The Provincial Council elections are coming up, but it remains a difficult choice for many people which party to vote for. That is why Brabant has its own voting aid for the first time this year, completely focused on themes that play a role here. And this time the propositions were not devised by the political parties themselves, but by journalists from the region. In other words, a tailor-made Electoral Compass.
“Previously, the statements were quite general. And it went less deeply into the crucial issues per province,” says political reporter Tessel Linders of Omroep Brabant. Together with colleagues, she came up with a number of propositions. “The turnout in the Provincial Council elections is traditionally lower than the turnout for the House of Representatives. With such a tailor-made electoral compass, we hope that people will go to the polls earlier and then feel more involved.”
Input from journalists
The Electoral Compass will be tailormade for each province. The journalists in Brabant looked at the election programs and compared the positions of the political parties. On this basis, propositions were devised, to which the parties replied. And those answers have again been checked by the journalists against public sources and policies.
Tessel Linders contributed to the scaffolding in Brabant. According to her, housing and agriculture are important themes. “Every province has to deal with nitrogen policy, but only here farmers have to adjust their stables years earlier. What do people from Brabant think of this? That’s one of the statements you wouldn’t have found in the old Electoral Compass,” she says .
Chat with Steffie
For people who find politics complicated, chatbot Steffie is ready. She reads the statements aloud and explains complicated words. “No matter how hard we tried to write down the statements clearly, politics is just complicated,” Tessel says. “That’s why it’s so nice that this option is now available.”
Click here to go to the Brabant voting aid.
Source: Omroep Brabant
For Eindhoven News: Lila Mehrez
