About Votematch Europe

Votematch Europe offers a voting aid application (VAA) for the EU elections for all EU member states. With this tool, voters can discover which political parties best match their own opinions. They can also see the extent to which parties in other European countries would fit them. In this way, we hope to give them a sense of the diversity and commonalities of European political parties and a deeper understanding of the dynamics of European politics.

What’s the use of a voting aid application? 

Lack of knowledge about political parties and their positions about the issues that are at stake, is an important cause of lower voter turnout. VAAs contribute to increased knowledge about candidates, parties, and positions throughout the EU. They do so by making voters indicate their own positions on a range of different policy issues and then comparing those answers to the answers given by parties and candidates. Research shows that VAAs are one of the most effective ways of motivating people to go out and vote.

How does this European VAA work?

All participating VAAs use national statements and, next to these, a common set of 15 statements that are sent to all parties in Europe. After filling out the VAA, users first get the result for their own country. Afterwards users can continue and explore their matches with parties in all other EU countries, ranked from best to lowest. Users can click on  the national VAAs to learn more about the various national parties and their affiliation with the different groups in the European Parliament. 

VoteMatch Europe is an easy way for voters to inform themselves about some of the intricacies of European politics, thereby increasing their confidence in their own political effectiveness and promoting the creation of a European political space.

Contact

Want to know more? Get in touch with ProDemos (the organization behind the Dutch VAA ‘StemWijzer’).