[3] Research showed that usage was higher in countries with proportional electoral systems and a larger number of parliamentary political parties, including Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
[4] In Finland, the VotingAid phenomenon has even produced a little rivalry between the most popular news channels and voters eagerly compare the results between different VAA's.
A 2005 survey in Germany reported that more than half of the VAA users declared to have been motivated to do further research after taking the test.
[citation needed] On an internal, psychological level, Eric Armstrong argues that "not wanting to feel ignorant" causes voters to stay home.
And then there is the difficulty of acquiring and comparing information, and evaluating its reliability—especially in era when a "Clean Water Act" can be one that opens the door to increased pollution.
Most of the VAA's collect and save the data given by users anonymously and that way they are able to create reports that show the overall opinion of that country's political status.
[citation needed] These different reporting methods help for example media channels to create interesting news and raise topics of conversation in debates.
And it can end the corrosive effect of the huge campaign contributions required to pay for the advertising that (today) is needed to win, and make elected officials more responsive to the electorate than their donors.
[9] Election Compass USA,[10] developed in cooperation with the Wall Street Journal, was presented on January 2, 2008.
[citation needed] In collaboration with the Israel Democracy Institute a compass was developed for the Israeli Knesset elections of 2009.