The Spinoff is proud to announce the return of Policy.nz, the most comprehensive tool for an informed vote in 2023.

It’s right about now, five weeks out from the election and only a week into the campaign proper, that you start to hear the same refrain in every conversation: “I’m a bit tired of it.”

Of course you are. Elections are exhausting, even if all you’re doing is scrolling past politicians’ “out and about” Instagram posts and silently judging their hoarding designs. But for those who genuinely want to make an informed vote, it can be hard to sift through the “nasty attack ads” and the “response to “nasty attack ads” and the “examples of historical nasty attack ads” to eventually find the policies on offer.

Luckily, there’s Policy.nz. 

The Spinoff has partnered with the Policy.nz team since 2017, across two general and two local body elections. Since then, Policy.nz has made it easy for New Zealanders to compare the parties and candidates vying for their ticks. Before each election, hundreds of thousands of voters have used the tool to inform their votes.  

To be clear, Policy.nz is not affiliated with any political party and is proudly non-partisan (thank you to the Spinoff readers who donated to their campaign to cover the last costs of the tool). The Spinoff will be covering the election this year as we always do – with rigour, range and humour. But even Toby Manhire can’t cover every single electorate, every single candidate and every single policy in five weeks. And so Policy.nz will sit atop our website until October 14, ready and waiting for your visit.

All parties and candidates are treated fairly on Policy.nz and their policies are presented accurately (because sometimes reading policies on party websites can often mean a lot of waffle and not a lot of detail).

This year in particular it feels more important than ever to have trustworthy, non-partisan and accessible election information available. The team at Policy.nz says the tool is all about giving people the confidence to vote, as research shows a common reason cited for not voting is “not knowing who to vote for”.

Policies

With Policy.nz, you’ll be able to input the areas that matter most to you, whether that’s climate, the economy, health, housing or something else entirely, and browse the various parties’ policies in that area.

If you want to inform your vote purely by policy, there’s a “dark” option, which shows the policies but doesn’t show the party they’re attached to. After picking your favourites, your party alignments may surprise you.

Parties

The party tab provides a one-stop-shop for each political party, given a brief history, a party list, current average polling, and even the dollar amount in donations the party has received for this campaign. If you’re voting for the first time or unsure of party backgrounds, this is a great first stop on your voting journey.

You

The Policy.nz tool has no other purpose than to provide voters with all the information they need to make a truly informed vote this election. If you’ve found that you’re just a bit tired of it all, bookmark Policy.nz and you’ll be well-prepared for election day.

Can’t wait a second longer? Visit Policy.nz right here.