As people who have been studying and working in the field of migration for a number of years, we got increasingly frustrated by seeing news reports either get it wrong or muddy the waters with vague and confusing information when discussing migration and asylum. It used to be a pet peeve, but since these issues have moved into the center of many countries’ political debates, it’s become imperative that the public knows what it’s talking about when it talks about immigrants and refugees.

That’s why we became determined to create a website that would give accurate, well- sourced information and analysis about elections and migration – so people can make informed decisions and not get taken in by rhetoric that seeks to conflate or confuse. If the decision to vote for a party or candidate will heavily depend on where they stand on migration, shouldn’t voters be able to discern that clearly?

HOW MIGRATION VOTER IS DIFFERENT

Migration Voter aims to be a useful resource for information on the role of migration and elections. Our articles will be clear about whether we are offering a factual recap (“Explainers”) or reasoned arguments (“Analysis”). Both embedded within the articles and at the end of the article you will find our sources, which aim as often as possible to be “primary sources.” That means if we are talking about a politician’s promises or positions, we will be citing directly from his or her website or an interview or video where he/ she directly states them. If we are talking about a law, treaty, or case we’ll link to it. If we are talking about statistics, we will link to the original source as often as possible and not an article about the statistics. We hope this will enable our readers to inform themselves further and not just take our word for it.

HOW TO USE THIS SITE

Migration Voter is divided into several categories. Explainers about election processes and political parties divided by country, analysis of immigration questions pertinent to elections and campaign promises, divided by country and by theme. Therefore, readers should be able to find information about their own country’s elections and immigration policies, as well as compare their countries to other’s addressing some of the same issues. You can navigate through these options by browsing by country, by article type, or by tag (e.g., asylum, border control.)

Feel free to use the sources we gather here in your own discussions, articles and social media arguments- that’s what they’re there for!