Explore now. Follow the evidence.
The official candidate directory, public source explorer, election information and candidate response form are available now. The source explorer is a public beta with incomplete coverage, original links, dates and qualifications. Documented internal review continues; external review is additional assurance. Real candidate matching remains under development and review.
What each information type means
| Information | How it is used |
|---|---|
| Official nomination facts | Names, parties, electorates and list positions with Electoral Commission sources. These facts do not establish political positions. |
| Candidate-provided answers | Answers submitted to VoteMate’s exact 12 statements. Identity, authority, consent and transcription are checked before review and publication. |
| Public candidate statement | A dated source attributable to the individual, with a faithful summary. It is not automatically a questionnaire answer. |
| Party policy | Evidence about the party, not an assumed answer from each candidate. |
| VoteMate interpretation | Separate from the original statement; documented founder checking records accuracy and context; external review adds assurance when available. |
| Position not established | No sufficiently clear evidence. Missing positions are not scored as disagreement. |
The same 12 topics
Public evidence can be organised around these statements, but wording, conditions and trade-offs must match before any comparison is considered. We do not infer “Agree” or “Strongly agree” from a broad policy promise.
- Cost of living — Government should take stronger direct action to reduce everyday household costs.
- Housing — Government should build substantially more public and affordable housing.
- Healthcare — Public healthcare should receive more funding even if this requires higher taxes or reduced spending elsewhere.
- Education — Government should increase investment in public education and vocational training.
- Jobs and wages — The minimum wage should rise broadly in line with living costs.
- Tax — Higher earners should pay a greater share of tax to fund public services.
- Income support — Income-support payments should be sufficient to meet reasonable basic living costs.
- Crime and justice — The justice system should put more emphasis on rehabilitation and prevention alongside punishment.
- Te Tiriti and Māori development — Government decision-making should continue to recognise Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations.
- Farming and rural communities — Rural communities should receive stronger targeted support for services, infrastructure and economic resilience.
- Climate and environment — New Zealand should move faster to reduce emissions even when some industries face additional short-term costs.
- Infrastructure and transport — Government should make larger long-term investments in transport, water and regional infrastructure.
Publication stages
Available: sourced nomination directory, public source explorer, official election links and candidate intake.
Being prepared: broader topic coverage and additional source checks. The public explorer contains checked source summaries and clearly labelled research gaps.
After review: checked candidate responses, summaries labelled with their actual review status, and real comparisons using the same statements and visible answered-question counts.
Daniel Heslip can capture sources and complete initial checks. External reviewers may add independent assurance when available. Their availability does not block documented internal factual review or development. Identity, consent, applicable advertising authorisation, expense treatment and publisher approval remain separate release checks. Founder checking is not labelled independent verification.
Matching and corrections
Questionnaire alignment uses the distance between comparable answers on the five-position scale. “Unsure”, skipped and missing answers remain unknown and are excluded. No comparable answers means no score. A matching percentage is not a recommendation or a measure of a candidate’s quality. The homepage’s Party A/B/C examples remain fictional demonstrations.
Suggest a source or request a correction. Include the candidate or party, original URL, publication date and the passage needing attention.