Making sense of the election

The Connacht Tribune is providing voters in Galway with an online tool designed to help them make an informed decision for the upcoming General Election.

We have teamed up with politics lecturer Dr Rory Costello from the University of Limerick to bring you WhichCandidate.

Profiles of all the candidates from Galway West, Galway East and Roscommon-Galway are available at WhichCandidate and the tool will help identify the candidate who best suits the issues you care about.

Dr Costello explained: “Election campaigning is moving online, and we want to provide voters with objective and reliable information to help them cut through the blizzard of material coming from candidates and parties.

“WhichCandidate is a ‘one-stop shop’ where voters can learn about the issues and the candidates. You can compare all the candidates in your constituency, see what they stand for and find out who is the best match for you.”

All political parties and candidates were asked a set of 22 questions on key election issues including taxation, water, housing and abortion. Their answers reveal clear differences among parties and candidates on all issues. Visitors to the website can take the same survey to compare their own views with those of their constituency candidates. They can also browse a personal profile page for each candidate to find out more about them or to get in touch.

WhichCandidate.ie was first run for the local elections in 2014, becoming the first website in Ireland to enable voters to compare their views with those of election candidates.  It is part of an Irish Research Council funded project examining political representation in Ireland.

Visit WhichCandidate for more.