Voter education and awareness

One of the important task of District Administration is to conduct free and fair elections. For
a sustained and vibrant democracy, the participation of citizens in the democratic process
especially the process of election of a democratic government is sine qua non. Only an
informed and enlightened citizen who is aware of his rights and duties shall participate in
such a process. In India, this task has become all the more challenging due to general public
perception of politics not being good, its association with criminal elements and falling
standards of public and political morality. Under these circumstances, it is important that
citizens are informed about the importance of participation in electoral process either as a
voter or as a candidate, understanding and analysing the strengths and weaknesses of political
parties, their candidates, and their election programmes reflected through their election
manifestoes. Various other aspects of the electoral process like
qualifications/disqualifications of voters and candidates, model code of conduct, rights and
responsibilities, electoral offences, voter registration, voting procedure, counting etc also
needs to be brought to the knowledge and understanding of the citizens. Voter education and
awareness programme intends to do precisely this.

Objectives of Voter awareness programme:

The programme of voter awareness shall broadly have following objectives:

1. To sensitize the voters about the importance of participation in an electoral process to

ensure a responsive, accountable, and democratically elected government.
2. To persuade minorities, the homeless, disabled persons, and many others who lack
access to the vote for a variety of reasons including poverty, illiteracy, intimidation, or
unfair election processes to participate in the election process.
3. To ensure that people understand their right as voters and exercise that right with full
knowledge and responsibility.
4. To educate the voter about the importance of vote in democratic country like India by
voting for a suitable and right candidate.
5. To impart knowledge on voting procedure.
6. To encourage the voters to participate in the democracy by enrolling themselves in the
Electoral Rolls and voting at the time of Election.

Key components of Voter awareness programme

 Voter education and awareness programme is not a one off
activity performed prior to elections. Rather it is an activity which has to be done on an
ongoing basis. There are three distinct set of activities encompassing this, all in a continuum
aimed at achieving a common objective.

1. Voter information and Awareness

2. Electoral Education
3. Civic Education

1. Voter information and Awareness: This activity is done just prior to the elections.
It aims at making the citizens aware about the following :
 Various electoral processes like how to make their votes, what are the
qualifications/ disqualifications of being a voter and a candidate, nomination
process, voting procedure, counting procedure, model code of conduct,
electoral offences, do’s and don’ts during the elections, rights and
responsibilities of the citizens during the elections etc.
 Awareness about political parties and their development programme
manifested through their election manifesto.
 Awareness about the antecedents of the candidates and ability to analyse their
suitability and non-suitability for the job.
2. Electoral education: This is a broader concept which involves education of future
citizens/voters and not just people who are already eligible to vote. It should happen
right from the schools and should cover all aspects of elections like how, why, when
to vote etc. Electoral education programs typically address voters' motivation and
preparedness to participate fully in elections. They aim to address relatively more
complex types of information about voting and the electoral process and are
concerned with concepts such as the link between basic human rights and voting
rights; the role, responsibilities and rights of voters; the relationship between
elections and democracy and the conditions necessary for democratic elections;
secrecy of the ballot; why each vote is important and its impact on public
accountability; and how votes translate into seats. Electoral education requires more
lead time for implementation than voter information and, ideally, should be
undertaken on an on-going basis. This type of program is should be provided by
election authorities.
 3. Civic Education: This is a very wide term which should encompass in it the
previously discussed subjects like Electoral education and voter awareness. Civic
education deals with broader concepts underpinning a democratic society such as the
respective roles and responsibilities of citizens, government, political and special
interests, the mass media, and the business and non-profit sectors, as well as the
significance of periodic and competitive elections. It emphasizes not only citizen
awareness but citizen participation in all aspects of democratic society. Civic and
citizenship education typically comprise 3 main elements the teaching of/towards:
Civic Knowledge, Civic Disposition (values) and Civic Skills that is to enable them
to acquire the knowledge and skills essential for informed, effective citizenship.
Civic education is a continual process, not tied to the electoral cycle. Voter
information and electoral education, however, may be part of larger civic education
endeavours. Civic education may be carried out through the school and university
system, through civil society organizations, and perhaps by some state agencies,
although not necessarily the election authority.

Benefits of Voter awareness and education campaigns

Following are the likely benefits that shall accrue due to successful Voter awareness:

 Enhances voters’ awareness about the electoral process and lays the foundation for
increased citizen participation in governance over the long-term.
 Increases voter turnout in general and from amongst women and marginalized groups
in particular
 Helps make informed choices. 
 Encourages persons with integrity, and who are concerned with public causes to
participate as candidates.
 Increases the transparency and accountability of the election process.
 Reduces the scope for unfair or corrupt electoral practices.
 Convey the felt needs of constituencies and communities to political parties and the
candidates and thereby contributes to well-informed policies and plans.
 Strengthens the democracy.
Practical Experience derived from the conduct of Lok Sabha elections in District Solan
in 2009.

In district Solan Himachal Pradesh, while working as district election officer, some activities
were done for Voter awareness, sharing of which may help in learning certain lessons on the
subject. The brief statistics of district Solan are as follows:

1. No of assembly constituencies: 5, it was a part of Shimla PC.

2. Voters: Total- 3, 39,365; 1, 71,663 Male, 1, 57,702 females.
3. Polling stations: 516.
4. Voter turnout: 61.35% in 2009 up from 55.05% in 2004.

The activities of Voter awareness in district Solan were started a few months prior to the
general election of 2009 starting with the summary revision programme and ending with the
general elections. Some of the key activities done during that time were as follows:

1. Awareness of Young voters: College teachers were involved in creating awareness

about elector registration in association with Election staff in various colleges prior to
elections during the summary revision programme of electoral rolls. Voter’s
education awareness programmes were conducted in the schools, colleges and other
education institutions in which EVMs were demonstrated among the students and
they were also briefed regarding preparation of electoral rolls and prevailing forms for
enrollment, deletion and correction of names.
2. Booth Level Officers were directed to attend the Gram Sabha meetings to read out the
relevant part of voter lists and create awareness among the people to enroll their
names in the voter lists.
3. As per the directions of ECI, Training and demonstration programmes about the
functioning and operation of EVMs at all the Gram Sabhas as well as Village to
Village were conducted at ARO level by forming teams of 4-5 officials. Wide
publicity about the demonstration was done prior to date through loudspeaker
announcements (Publicity Vans). This was received very well by rural voters.
4. Role of CBO’s and NGO’S: Himachal Pradesh society has a very well-structured
NGO/CBO’s at village level like Mahila mandals, yuvak mandals, SHG’s. These
Community Based Organizations / NGOs were made aware of each and every
 campaign related to elections and they played a vital role in creating awareness
among the general public.
5. Creating awareness amongst the government officials: Himachal Pradesh has a
relatively very high percentage of government employees. As such a sizeable chunk
of voters are either govt employees or their relatives. Through a series of
meetings/workshops prior to the elections, they were made aware of the process of
preparation of electoral rolls and voter registration. Demonstration on the operation of
EVMs were also conducted in major Govt. Offices such as DC Office, HPPWD,
I&PH, ITI etc.
6. Use of Mass media: A slide showing the programme of EPIC campaign and electoral
registration was flashed on the local cable network to inform the general public.
Interviews were done with Local cable operators on various aspects of elections. FM
radio was used as to means to apprise the prospective voters about electoral
registration, election programme, Do’s and dont’s during the polling, list of
identification documents required during the time of polling etc. A radio interview
was also conducted to facilitate the people about the entire process. The pamphlets,
posters etc were distributed to Gram Panchayats, Mahila Mandal, Yuwak Mandals,
school and in colleges. Electoral Rolls verification done by the BLOs during door to
door survey also created awareness amongst the general public. Wide publicity of
each and every stage related to elections was done for creating awareness among the
general public through press notes published in local newspapers and by inserting
pamphlets and voting guides in local papers. Electoral Rolls/ Prevailing forms /
EVMs were also demonstrated to the general public at prominent places of towns so
that one can have a feel of the functioning of EVMs.
7. Role of Political parties in creating awareness: Meetings were held regularly with the
Polling Parties. Their Booth Level Agents were involved to compliment the BLOs in
making the Electoral Rolls error free and up-to-date and creates awareness among the
voters for enrollment of their names in the Electoral Rolls.
8. Other innovations:
 1077 Toll free help line was used extensively to guide the general public
regarding various aspects of the electoral process.
 Sugam centre counters were used for voter registration effectively.
 9. Role of associations/other organizations: District Solan is an industrial district having
a very large number of industrial units. Many industrial workers though being
ordinarily resident of the area are deprived of their right to vote due to lack of
awareness. This gets exploited for partisan interests. Local industrial associations help
was taken to disseminate literature on voter registration in various local industrial
units. Enforcement of local holiday on polling day under Negotiable instruments act
was also enforced with the help of industrial associations.

Lessons learnt

Generally at the time of elections, the whole energy of the election authorities is mainly
channelized on election management. Though this aspect is undoubtedly the most important
aspect to be taken care of, a good voter awareness programme launched alongside the
election management can have a great positive effect on it. Most importantly the complaints
especially pertaining to electoral rolls, location of polling stations etc are minimised if the
campaign is done in a proper manner. Certain key learning points from the experience in
district Solan are highlighted below:

• Voter awareness should be a continuous process instead of a one-off exercise.

• After the election process sets in, there is not much time left for this exercise.
• A good voter information campaign alongside the election management reduces the
grievances associated with it.
• Involvement of Industrial associations/ other organizations can be very helpful.
Seminars should be organized at all the Industrial Units where young generation is in
working class.
• Voter’s Education Awareness Programmes should be conducted on a regular basis in
the senior secondary schools, colleges and other Educational Institutions. Electoral
process and EVM awareness should be included as a part of the curriculum.
Organizing debates and competitions in schools/ universities should also be
encouraged.
• Mass media is very helpful in creating awareness and the campaign can be designed
well in advance as per the local conditions and requirements. Using posters, slides in
movie halls and SMS to get the “Please Vote’’ message across. Mock election process
 can be conducted by providing computers and touch screens kiosks asking voters to
vote. Nukkad nataks, puppet shows, individual discussions, group meetings etc can be
organized for this.
• By taking help of citizen groups, Mahila Mandals/ Yuwak Mandals and NGOs by
holding meetings in their local area, to consider debate and discuss jointly the
important issues before us, which require to be met, and what are we as citizens
looking for. They can invite the candidates for an open meeting, and assess their
abilities and their track record.

Conclusion

The need for and importance of Voter awareness for a functional democracy cannot be
undermined. Voter awareness shall strengthen the Indian democracy and its institutions.
Election commission of India should keeping these larger objectives in mind, plan a well-
conceived campaign to improve Voter awareness in our country. There is a need to involve
all the stakeholders like Government, Political parties, Civil society organizations etc. for it to
be successful.