FAQ for the Kommunalwahlcheck

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  • For which cities does the Kommunalwahlcheck exist?

    The Kommunalwahlcheck exists for Siegen, Essen, Münster, Bielefeld and Cologne. In all cities it contains the candidates for the election of the Lord Mayor, in Münster, Bielefeld and Essen it also contains the parties running for the council elections.

  • Why can't I find all the parties and candidates who are running for election in the Kommunalwahlcheck?


    The Kommunalwahlcheck in Essen, Münster and Bielefeld contains the parties and lists as well as the candidates for the election to the council; in Cologne and Siegen only the candidates for the mayor. We contacted all parties and candidates who were admitted to the election in advance and asked them to send us their positions and reasons for their theses. Unfortunately, not all candidates or parties have complied with this request.

    The run-off in Münster, Cologne and Bielefeld only considers those candidates which are taking part in the run-off election.

  • How is the match calculated?


    The agreement (ranking) indicates the extent to which you hold the same positions as the respective candidates or parties. For example, if you and a candidate have selected the same answer category (e.g. "agree completely") for a thesis, this is considered a "full" agreement. If you are at least on the same page as the candidate (e.g. "agree completely" and "agree"), this is considered "half" agreement. The further away your positions are from a candidate's, the lower the match.

  • Is the Kommunalwahlcheck independent?


    The Kommunalwahlcheck is a scientific project. No political parties are favored or disadvantaged. The theses are deliberately designed in such a way that all political directions are represented.

  • Who can I contact with questions?


    You are welcome to e-mail us to kommunalwahlcheck@uni-muenster.de.

  • How were the theses selected?


    We conducted two surveys in the run-up to the local elections: Among council members in NRW and among those entitled to vote. This allowed us to select the most important topics. From this we derived 45 theses, which were sent to the parties or candidates. On the basis of the answers and justifications we then selected the 30 most important theses. The most important thing here was that a broad spectrum of topics was covered, that different political positions were represented, and that differences between the parties or candidates were visible.