How we source, verify, and correct data

v1.0 · May 2026

1. What counts as a position

A position is only recorded when we can cite a primary source. We accept the following evidence types:

Party manifesto: Official pre-election policy document published by the party.
Public statement: Direct quote from a candidate or party official in a verified public forum (press conference, official website, Hansard, broadcast interview).
Candidate-submitted (Tier 2): Structured response to our survey, submitted directly by the candidate or their authorised representative.

We do not accept the following as evidence:

Secondhand reporting of a position without a direct quote.
Opposition-attributed claims about another party's position.
Unverified social media posts (screenshots, deleted posts).
Speculative or inferred positions based on general party leanings.

Field	What it means	Example
stance: for	Party/candidate supports the outcome described in the topic label	"Supports reducing overdevelopment"
stance: against	Party/candidate opposes the outcome	"Opposes reducing overdevelopment"
stance: neutral	Stated nuanced or conditional position	"Supports in principle but with caveats"
confidence: stated	Direct quote from primary source	Manifesto verbatim
confidence: inferred	Editorial inference from primary source	General manifesto direction, no explicit statement

2. Update cadence

Campaign period (1–30 May 2026): At least weekly review of all Tier 1 positions. New major party statements reviewed within 48 hours.
Tier 2 candidate submissions: Published within 5 working days of receipt, after identity verification.
Source health checks: Archived URLs verified on a rolling basis. Broken links flagged and replaced.

3. Neutrality standard

All policy topic labels are framed as desired outcomes (e.g., "Reducing overdevelopment", not "Overdevelopment"). This ensures that a stance of "Supports" is unambiguous: the candidate supports the outcome described.

Partisan-blind test: Before publishing any position, we ask — would this description appear equally fair if a political opponent read it? If not, we revise.

✅ Correct framing	❌ Incorrect framing
Reducing overdevelopment	Overdevelopment
Reforming public procurement	Procurement policy
Expanding renewable energy	Energy policy

4. Corrections workflow

We take factual accuracy seriously. If you believe a position is incorrectly recorded:

Email admin@helpmyvote.org with the candidate or party name, the specific data point you believe is wrong, and a link to the correct primary source.
We will review the submission within 5 working days.
If the correction is upheld, the data is updated and the source is replaced.
If the correction is not upheld, we will explain why.

Corrections policy: We correct errors of fact. We do not remove positions because a candidate disagrees with our characterisation — only if the primary source does not support the position as recorded.

5. Independence & funding

Help My Vote is editorially independent. No political party, candidate, or campaign has any influence over data, scoring, or editorial decisions.

Any sponsorship or funding relationships are disclosed on this page and do not affect content. Sponsors receive attribution only; they have no access to quiz data and no editorial rights.

Currently: no external funding. Operational costs are met by the owner.

6. Scope

This editorial policy applies to all content published at helpmyvote.org/mt/ relating to the Malta General Election 2026. It will be updated if and when the platform expands to other jurisdictions.

Last updated: May 2026. Any material changes will be dated.