A Tinder for voters and prospective TDs.
Finally.
Tom Moylan writes:
Who should you vote for in
#GE16? Enter your constituency [link below], answer the questions, compare your answers…just 10 minutes to find your ideal candidate.
Sponsored Link
Everything. As It Happens.
Brilliant, site !
Did Not recognise my street in Dublin
Nice idea but doesn’t really work as it doesn’t weight the voters preference for each topic. For me repealing the 8th is most important yet my top matched candidates voted indifferent (clearly as to not alienate voters on either side) so they will not be getting my vote if they don’t agree with abortion in cases of FFA or rape at the very least.
It does. Big thumbs up or down = 3 points. Medium thumb 2 points, small thumb = 1 point Smartvote is a tool to get people to engage in the Election. It sparks the conversion. It can’t cover every issue, otherwise it would take too long and people would leave it halfway through. The fact that you talking about it means it is working.
Very cool, fully appreciate it involves approximations, etc., but a nice way to get some instant engagement with the issues, the candidates and my own view.
But I’ve never been on Tinder, so I can’t comment on that comparison…
Thanks for this, very useful !
sorry clamps, it looks like i’m a shinner. who knew?
…Me too :)
For the lazy voter.
According to its founder on Newstalk yesterday, the site will be wound down after the election and become an educational tool. Now that’s an opportunity wasted; why not have a site which spans the full term of elected candidates and their progresses made against their election manifesto?
I heard someone is setting up one that does exactly that – election promises versus actual work upon election…. I think it was on here I heard that…. anyone….?
I imagine that such a site would need to be updated constantly, and the founder might not find it worthwhile to so do.
good idea hoop. it could even show how they vote on issues if elected and compare with the promises they make.
There is a similar project in the UK – http://www.theyworkforyou.com/
– but I would say that it is a huge undertaking.
Apparently I’m a Green. Not sure how that happened.
Heh. Ya Green here too, then Soc Dems candidate, then AAA. Score of 11 for both the FG heads.
I’ll just go down the middle and vote FF and Labour. That’s probably safest.
haha. This is terrifying. I don’t want to vote for SF or Labour but computer says I have to. People need to be aware this is not just a bit of fun, it’s a political ouija board!
I matched with O’Snodaigh and another Shinner….. :(
But on closer inspection many of the other candidates clicked the ‘fence sitting’ option which is a pain in the butt
I’m getting tagged as FF (i tried two different constituencies, my “home” one and the one where i currently live). Really need to examine my life choices now.
Who is Joe McElderry and why should I vote for him?
He won the X factor a few years ago, and is now on the stage
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3202164/Former-X-Factor-winner-Joe-McElderry-reveals-fuller-physique.html
http://thatsthejoke.net/
Interesting. Results closely matched my own analysis, although as mentioned in a comment above given candidates were ranked higher despite differences on what I consider key points.
nice idea but missing a lot of data and not very transparent on the gaps. For example there is an independent TD in my area that I am a zero match for because there is no data on him in the system. I appreciate it is hard to get data on independents but there should be a way of highlighting that his comparison is not valid instead of just giving a zero score
anyone found using this should have their vote taken away from them.
Why?
Messing with it is fine. Using it is another matter.
As I say below, if candidates answered the same questions, they’d say one thing, then do the opposite once they got the chance. So it’s useless, really.
Gave it a spin for my constituency and got the following
Labour 31
Sinn Fein 30
Fianna Fail 30
AAA-PBP 30
Independent 30
Fine Gael 12
Independent 0 – All of these cleared had answered
Also it was missing 2 candidates (in fairness one of them only declared they were going to run this week but the other declared a couple of months back)
Even allowing for the missing information, the results seemed very arbitrary and close to useless- According to this the Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein ,AAA-PBP and Independent (anti-water charge inspired) candidate were scored equally with the Labour candidate being 1 point different.
Also Fine Gael’s low score seemed to be largely because they didn’t take a position on a lot of the questions.
Overall I’d say they need to go back to the drawing board. Nice idea terrible execution.
Found that with FG candidates on mine too. Party line / whip and all that…. and not willing to stand for anything themselves. I guess.
Interesting tool. Looks like my shirt is becoming more and more azure as i age because my top match was a 35 with a FG candidate that I had never heard of. I matched pretty much exactly with her apart from a couple of ‘indifferents’. I’ll have a look at her after reading that.
My least match was an 11 with Lucinda, do i win a fiver?
I would almost pay you a fiver not to vote on Lucinda.
the website has saved you the expense.
not that id vote for her in a fit anyway
I got a 9 for Mary Mitchell O’Connor
I’ve got a Size 9 for Mary Mitchell O’Connor.
I fancy her too.
I presume that’s a shoe size!
Yep.
Mine’s only 4 inches.
Though some feel even that’s too wide.
Kinky. I like it.
I found a candidate I have 0% in common with.
Apparently Katherine Zappone (IND, Dublin SW) has no opinions on anything.
She sounds like she’d have strong opinions on wands and rabbits in hats
Do what I did…
marry her.
Sir, I know it’s part of the look but you can’t smoke cigars in here anymore. Yes, even while you’re on stage.
“Next time I see you, remind me not to talk to you!”
Why is there a guy in my office laughing and clapping, then running somewhere else and laughing and clapping again?
” “.
Harpo Marx.
1888 – 1964
Always thought I was a blushirt. Turns out it’s Maureen, Joe, and a triple A bot for me.
*Kicks over framed photo of Mussolini and walks away mumbling*
LOL :)
Bernard Durkan needn’t have bothered. All but five he expressed no opinion, and provided either no answer or ‘government is looking at this’. Pointless windbag.
I got People Before Profit at #1 and Catherine Murphy at #2
I guess that makes me a radical sexpot trot?!
PBP were like 6th or 7th for me.
Have it lefties!
Wish I could vote for Catherine Murphy :)
One doesn’t need a voting website to be a radical sexpot trot.
I got the Shinners…christ almighty
I feel your pain Fluffy :(
me too, though i suspect only cos clare daly doesn’t show any results
Hm, the people I was considering for my 1 and 2 votes got 4th and 3rd in this for me. And to be fair the people that came above them are people I agree with more but don’t think they stand as much of a chance of being elected.
Paschal Donohoe came in dead last, shockingly.
I got Ossain Smith from the Greens – not heard of him til now. #2 Richard Boyd Barrett – he haunts me.
Can we bring back Irish Election Rides? Twas great during the locals/Euros.
+1 And since we’re always at pains to demonstrate how politically minded we all are, Irish Election Rides shall only be about the totty, a ‘Chill Out Room’ as it were. Where, yes, we all know it’s objectification, or its sexist, or its just plain creepy and weird (Paul Gogarty) but it’s a protected space for engaging in the little bit of light-hearted masturbation we can all enjoy. So no whingers.
+1
there’s a new contender in my area
+1 :)
Great minds think alike
Are you saying you too want to see the return of the Broadsheet feature where we submit some of Ireland’s hotter candidates?
The questions don’t make sense.
Maybe I want the Job Bridge program to be improved, not just continued or abolished.
Home repossessions should be stopped? Under what circumstances? Can I just get a mortgage and not pay it?
Maybe I think that the state just subsidise tax on private companies who run transport routes in rural areas.
‘It is more important to increase government spending on public services than it is to cut taxes.’ – It’s not really that bloody simple ffs.
If people actually think this is a good way to choose an elected official they haven’t really engaged or thought about the issues.
This is dangerous and does more harm than good. No need to think about who to vote for, I’ll just fill out a customer service like form and on a website and that will tell me. Jaysus.
It gave me Kate O Connel, who I actually spoke to over the weekend and disagreed with on nearly every substantive issue, I also found her grasp of basic general public policy wanting and lets not foget, she called homlessness a ‘buzz issue’.
There are far better ways of putting together s system to help an informed voter.
Agreed _d_a_n_
So on some questions, I had to select the middle option because I neither agreed nor disagreed but wanted change, not for or against. It’s a bit like not having a ‘NOTA’ option.
Also, we have to assume that these wannabe teedees answered the same questions. But they always say one thing then do the opposite, so where does that leave you?
Good points.
While promoting political awareness and engagement, it achieves the exact opposite. It dumbs down substantive issues and proceeds to ask a voter’s opinion, in the process shaping it. It should be taken down.
It’s not a bad start though. If one needed a quick reference on a topic, it can give a steer to the user on where candidates are with it. That’s all it is supposed to do as far as I can see. There is clearly an assumption the user doesn’t use this site as their sole source of info ….it’s not a tome of Irish politics, and is not meant to be :)
If it does assist people in looking just a little more and a little better at politics rather than jumping on what Mum or Dad voted on, then I’m all for it :)
It steers users toward particular candidates using flawed questions. It ‘matches’ you with a candidate. It could, and did for me, match you with a candidate who you actually completely disagree with on the nuance of an issue. If a user wastes time getting informed on that candidate, to the detriment of spending time getting informed on a candidate that may actually match their political outlook more exactly but be much further down the list, that’s bad for the voter and the political process.
Election season is only a short amount of time. This wastes it.
ABSF for me!
Kate OConnell reminds me of Twin Peaks’ Donna Hayward.
Can anyone find the Kerry constituency on this site?
one of the healy-raes has gone to limerick for a shnakey shopping trip. luke skywalker is playing the oul mind trick on him on the way back so he can’t find his way home – ‘this is not the county you’re looking for’. normal service will be resumed shortly.
Also, no mention of TTIP anywhere, despite it being a issue affecting each and every one of us.
+1
We should go to the bookies and see what are the odds on it never being mentioned by one single FG’r… or any of the other big parties… although SF will be all over it if it becomes a vote catching issue.
While I’m not surprised Eamon Ryan (GP) and Gleanna Lynch (SD) were #1 & #3 for me respectively on 48% & 42% match given my centre-left political outlook, I’m very surprised that Kate O’Connell (FG) was #2 at 44 while running mate Eoghan Murphy was last at 11%. Interestingly enough, as a regular Labour voter since my first vote in 2004, SF / PBP candidates (who I would NEVER vote for) were ahead of Kevin Humphreys (LAB) in Dublin Bay South. Interesting concept, but questions need more context.
In my area if I didn’t commit to anything.. straight down the middle all the way, the top 3 are FG, FG by a long way, then Labour and all the other well behind. Just shows the government parties want to stay as inoffensive and non committal on as much as possible and all their answers are… we are reviewing this, this is complicated, this is an euchecumenical matter Ted..