New Delhi: To effectively address the issue of 'low voter turnout', the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday held a day long ‘Conference on Low Voter Turnout’ at Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi with Municipal Commissioners from major cities and select District Election Officers (DEOs) from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh deliberated together to chart a path towards enhancing voter engagement and participation in identified urban and rural PCs.
The crucial conference held ahead of the Lok Sabha elections was Chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. On the occasion, a booklet on voter apathy was released by the poll panel.
While addressing the Municipal Commissioners and DEOs, CEC Rajiv Kumar in his address said "that a total of 266 Parliamentary Constituencies ( 215 Rural & 51 Urban) with low voter turnout have been identified and all concerned Municipal Commissioners, DEOs and State CEOs have been called today to find ways to reach out to voters in targeted manner."
He emphasized on a three pronged strategy of providing facilitation at polling stations like queue management, shelter parking in congested areas; targeted outreach & communication; and involvement of critical stakeholders like RWAs, local icons and youth influencers to persuade people to come to polling stations.
Directing the officials to prepare a booth wise action plan for enhanced participation and behaviour change, CEC asked all MCs and DEOs to prepare different strategies for urban and rural areas and plan interventions accordingly for different target audiences.
He emphasized that the “One size fits all” approach will not yield results and urged the authorities to act in a manner that instils pride among the voters in participating in the democratic festivities. He called for a movement in which people are self-motivated to vote.
The conference, a collaborative effort between the ECI and key stakeholders, focused on crafting a comprehensive action plan to address voter apathy, streamline logistical operations, and increase voter turnout.
Discussions were centred on critical issues such as optimizing queue management at polling stations, facilitating voting in high-rise buildings, and leveraging the influential Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme.
The Conference was attended by Municipal Commissioners of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Thane, Nagpur, Patna Sahib, Lucknow and Kanpur as well as select District Election Officers of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
CEO Bihar, CEO UttarPradesh, CEO Maharashtra and CEO Delhi also attended the conference with CEOs of 7 states namely Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Punjab joined virtually.
It is pertinent to note here that approximately 297 million eligible voters did not vote in the General Elections to Lok Sabha in 2019 underscoring the scale of the problem which calls for proactive measures.
Furthermore, recent elections across various states have highlighted trends of urban apathy towards the electoral process, warranting targeted interventions and collaborative endeavours.
While announcing the schedule of the Lok Sabha and Assembly Elections on March 16, CEC in his address noted that low voting turnout/ voters apathy is a key issue which shouldn't be ignored and highlighted that several measures would be taken to full this void, in order to make the process of electioneering more vibrant.
