Speer

Cantabrigian Rob Speer, co-founder of the analytics startup Luminoso – its offices are right in Central Square – has come up with a “Choose-Your-Own Voter Guide,” which gives his own ranking of the candidates in Tuesday’s election but lets users drag the boxes into different orders before printing. Here’s how Speer explains the tool:

Every time there’s a Cambridge election, I do what I can to be an informed voter and to inform others around me as well. We live in a great city with a great election method, and the biggest problem is it takes so much information to figure out who to rank on your ballot.

For the past few election cycles, I’ve sent my friends a page with my ranking of the City Council candidates, with descriptions of their positions and my perceptions of them from campaign events. In 2013, one friend of mine told me how helpful my ranking was, especially after she moved some candidates around to suit her own priorities.

I think that’s a great idea, so this year I made a page called “Choose-Your-Own Voter Guide.” On that page, I tell you my opinions of each candidate in rank order and a couple of reasons why your opinions might differ. You can rearrange the candidates on the page and print it to get a page you can bring with you into the voting booth.

“You may not agree with me on everything, and that’s fine,” Speer says. “I want you to cast an informed vote anyway.”