The Australian National University (ANU) has launched a new online service for voters in the Federal Election, allowing them to compare their personal views with the policies of candidates and political parties before deciding who to vote for.
In partnership with Nine Publishing, the ANU School of Politics and International Relations developed smartvote based on a platform first established by the politically neutral, non-profit organisation, Politools in Switzerland.
Patrick Dumont from the ANU said that since 2003, smartvote has informed voters in more than 200 elections throughout Switzerland and Europe.
Professor Dumont said analysis generated by the new Australian version of the platform was based on candidates’ answers to 35 questions posed by ANU researchers across a wide range of current policy issues.
He said that by answering the same questions, voters are matched to the candidates and parties in a more sophisticated way.
“This matching is shown as a ranked list and through visualisations. Candidate comments on each question are also accessible where provided.”
Professor Dumont, said smartvote in Australia was a continuation of the ANU’s work on elections and political behaviour.
“The smartvote helps cut through the rhetoric and negative campaigning to offer a deeper level of issue-by-issue analysis and comparison — not just of political parties, but of candidates in every electorate,” Professor Dumont said.
Lead Researcher in the team behind smartvote, Ian McAllister said the sophisticated online tool would empower voters to make informed choices about who they voted for based on the issues that mattered to them, not the agenda set by politicians.
The Australian version of smartvote can be accessed at this PS News link.
