How did you come up with the idea for your project?

That is almost a comical story: During the 2014 EU election campaign I was upset that there was no single source for election results and polls that are presented in an easily digestible manner for all Europeans. I just had started my undergraduate studies two months before, so Europe Elects emerged from a Twitter account based on a 13-square-meter student apartment.

My nerdiness aside: as the continent integrates further and further, academics, journalists, and citizens should have a single source where they can get election-related data and analysis. And this didn't exist in 2014, so with this secondary thought in addition to my natural interest and nerdiness, I created it.

This then snowballed into what Europe Elects is today: the maybe most influential grassroot media, research and educational initiatives in Europe that deals with elections - with a strong Podcast, YouTube, website, and social media machinery run by 40 volunteers from across the continent.

Different from many niche projects in the realms of EU politics or democracy, Europe Elects has 150,000 social media followers. Every month, our content reaches tens of millions of users.

What is the mission of your organization?

We want to make data related to polls and elections accessible for researchers, journalists, politicians, and citizens across borders to create a common understanding of global democracy.

What about Asia Elects and African Elects? Are you associated in any way?

Asia Elects and Africa Elects - just like America Elects and Oceania Elects - are brands created under the Europe Elects umbrella. In close cooperation with other Europe Elects team members, I set up these accounts in the past years, and then recruited individuals to run the accounts independently on an day-to-day basis.

What accomplishment of your project are you the most proud of?

I once got approached by a Chinese national in Canada who asked me if I am Tobias from Europe Elects. He knew coverage on the Hong Kong elections. That blew my mind. But on a more serious note: If you look how many fact-orientated media platforms are out there that seriously challenge BBC, Al Jazeera and other reputable media during any given election, there's very little out there. But we as a team do, we do outperform the other media if it comes to elections. I am not chiming in the choir of mainstream media bashing. Rather, Europe Elects is able to use different methods of reporting and we are highly specialized. Journalists that I highly respect come to us today and seek our advice and some smaller outlets even imitate the way we report.

What are your plans for the future?

We have so much planned. Where do I start? We want to use our visibility to seriously challenge authoritarian regimes across the world. Give visibility to their fraud and betrayal. We did so during the Belarusian and Azerbaijani elections last year, for example. We want - we need - to grow financially. We are currently held back by lack of income. We have so many good ideas, but only so little money to implement them. If anyone reads this who wants to support us: We we grateful for any support via Patreon!