‘Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.’
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democracy is all about participation of citizens in self-governance, which begins with the electoral process—from registration as voters, turning out on poll day, to voting without fear and contesting elections on a level playing field. But most election management bodies (EMBs) neglect the educational aspect, concentrating only on the managerial and regulatory aspects of conducting elections. There is very little effort to inform and motivate voters to participate and get their fair share in a democracy. Many consider voter education beyond the ambit of an EMB, putting all responsibility on educationists, politicians and the media. In such a scenario, low participation and turnout are natural.
Voter apathy has been our major concern over the years, youth and urban turnout being particularly low. In some constituencies of politically hyperactive states, such as Bihar and UP, even the rural voter turnout is disappointing. While disturbed areas such as Anantnag and Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir have understandably suffered from low voter turnout (5.01 per cent and 5.37 per cent respectively in 1989), even districts such as Singhbhum in Bihar (1971, 15.83 per cent), Koraput and Bhanjanagar in Odisha (1962, 11.58 per cent and 11.72 per cent respectively) and Tarn Taran and Sangrur in Punjab (1992, 8.91 per cent and 10.35 per cent respectively) have required targeted intervention to bring voters to polling booths. Until recently, low turnout was a problem even in metros and large cities where the educated and economically well-off people abstained and then boasted about never voting.
‘Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.’
— George Jean Nathan
Although voter outreach was a concern of the Commission from the very beginning, efforts were rather perfunctory, until the ECI decided to take the problem head on, with the introduction of the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), which was started as a division called IEC (information, education and communication).
Increasing Voter Participation
The theme that the ECI adopted in celebrating its diamond jubilee in 2010 was ‘Greater Participation for a Stronger Democracy’. Hence, the SVEEP division rolled out comprehensive community outreach and multimedia campaigns to get all citizens to participate in the electoral process. The aim was to fill up all possible gaps in information, motivation and facilitation. Now, before every election, the ECI carries out a survey of knowledge, attitude, behaviour and practices (KABP) of voters before launching targeted interventions. In 2011–13, around thirteen states conducted KABP surveys. Post the national elections in 2014, the ECI engaged the Tata Institute of Social Sciences for consolidating survey findings and recommendations. The major findings were ignorance about eligibility, registration process and services, inherent cynicism and contempt for politicians, fear of violence and lack of infrastructural facilities. We had to find answers for all these.
One must hasten to add here that despite the shortfall in participation, we were not looking at the easy but questionable option of compulsory voting. That does not go with the democratic tenet of freedom. Besides, it would not be feasible in India where over 300 million enrolled voters do not vote for various reasons. The demonstrably increasing participation of voters has proved the success of non-coercive methods for encouraging voter participation and turnout through targeted education. We cannot, after all, start 300 million legal suits! Imagine the burden of court cases that could spill out of the exercise of compulsory voting. If you look at the few countries that have resorted to this measure, they are not exactly smiling. Australia is one glaring example.
One of the biggest constraints on the citizens’ desire to come out and vote was the fear of violence at polling stations. The Commission, therefore, decided to launch a big information campaign regarding the steps it was taking for the safety of the voters, like vulnerability mapping of all districts to find out areas that suffered from threat and intimidation by criminals, and a series of measures to ensure peace. Peaceful elections led to increasingly large participation, especially of women, who are usually the first victims of any violence. The communication of special confidence-building measures for women appealed to them enormously. As a direct result of these efforts, their turnout went up from 55.8% in 2009 to 65.6% in 2014 — a jump of nearly ten percentage points as against eight for men.
The youth were the next important target. As many as 25,000 youth ambassadors were appointed in universities, colleges and school campuses before the 2014 elections. Their role was clearly defined and included identification of students and teachers and non-teaching staff for voter registration, guidance for filling up forms, coordinating with the electoral machinery for approval of applications, and co- curricular activities and core team activities for voter awareness.
Special measures such as the provision of ramps and Braille for people with disability, and the recognition of transgenders as the third gender were widely publicized and were greatly advantageous. I would like to add here at least one shortcoming—undertrials and convicts cannot vote in our elections. Under Section 62(5) of the Representation of People Act, 1951, individuals in lawful police custody and those serving prison sentences cannot vote. Only those under preventive detention can vote through postal ballots. The Supreme Court has observed that prisoners cannot claim equal rights due to their conduct. To me this appears to be a faulty stand on two counts: one, it amounts to conviction without trial and a punishment over and above what is prescribed in the Indian Penal Code. Two, it is taking away an important right from the prisoners regardless of the gravity of the offence committed.
A seven-member panel was constituted by the ECI in April 2016 to explore prisoner voting, and it received several representations that prisoners should not be disenfranchised. No decision has been taken yet. I think it goes against the ethos of an inclusive democratic process to deny them this basic right. There are nearly 400,000 prisoners in Indian jails, 70% of whom are under trial.
Till convicted, they are deemed to be innocent. Taking away their fundamental rights of liberty, movement, occupation and dignity besides the right to vote is grossly unfair. Even logistically, it is not difficult to enfranchise them. All it will take are postal ballots.
Initiating SVEEP
The SVEEP initiative has evolved in three broad stages. In the first phase (2009–13), gaps were identified in voter turnout and stagnations around 55–60% (national elections) were acknowledged, leaving out millions of eligible voters from making a political choice. This phase covered roughly seventeen elections to state assemblies and three revisions of the electoral rolls based on levels of urbanization, illiteracy, security and logistics.
The second phase (2013–14) involved strengthening and building on a strong foundation through planned strategies. These steps included identification of 10% of the lowest turnout polling stations, poll station-wise analysis, interventions and implementation, followed by monitoring and evaluation. Content development was undertaken for voter outreach for the literate, the neo-literate and the illiterate. Thus, the supply side of the SVEEP was emphasized.
The communication efforts were aimed at three broad goals: increasing electoral participation through voter registration and turnout, increasing qualitative participation by ethical and informed voting, and continuous education of electoral processes.
The above two stages have returned impressive dividends in terms of higher turnout in each of the state elections, including reaching new records in some states. Some remarkable examples include Goa (15.91% increase over 2008 in 2013), Gujarat (19.29% over 2007 in 2012), Jharkhand (16.61% over 2009 in 2012), Odisha (12.79% over 2009 in 2014) and Uttar Pradesh (29.24% over 2006 in 2011). Among women voters, the jump was phenomenal. Noteworthy are Goa (20.3% over 2007 in 2012), Gujarat (21.89% over 2007 in 2012), Jharkhand (22.87% over 2009 in 2014) and Uttar Pradesh (a whopping 43.8% over 2007 in 2012). The combined efforts of the first two stages of the initiative culminated in the highest ever turnout (66.38%) in the 2014 general elections. Many states crossed the 80 per cent threshold, including Assam (79.8%), Lakshadweep (86.6%), Nagaland (87.8%), Tripura (84.7%) and West Bengal (82.2%).
National Voters Day
As we know, India’s demographic dividend is its economic strength, but it also has the potential of being its political strength, if voter apathy among the youth is reduced. Every year, a staggering 4% of the population in the eighteen–nineteen age group becomes eligible for voting. The potential of these is, however, far from realized, as reflected in the low registration and turnout of young voters. Keeping this in mind, as a historic and unique measure, the Commission declared January 25, its foundation day, as the National Voters Day (NVD) from 2011, with the avowed purpose to increase the enrolment of voters, especially the newly eligible ones. From 2013, every NVD was given a theme, each centred on participation In its first year, 17 million new voters were added to the electoral rolls, including 5.2 million newly eligible and registered youth. They were given their voter ID cards at more than 800,000 polling stations on the first National Voters Day. This could well be billed as the largest exercise of youth empowerment on a single day, anywhere in the world. The national-level event was inaugurated by the President of India where chief election commissioners of over thirty-five countries were present.
The second NVD in 2012 received even more dramatic results, when a total of 38 million additional enrolments took place, of which 11 million were newly eligible youngsters. In the four years between 2009 and 2014, the NVDs registered over 100 million new voters. This is like adding a South Africa and South Korea combined, or three Canadas, or four Australias, or ten Portugals or twenty Finlands!
In subsequent years, voter registration, especially among the youth, shot up from 10 per cent to 15 per cent to a phenomenal 80 per cent in almost all state assembly elections, and a much higher turnout was recorded. Impressed with its astounding success, several countries of the world adopted this model of National Voters Day.
An awareness campaign for ethical voting without falling for bribes and inducements is the core of the ECI’s efforts, with every participant in the NVD programme administered a pledge for voting without fail and ethically. (See box below.) . This had a substantial impact on voter turnout. The theme for National Voters Day 2013 was ‘Ethical Voting’ to promote quality electoral participation with administration of voter’s pledges and with messages such as ‘Vote without Note’ and ‘Vote with Conscience’. The third phase of SVEEP has been going on since 2015. A more robust planning has been undertaken this time, with electoral education being made a part of academic curricula through initiatives such as literacy clubs for secondary and senior secondary schools and colleges.
Increased attention is being paid to voters who are absent from their constituency such as service voters, NRIs, migrants and the marginalized, besides the youth and urbanites whose apathy continues to linger. Registration counters are set up in weekly village markets and minor forest- produce collection centres for registration of migrants, especially labourers and homeless people.
The revolutionary potential of information and communications technology tools is being exploited for awareness campaigns through social media. There is a toll-free helpline for addressing queries. Poll-day reminders are sent through SMSs, radio, television, social media and public-address systems. The ECI has partnered with the social networking giant Facebook to launch a slew of initiatives to encourage voter registration. The #JetSetVote campaign was launched in 2017 in partnership with Facebook and Youth Ki Awaaz to create a community of first-time voters for information dissemination on voting rights.
The first nationwide voter registration campaign was rolled out from 1–4 July 2017 in thirteen languages. Those who turned eighteen received a Facebook newsfeed message wishing them a happy birthday and reminding them to register to vote on the ECI’s website. The seven episodes of the National Election Quiz 2017–18, which were shared on Facebook’s ‘Government and Politics’ page, were aimed at creating awareness. All those who will turn eighteen years and above on January 25 will receive a reminder on their newsfeed to take a National Voters Day pledge.
For bringing in our defence personnel, nodal officers from the armed forces have been appointed for facilitating enrolment. The intranet of the armed forces is employed for electoral awareness among them. Electoral literacy has been included in the curriculum of soldiers and officers. A special drive is undertaken for service personnel utilizing Army Day that falls on January 15 every year. The service personnel are engaged with the NVD celebrations as well.
Embassy and defence personnel posted abroad have been sensitized about their voting rights. Despite these measures, the turnout among the defence personnel continues to be low. For skill development initiatives of the Ministry of External Affairs, literacy modules have been prepared regarding voter education of diplomats posted abroad. Their turnout also continues to be dismal. For other overseas electors, interactive guides have been published under the SVEEP initiative. An overseas elector can be any citizen of India of eighteen years or above who is absent from the country owing to education, employment and other reasons, and is not otherwise disqualified.
Creative Strategies
A successful strategy from the beginning has been to enlist eminent national and regional icons to endorse the ECI’s initiatives for encouraging voter participation. These include icons such as former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, M.S. Dhoni (cricketer), Aamir Khan (Bollywood actor), Prahlad Singh Tipaniya (folk singer), Cheteshwar Pujara (cricketer), Gopinath Muthukad (magician), and Abhinav Bindra (shooter), among others. The first female personalities to support the ECI’s initiatives were M.C. Mary Kom (boxing) and Saina Nehwal (badminton) in 2012. Since then, professionals such as Apurvi Chandela (shooter), Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics), Ankita Raina (tennis), Kiran Parmar (kabaddi) and Daxa Patel (Bharatanatyam) have motivated women to realize their political power and cast their vote.17 They complemented the efforts of folk singers Malini Awasthy and Sharda Devi from UP and Bihar respectively.
The comprehensive efforts of SVEEP have consistently paid off. A look at the size of the electorate in the general elections in 2014 is fairly indicative. Not only was the registration high, so was the turnout. Women outnumbered men in more than half the states. In UP, the performance was extraordinary—a whopping 30% increase in voter turnout, especially of women (45%).
Increasing awareness among sex workers such as Amina Begum from Chandni Chowk, who first started voting in 2008, puts to shame several well-to-do people in our society. They are aware that the fate of their children’s education and welfare is linked with the outcomes at the ballot and hence, they are spreading awareness among their colleagues. Many newly registered voters have the enthusiasm of new converts and any obstacles pale in comparison to their firmness of will. When the SVEEP team of Amreli district made the documentary, ‘A Fistful of Salt’, the salt workers of 98 Rajula assembly constituency in Gujarat pledged on the salt that they would cast their vote and never miss an election. Many stories of homeless men and women eager to cast their ballots are matched only by those of persons with disability and the elderly who have never missed one opportunity to make themselves count.18 Having no hands is not a weakness for these brave people; they vote with their mouth and their feet, their heart and their soul, all in the spirit of never taking democracy for granted. This really puts to shame the so-called educated urbanites who proudly trumpet that they’ve never voted in their life.
The overwhelming public response inspired the Commission to bring out a volume comprising 101 human-interest stories related to voter enthusiasm in elections. 19 Citizens now recognize the value of the vote, and bravely express their belief in it despite adverse circumstances. There are proud electors on wheelchairs casting their votes, patients in hospitals suffering from terminal illnesses anxious to reach the polling stations, homemakers coming out to participate in the festival of democracy.
During the diamond jubilee celebrations in 2010–11, the Commission had articulated its vision in the following words: ‘Elections that are completely free of crime and abuse of money, based on a perfect electoral roll and with full participation of voters.’
The SVEEP programme has made a singular contribution in the fulfillment of this vision.
‘Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.’
—Abraham Lincoln
Featured image source: provided by author; Dr. S.Y. Quraishi/Twitter.
Excerpted from S.Y. Quraishi’s The Great March Of Democracy with permission from Penguin.