ONE News Launches Vote Compass   18 Aug 2014

Vote Compass is the most sophisticated survey of voter attitudes that has ever been undertaken in New Zealand. Explore the issues and policies, and consider where YOU stand in this election.

ONE News is hosting Vote Compass - an interactive online tool allowing voters to engage with public policy in a way they’ve never done before. TVNZ’s Head of News and Current Affairs, John Gillespie, explains;

“We want to help people connect with the issues that matter to them this election, and Vote Compass is a really empowering and engaging way to do that. It puts the power in voters’ hands, so they can get a clear picture of how their views match with the different parties.”

Visit http://tvnz.co.nz/votecompass and give your views on a range of policy areas.

Once you’ve finished, Vote Compass compares your answers with the policy positions of the parties then displays your position on a grid, showing where you stand in the overall political landscape. If you wish, you can choose to share your results page on social media. Your results may surprise you!

ONE News will take this anonymous data as a snapshot, to identify the key policy issues that matter to New Zealand voters then report the findings as part of our overall election coverage.

Vote Compass was developed by political scientists from the University of Toronto in Canada. It is an independent, non-partisan initiative operated by university researchers and data scientists. They have worked together with a group of New Zealand academic advisors and ONE News to create a database of key political issues, based on an analysis of the party platforms, leading news sources and public input via social media.

ONE News also asked viewers on-air and online what issues they were interested in hearing more about in the lead up to the election. These responses have helped form some of the questions that make up the survey.

There are three main uses for the data that Vote Compass collects:

1.Personal use - Vote Compass helps voters consider what’s right for them.

2. ONE News coverage - we’ll use the data to inform our election coverage and help us deliver stories that are useful to viewers.

3. Academic research - after the election, data will be made available to researchers.

Vote Compass Founder Clifton van der Linden says, “One of the most exciting aspects of running Vote Compass in New Zealand is the opportunity to operate in an electoral system that uses proportional representation. To date we have only ever operated in first-past-the-post systems, including Canada, Australia and the United States. I think that Vote Compass can offer even more in the context of MMP as the political landscape is more nuanced, and I look forward to seeing how Kiwis respond.”

Vote Compass has launched in partnership with Victoria University of Wellington, University of Auckland, and with support from the Electoral Commission.

http://tvnz.co.nz/votecompass

#votecompass

ENDS

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