In many low- and middle-income countries, voters often lack accessible information about politicians with criminal or corrupt backgrounds, leading to their election despite long-term negative consequences like increased corruption and slower economic growth. One solution could be to bridge this information gap by directly informing voters via factual, targeted text messages before elections.

How the Idea Works

The approach would involve identifying districts where politicians with criminal histories are running for office. Using verified public records (court filings, police reports), candidates could be classified as "criminal" or "clean." Close to elections, concise, neutral text messages could be sent to voters in these areas, highlighting candidates' criminal status. For example: "Candidate X has 2 pending corruption cases. Candidate Y has no criminal record." The goal would be to nudge voters toward cleaner candidates by making this information more salient.

Key Stakeholders and Incentives

Several groups could benefit from or contribute to this effort:

• Voters would gain easy access to critical candidate information without needing to research independently.
• Clean candidates might see reduced competition from rivals with criminal records.
• Local NGOs and media could partner to verify data and amplify messages, enhancing their transparency missions.

However, criminal candidates might resist through legal challenges or disinformation, requiring careful message framing and legal safeguards.

Execution and Adaptation

A pilot could start in one high-risk district, partnering with local organizations to verify records and design messages. Telecom providers might help distribute texts at scale. Success could be measured by tracking changes in vote share for criminal candidates. Over time, the approach could expand to other regions, adapting to local legal and media landscapes.

Compared to existing platforms that publish candidate reports (like India’s Association for Democratic Reforms), this idea focuses on proactive voter outreach via SMS—overcoming the inertia of voters seeking out information themselves. By combining verified data with low-tech, high-reach messaging, it could uniquely address information gaps in underserved democracies.