How to find the perfect party to vote for

This is a companion article to my last post about democracy. It is for first time voters or if you struggle to decide who to vote for. It’s a guide on how to find the perfect party to vote for. How do you find the best match for yourself?

It is full of generalization because I want it to be useable for nearly every kind of vote.

Are you allowed to vote?

In most western countries you are notified, that there will be an election and that you are qualified to vote. If you don’t get a notification, there could be a mistake, or you live in the USA, then you may need to register. If you know, that there is an election coming, and you are sure, you are allowed to vote, but didn’t get a notification, check your responsible authority.

Sadly, there is a good chance you are not allowed to vote. Maybe you are too young, or your citizenship prohibits you to vote. Even if you live your whole life in the same country, you may not be allowed to vote because of migration laws. This is a big problem, because a big part of the people can’t participate in the democracy. That’s one of the reasons why our system is flawed. In Austria, nearly a third of the people are not allowed to vote.

What do you vote for

It may sound ridiculous, but many people don’t know what they are voting for. Don’t be one of those people, get informed.
It can influence your vote, when you know, that you don’t elect the candidate directly but vote for a party instead.

What is important for you

Become clear, what is important for you. You may have a clue or know it for sure already. But it helps to take some time and think about it. Maybe write it down. This is an essential step.

For example, imagine you go shopping, and you have a list with the items you need, a so-called shopping list. Most likely you will buy these items and not much else. You have what you need and are satisfied till your next shopping trip.
If you do not have a list and go into the store cluelessly, you will fall for the most fancy looking, best advertised articles. You buy them, it costs a lot, but you are satisfied and maybe in a high. But shortly afterward you realize, you don’t need any of that crap, but now you have it, and you can’t bring it back.

You may have a list of different things, that are important to you. Prioritize them in the order of importance to you.

You can also make a spider diagram to prioritize your topics, as Simon Clark mentions in his video.

What is a no-no for you

There may be topics that are not that essential to you but are a no-go. For example, LGBTQ rights may not be important for you personally, but you would never vote for a party that discriminates people. Also make a list with your no-nos.

I don’t care

Some things don’t matter to you. For example, you do not care how many school vacations there are, because you don’t have kids and don’t have to organize children care for 13 weeks a year. It wouldn’t influence your vote, if one of the parties would demand a change.

Also make a list of such topics. This list will be more general, because if you get specific, you care.

What is good for society

When you know what is important for you. You should ask, what is good for society, what is good for future generations? This does not need to be the same. For example, it could be essential for you, that housing prices go up, because you own a house and you want that your children can sell it for good money. But is it good for society, when the prices go up and people can’t afford a place to live in?

We are all part of this system, and we need to think about what is best for society. Voting for a party in hate for another group is a bad thing to do, and it will most likely backlash to you.

How to find the perfect to vote for

Now, you should know what you want. All you need is to find the perfect match.

But you won’t.

There will be no party, no candidate and no law that matches perfectly with your lists. But the lists will help you find the best match.

It may not be easy, and it is work, to find the right one. But democracy is not free. It is hard-earned, and we need to put the work in to improve it further. Things that come for free with no effort, are mostly bad.

There are several things you can and should do. They may vary depending on what kind of election it is and in which country you live. Read the program, investigate how the party or candidate voted in the past in the context of your important topics. Who is giving them money?

With the lists you made, you can now filter. Maybe you only need the list with the most important things, because there is only one party, which prioritizes the same. If not, you take the other lists, and you should get a smaller sample and ideally only one party to vote for.

If there are more than one, vote for the more competent and sympathetic candidate or for the party, which will be more likely in the parliament.

But also don’t be afraid to vote for a small or new party. If it is your best fit, then do it. Size doesn’t matter. There will never be change, if everyone vote for the established parties. Potentially, you can convince others to vote for the same party, and then it isn’t as small anymore.

There are most likely online tools available that can help you figure out what’s the best match for you. I wouldn’t recommend to only rely on them and skip all the steps. But if you don’t want to invest this much in democracy, at least take the time to utilize the tools. But always know who stands behind these tools, where does the money come from and what are their interests.

Lists for a good system

If you want a good system, I did the work for you and made the lists. You can use and adapt them, as you want.

Most important topics

• Climate change
• Education
• Sustainability
• Equality/Equity
• Freedom
• Democracy
• Fair working conditions
• Fair and good housing
• Strong health and social system
• Fair and humane migration laws
• Fair justice system
• Strong media
• Public transport

No-nos

• Fascism
• Racism
• Hate
• Sexism
• Corruption
• Homophobia
• Xenophobia
• Denying science
• Lying

How I found the party to vote for

Do you know which party or candidate you vote for at the next election? Was it easy to figure it out?

For me, it is easy or hard, depending on the perspective. There is only one party, that has at least some kind of climate policy. Right now this is the most important topic, and so I have no choice and have to vote for them.

This is a disaster. Every party must have the fight against climate change on their agenda. The should only debates on the details and not if there is even climate change or if it is human made.

There are more parties that (partly) deny climate change than there are actively fighting it. It is a shame.

Ian DeBay

My name is Ian DeBay.

I am the founder of iandebay.com. I am a content creator, blogger, podcast, YouTuber. This is my blog where I talk about system change, sustainability and other fun stuff.