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The online electoral compass presents the political attitudes of politicians and parties in an innovative and understandable way. By answering the political opinion test questions on the website, prepared according to national and global issues, it is possible to know personal political priorities and compare them with the priorities of politicians or parties participating in elections.
The test results are presented on a political values map, which provides the opportunity to analyze and compare the responses in various sections and to share this information publicly.
You can do the test here.
Listed innovations
One of the authors of the project, the political scientist M. Jastramskis from VU TSPMI Delphi presented all the novelties of this tool.
“I think the main advantage of Manobalsas.lt is that in one place voters can see the parties’ positions on 33 different issues: the economy, same-sex marriage or the beach in Lukišk plazas square. doing a test together, summarizing those answers to the questions, you can see how close they are to one party or another, “said the political scientist.
Some of the questions have been updated this year in response to current issues, including intersections with historical issues.
Political parties also presented official positions on certain issues.
“Another novelty is that this year we asked the parties to present their official positions. (…) Now we can choose which Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) and see what they think about certain issues, the positions of the parties are expressed. Also, questionnaires can be filled out by individual party politicians if they have a separate idea. ” Delphi said the interlocutor.
All major political parties responded to questions from political scientists, except for the Polish Lithuanian Election Campaign, the Union of Christian Families (LLRA-KŠS). But, as is often the case, this political force takes a while to answer the questions. More responses from the parties can be expected until the elections.
After answering the questions and seeing your position in the table, you can change your axes based on priorities.
“It is possible to configure the responses received in different ways; we understand that for some people the questions about the market and the economy are more important. If foreign policy is more important, it is possible to see which parties are more strict with Eastern politics and which they are more pragmatic. It is also possible to compare their positions with a specific party. And then you can choose according to the politicians, see what the specific candidates think, “he said.
Mr Jastramski said it all depended on the voter himself: how much he wanted to be interested and whether it was enough for him to see his voice in space, or whether he wanted to compare the parties specifically on each issue. This tool can also help rank politicians on the lists.
“People, when giving their opinion on this tool, said that it helps classify politicians. But it also depends on the will of the politician himself to respond. The point here is that if there is no political answer in this tool, it could be a disadvantage. Because in our system we will see more active politicians who are not afraid to express their opinion, even if it is a little different from the parties, ”said the interlocutor M. Jastramskis.
Mažvydas Jastramskis
He said the questionnaire was currently completed by nearly 300 politicians, mostly from the Freedom Party and the National Union.
“The Freedom Party is very active in answering questions, other parties are less receptive. Although the Labor Party has few questionnaires, it is likely that the more populist parties simply avoid expressing positions on certain issues,” said the political scientist.
Mr. Jastramski also suggested that the questionnaire be completed for those who already have a clear vision of their self-determination in the elections. This will allow you to check if the position of that party matches that of the voter.
“This is additional information and it is useful not only for testing, but also for analyzing the information we provide. And thus hold politicians accountable because they are forced to answer what they think about specific questions. It is still possible to remind them of the change of opinion or similar during the mandate of the Seimas “, Delphi said M. Jastramskis, political scientist at VU TSPMI.
Adapted for six choices
The Manobalsas.lt online electoral compass has been operating since 2008 and has already been adapted for six elections in Lithuania: the Seimas elections in 2008 and 2012, Presidential 2009 and 2019 and the European Parliament in 2009 and 2019.
The “Manobalsas.lt” project is implemented by VU TSPMI. The project has the support of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). The partners are the creators of electoral compasses from the Netherlands “Kieskompas”.
Delphi Remember that the elections to the Seimas will be held on October 11 and the second round on October 25.
It is strictly prohibited to use the information published by DELFI on other websites, in the media or elsewhere, or to distribute our material in any form without consent, and if consent has been obtained, it is necessary to cite DELFI as the source.
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