Do voters select parties and candidates based on shared political positions or focus instead on the issues that affect their daily lives? Policy congruence is a key factor in voter choice, but perfect agreement between voters and their representatives on all issues is rarely possible. Conventional wisdom suggests that voters place the greatest emphasis on matters directly relevant to their everyday experiences. To test this, we analyse data from a Voting Advice Application (VAA) developed for the 2024 local and European elections in Cyprus. Candidate mayors participated in the VAA, allowing us to calculate their level of agreement with users on various national and local issues. Our analysis examines whether voters’ preferences in municipalities with distinct challenges—such as increased tourism or rising crime—differ in their emphasis on these issues compared to others. Our findings partially confirm our hypothesis. Some issues, particularly in semi-urban regional municipalities, hold more sway than in larger cities. However, certain local issues retain consistent importance across municipalities, regardless of geographic or demographic factors.
