SVEEP Systematic Voters Education & Electoral Participation

Transcription

1 Election Commission of India 1 SVEEP Systematic Voters Education & Electoral Participation Akshay Rout Director General akshaykrout@gmail.com 1

2 Background 2 In India and across the world, the imperative of enhanced voters participation in Elections is no more a matter of debate, but a serious assignment In recent decades, the world has seen a decline in Voter participation in elections, which would inevitably point to a democracy deficit. (Concerns are global: Indonesia Australia) There is a threat that a steady decline in voters participation, if goes unattended over successive years, with number of candidates rising and under a FPTP system, can result in a unrepresentative, dormant, silent and nominal democracy 2

3 India 3 Electorate 800+ million Provinces 35 States/Union Territories Number of languages in which electoral rolls are printed 16 Literacy 74.04% (82.14% males, 65.46% females) 3

4 Election Machinery 4 ECI at New Delhi Chief Electoral Officers - in all 35 provinces District Election Officers/ (DMs /Collectors) - in all 640 districts Electoral Registration Officer - in all 4095 Assembly Constituencies Booth level Officer (BLO) about covering all polling stations 4

5 National Elections Electorate around 720 million Estimated that 50 million eligible citizens not enrolled Voter turnout around 420 million 300 million enrolled citizens did not vote Gap-42% Voting through postal ballot 440,000 approx. Armed forces personnel more than 1.3 million besides paramilitary forces and diplomats Around 11 million personnel on poll duty 5

6 2009 Participation Challenges 6 Low turnout Turnout in national elections < 60% Gender gap on rolls/in turnout Urban apathy lower turnout in urban centres against rural Youth disconnect Mainly among newly eligible 18-19yr old Low participation of Service Voters Diversity- Geographical, Demographic, Cultural Regional, sub-regional under-representation People displaced by ethnic and communal strife Difficult and inaccessible places Temporary migration for labour 6

7 National Elections Electors Voters

8 SVEEP 8 Systematic Voters Education & Electoral Participation Programme adopted in end-2009 to enhance people s participation in electoral process Goal: To ensure that every eligible citizen is enrolled and to bring every enrolled elector to the polling booth voluntarily 8

9 SVEEP - GOALS 9 To address Gaps in Voter Registration Low and declining turnout in polling Voting to be ethical and informed, free of any inducement To ensure continuous electoral and civic education 9

10 Objectives 10 Elector to Population ratio on the electoral rolls to match the 18+ population as per census Gender ratio on rolls to match the gender ratio as per census Increase the percentage of enrolment in the newly eligible 18-19yr age group Bridge the gap in registration in urban areas Inclusion of excluded groups/communities in electoral roll and in turnout for voting Visible enhancement in the quality of electoral participation in terms of informed, ethical and inducement free voting 10-15% increase in turnout in national elections

11 Situation Analysis Identification of 10% lowest turnout Polling Station in each district in past election and reasons thereof Identification of lowest turnout Parliamentary Constituencies and reason thereof Identification of reasons for drop in turnout (if any) between last state and national election Identification of left out groups, communities at each Polling Station, if any

12 Strategy Targeted interventions to bridge major gaps like Women, Urban, Youth, weaker sections, Physically challenged etc Targeted interventions at polling station level Innovations to reach the target IMF : Information, Motivation, Facilitation

13 Planning & Implementation State SVEEP Core Committee headed by CEO; Committee with members from various department, agencies and organisations District Core Committee chaired by DEO/CEO(ZP) Nodal Officer in-charge of SVEEP at each district Network of partnership be developed at national State and District levels Frameworks of partnerships issued by the Commission in relation to CSOs, PSU/Corporates and Media with task allocations

14 Information & Motivation To fill all possible information gaps on registration and voting When, where and how to register Date, time and venue of voting How to vote Documents required To provide maximum possible motivation to participate in the electoral process WHY (except whom) 14

15 Voters Facilitation Name search facility on website and SMS Locating PS through internet Voter Facilitation Centres at strategic locations VFCs supplied education and awareness material in good quantity Prompt issue of duplicate EPICs Registration of left-out Voters to continue till the last date Voters Slips distributed ahead of polls Provision of drinking water, sheds, toilets for women, ramps at Polling Stations (some model PSs)

16 Meeting Gender gap 16 Grass root level workers in women s programmes trained and involved in electoral participation Young mothers targeted through health workers Women centric activities and competitions conducted to engage women Women centric messages and advocacy material in mass media Women facilitation at polling stations 16

17 SVEEPing Youth 17 ECI Campus Ambassadors in Colleges and Universities Mock Registration and Polling at educational institutions Bulk SMSs/ s Registration forms made available with College admission forms Drop boxes for registration forms placed at strategic locations for facilitation such as at Driving License window, Employment Exchanges, etc Training camps organized at school/colleges to get forms filled On-line registration facility 17

18 ECI Campus Ambassadors Government Colleges and Universities to have Campus Ambassadors Campus Ambassador/s from among a list provided by the Head of the College/University; girl students given priority Will identify students, teachers and staff not registered in the electoral roll and facilitate their registration With the help of CEO/DEO office, will organise special camps for registration Will educate about registration, correction of errors, transposition of names, voting process and ethical voting Will include Voter Education in various co-curricular activities of the Campus

19 Special Measures for yr old 19 Nodal teachers/designated officers appointed for registration of newly eligible Voters at educational institutions Forms made available at educational institutions in last year at School or first year in college Linkage with Registrar of births and deaths BLOs enlist in advance, youth about to turn 18 and contact them List of adolescent girls about to turn 18 available with village health workers Village functionaries help taken to identify newly eligible voters Young Voters Festivals 19

20 20 National Voters Day 25 th January Foundation Day of ECI is celebrated as the National Voters Day (NVD) since 2011 On NVD and ahead of NVD activities are carried out aimed at registering the newly eligible electors who attain the age of 18 on qualifying date (1 st January of the year) Voter ID Cards are handed over on NVD to new electors Youth Voters Festival precede NVD with programmes for youth like competitions, debates, seminars, quiz, music shows etc 20

21 SVEEPing Urban areas 21 Voter Education & Facilitation Centres Voluntary support extended to the Booth Level Officers by involving Resident Welfare Associations and NGOs etc. to work with them as Volunteers Corporate contacted to ensure registration of their employees; alternative registration hubs for corporate employees established Special campaigns through print & electronic media on voters awareness. Promos of regional/local/national icons on registration Photo Voter Slip distribution 21

22 SVEEP for Inclusion 22 Enrolment of others Registration of homeless by relaxing norms Accessing communities like sex workers etc. Communities Special measures to reach remote places Special measures for old and differently-abled Special drive for migrant labourers : through Labour Inspector & Labour contractors Coordination with NGOs for wider inclusiveness Educating and promoting Proxy Voting for Service Voters 22

23 Inclusion- Tribal Areas 23 Registration Counters in weekly Village market Registration Counters at Minor Forest produce collection centres Fair and festivals used for information dissemination and facilitation Coordination with NGOs working in tribal areas 23

24 Monitoring & Review Mid period review and constant monitoring of SVEEP in the district by DEO Regular Video Conferences by CEO with all DEOs for review of implementation Review at the national level by the Commission followed by Evaluation & Documentation

25 SVEEP Partnerships Various government departments with maximum outreach, taken as partners Electoral Literacy introduced as a component in the Government s Adult Literacy programme Private Media Houses taken on board as partners Partnering Corporate Houses to facilitate registration of their employees and contribute to voter awareness and education (Banks prominently) Partnering Civil Society organsiations to reach out to people Celebrities taken as ECI Icons for spreading Voter awareness

26 Resources Documentation of best practices since (strength of replication) Knowledge, Attitude, Behaviour, Belief, Practices Survey reports Electoral Literacy material prepared by the National Literacy Mission Authority Edutainment material prepared in collaboration with UNDP for mainly rural women and children Election and democracy in popular children comics Outreach material prepared by the States and districts during elections and revision of rolls

27 Consultations, Exchanges & Awards 27 National consultation on Voter participation National Consultation on Women s participation in the Electoral Process National consultation with Media Consultation on Social Media National consultation with CSOs Best Electoral Practices Exchange among CEOs Best Electoral Practices Awards 27

28 Sharing with other countries ECI chaired the Commonwealth working Group on Voter Education ECI organised a South Asia consultation last month on Inclusive Election in Delhi, attended by South Asian EMBs South Asian Forum decided that that there would be a full documentation of the Voter Education programmes and practices of the region Major documentation of SVEEP being taken up for sharing with desirous EMBs A detailed training on Voter Education for various countries is being organised 28

29 National Icons of ECI 29 29

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31 Achievements- Registration 31 Higher registration among yrs old age group which had the largest gap (2.88/4.05) Elector to Population ratio nearer the 18+ figures as per census data (63.99/63.13) Higher coverage of Voter ID Card % Higher coverage of Photo-Electoral Roll-98.69% Healthier sex ratio on electoral roll- 950/909 31

32 Jharkhand Bihar Assam Kerala Puducherry Tamil Nadu West Bengal Punjab Uttarakhand Manipur Uttar Pradesh Goa Gujarat Himachal Tripura Meghalaya Nagaland Karnataka Chhattisgarh Madhya Mizoram Rajasthan NCT of Delhi Turnout in previous AE Turnout in latest AE

33 Women Turnout Previous Election Latest Election 33

34 34 34

35 INCLUSION OF SATI-PATI (Indigenous community) - the case of Dangs district in Gujarat 35 Challenge 'SATI-PATI Sect', followed by almost 3000 eligible voters. Followers of this sect considers themselves owners of all natural resources. Their poverty is augmented as no help from any government development program is accepted by them. Interventions The sect was convinced that it is their right to vote and possessing the Voter ID card would facilitate for subsidized food grains, children s education, health and other livelihood programmes. Administration was sensitive to the sect s beliefs and did not resort to manipulating them for enrolment. They used members of the sect itself who are in government service as ambassadors and motivators. Result achieved- Nearly 90% of the sect followers are now enrolled and more than 80% voted in recent elections. 35

36 36 Meeting Gender Gap - in Uttar Pradesh (province with 200 million population) Women turnout in elections was traditionally low, (50% in 2002 and 42% in 2007) in this heartland of the country Overall turnout also among lowest in the country (54% in 2002 and 46% in 2007) with a decreasing trend in past decade Concerted SVEEP campaign conducted with special focus on women turnout Popular female folk singer of the State made the ambassador/icon and focused campaign for women conducted through road shows, electronic media Mass mobilizing activities like longest human chain of 52.5 km, human ring covering periphery of 115 km, torch relay race of 500 km with 250,000 participants Result: Women turnout at 60.28% surpassed men turnout at 58.68% 36

37 Various activities for mass mobilisation

38 Mass mobilisation - in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh 38 Feminisation of Voter education campaign Catchy slogans like Two minute for vote used for target audience Cartoon Series on voter awareness made for high impact message High visibility activities like world s largest Rangoli (190,000 sq ft) a mammoth map of India using 240,000 candles etc Result: Voter turnout in district recorded an unprecedented increase of 15% Women turnout higher than men at 61.49%, a record in the history 38

39 Some innovations by Police in Barabanki district of UP 39 INITIATIVE- Confidence chit/sms A slip having a confidence message to public, containing emergency phone numbers Distributed by beat police constable to weaker section/ poor families covering around 200,000 families (35% of electors) Confidence Message(SMS) delivered to all mobile subscriber in the district Bulk SMS sent on D-2 day, D-1 day and D day(polling) EFFECT Generated confidence and faith in public Quick information and feedback from grassroot level 39

40 40 Closing ceremony of Successful event 40 40

41 MEGHALAYA a case study 41 SVEEP ING the Colleges & schools - Voter facilitation centres opened in premises Doctors IN SVEEP netgovernment doctors would put posters in all health centres and disseminate the message right up to the village level The Facebook Campaign - to target youth in the urban areas as urban turnout is comparatively lower in the district Run to Vote - a forum for disseminating the idea of SVEEP 41

42 THE AIRBORNE MESSAGE THAT TOOK TURA BY STORM 42 42

43 SELLOUT CROWDS & THE DISCREET SVEEP MESSAGE THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF MUSIC & FESTIVALS 43 43

44 LEARNINGS Communication needs to be targeted rather than general Broad awareness does not lead to behaviour change; while media generates the enabling environment, actual electoral participation behaviours comes through contact, persuasion, counselling etc There are several barriers in smooth enrolment and citizens would like services to reach out to them Supply side measures are extremely important, hence the F in IMF i.e. Facilitation needs to be made stronger In certain areas, awareness need to be linked to freedom from fear and intimidation, supported by police admin Inspirational personalities are effective motivators; more so when they are from the region Communication products are expensive, hence archive building and replication are as important 44

45 Objectives for Elections 2014 Increase in voter turnout in identified low turnout polling stations Increase of at least 10-15% in turnout over 2009 LS Bridge gender gap in enrolment and turnout Inclusion of left out groups/communities in electoral roll and voting Informed, ethical and inducement free voting Increase in postal ballot voting

46 THANK YOU! 46 46