NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has swung into action to increase voter participation in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In line with this, ECI held a day-long conference involving municipal commissioners from major cities and selected District Election Officers (DEOs) from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The conference aimed to prepare a plan to enhance citizen engagement and participation in the identified urban and rural parliamentary constituencies.
The “Conference on Low Voter Turnout” was presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. Other Election Commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, also participated in the meeting.
During the gathering, Rajiv Kumar spoke with the municipal commissioner and DEOs, mentioning that a total of 266 parliamentary constituencies, of which 215 are in rural areas and 51 in urban areas, had a low voter turnout in the last parliamentary elections. Therefore, they have been called in here to chart a plan, in collaboration with the ECI, to increase citizen engagement and participation in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. For this purpose, he prescribed a three-pronged strategy for facilitation at the polling booths, including queue management, shelter parking in congested areas, and a targeted outreach and communication programme. Local stakeholders, such as RWAs, should also be roped in this initiative, along with local icons and young influencers to persuade people to exercise their voting rights.
Kumar directed the local body officials to prepare booth-wise action plans for increased voter participation and behaviour change. He said that “One size fits all” does not yield great results in all circumstances. Therefore, strategies should be prepared depending on the target audience.