LSM party sorter lets voters compare views before Latvia’s election

LSM is urging voters to use its Party Sorter to compare their views with those of political parties before Saturday’s 15th Saeima election.

Users can choose at least two of seven topics to compare, or answer questions across all seven. The tool shows areas of agreement and disagreement with each party. It has been used more than 115,000 times, although that figure includes repeat visits and does not represent unique users.

Results display the share of answers in four categories: full agreement, partial agreement, no major contradiction and radical contradiction. Users can also see a party’s prime ministerial candidate and policy specialists, if the party has named them.

The public policy centre Providus developed the content with input from civic organisations and experts. LSM.lv created the tool’s format and invited all 14 electoral lists to answer its statements using a five-point scale, from fully agreeing to fully disagreeing.

The election will be held on October 3. Polling stations will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and voters can cast their ballots at any polling station. Ballots could be deposited for safekeeping at polling stations across Latvia from September 28 until election day.