and are asked to submit a short bio and introductory video to the website. If questions from the electorate (collected during a pre election survey) are available, these are also sent to the candidates to enable them to produce a second video answering the questions.

Participation in the website is free to all candidates registered with the relevant electoral commission.