The ABC has again launched Vote Compass for the 2015 Queensland election. Vote Compass is a unique and interactive online application which enables voters to explore policy issues and get an automatic assessment of how their views line up with the policies of the major political parties.
“The great benefit of Vote Compass is that it is able to instantly work out how your personal views compare to the policy positions of the parties in this election campaign,” said ABC Election Analyst Antony Green. “So while you may support a particular party, you might actually find that what you think about current issues in this election is more aligned with another party. There can be an element of surprise.”
Mr Green explained that you simply go to abc.net.au/votecompass and answer 30 questions on a range of policy areas, including the economy, education, environment, transport, religion and health, completely anonymously. Quick and easy to complete, the survey generates a personal grid showing where you stand in the overall political landscape in this state election.
“Vote Compass doesn’t tell you how to vote. The purpose of the application is to provide an interactive and engaging way for voters to explore policy issues.” Mr Green commented, Green added that Vote Compass also allows users to weight the importance they give to policy issues and rank party leaders on a range of attributes, including trust and competence.
The application was designed by Vox Pop Labs, which also worked with the ABC and political scientists from the University of Queensland to create the questionnaire. Mr Green explained that the ABC launched Vote Compass in Australia for the 2013 Federal election. It was the biggest survey of voter attitudes that has ever been undertaken in Australia, with 1.4 million responses. The ABC also launched a state version for the Victorian election last November.