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Publications | peer-reviewed article
'Do the vote test'. Electoral effects of a vote advice application at the 2004 Belgian elections
author(s) | Stefaan Walgrave, Peter Van Aelst, and Michiel Nuytemans
journal | Acta Politica
publication year | 2008 volume | 43 issue | 1 pag | 50-70
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abstract | This empirical paper attempts to assess the electoral impact of an immensely popular vote advice application annex TV-show (Do the Vote Test) put online and broadcasted during the 2004 Belgian election campaign. Drawing on a large panel of internet users it systematically compares users and non- users testing whether getting a personal voting advice made any difference. We establish that Do the Vote Test indeed significantly affected some Belgian voters final decision but at the same time we find that these effects were tiny. Some parties gained votes due to Do the Vote Test, others lost votes, but the application, probably, did not strongly affect the overall elections results. Also we show that people’s subjective perception of the impact of Do the Vote Test on their vote and their actual electoral behavior are often contradictory. Finally, we confront the weak-effect conclusion with the opinions of politicians and journalists and show that these elites, in contrast, think Do the Vote Test had a very large impact on the public’s votes.