Best Electoral Practices Awards 2014

Systematic Voter Education & Electoral Participation

“The Green Carpet Initiative – Celebrating Democracy with Dignity”

Presented By

Vikas Singh Narwal (I.A.S.)

District Election Officer, Nimach (M.P.)

 

NIMACH DISTRICT

General Information:

• No. of Constituencies - 03• Total Population - 847572 • Total Electors - 536388• EP Ratio - 63.28• Gender Ratio - 936• PER & EPIC Coverage - 100%• Polling Stations - 644+1• Critical Polling Stations - 67

The Green Carpet Concept :

“ It is all about creating sustainable & institutionalized mechanisms for end to end facilitation of various actors involved in the electoral process so that their dignity is ensured while getting desirable outcome at the same time. ”

The Green Carpet Initiative

Background:

• ECI’s focus on SVEEP (Systematic Voter Education & Electoral Participation)

• Low Voter Turnout History in Nimach

• Ethical Voting Concerns

• The Dignity Challenge

Motivation :

“ The ceaseless efforts taken up by ECI to penetrate SVEEP activities to the ground level and make elections a true democratic celebration has been a constant & continuous source of motivation to take up this initative. ”

Focus Areas:

• Reaching out to every voter to understand his needs and issues

• Creating Voter Friendly Environment at every polling station

• Preparing strategy for maximum voter turn out

• Ensuring human dignity for every stake holder at every stage

Strategies Adopted:

• Model Polling Stations

• Queue Less Management

• Swift Polling Parties

• Vote with Dignity

• End to End Voter Facilitation

• Standardization of Poll Activities

• Cost Effective Solutions

Model Polling Stations:

• Total 70 MPS established with aim to achieve maximum voter turnout

• Developing polling stations as a centre of attraction

• Ensuring dignity of voters & polling staff• Exposure visits of voters in MPS for

spreading awareness

Model Polling Stations

Model Polling Stations

Model Polling Stations

Model Polling Stations

Queue Less Management :

• Adoption of Token System for Queue less Voting

• Sitting arrangements for comfortable waiting

• Cyclic distribution of tokens

• Feedback mechanism for service evaluation

Queue Less Management

Queue Less Management

Queue Less Management

Queue Less Management

Swift Polling Parties :

• Constitution of Swift Polling Parties for Rapid Poll Casting

• Target based approach – 100 votes / hour• Strict enforcement of protocols• Appreciation of Polling Parties for meeting

their targets• Repeated mock drills of polling parties for

error free operation

Vote with dignity :• Appointment of motivators in every

polling station for ground level work

• Penetration of SVEEP activities at the doorstep of voter

• Every Vote counts campaign – taking choice from voter itself

• Ensuring dignity while voting – giving voter green carpet welcome

SVEEP Activities

SVEEP Activities

SVEEP Activities

SVEEP Activities

SVEEP Activities

End to End Voter Facilitation :

• Total 80 Voter Facilitation Centres established

• Familiarisation with voter welfare measures

• Familiarisation with polling party welfare measures

• Ethical Voting – understanding secrecy of vote

Standardization of poll activities:

• Do’s & Don’ts for various stakeholders – imparting effective training

• Preparation of ASD list

• Thorough Deduplication Exercise –

- with in Constituency

- with in district

- w.r.t bordering districts of M.P.&

Rajasthan

Cost Effective Solutions:

• Use of token system

• Rational use of government buildings & infrastructure

• Cost effective Webcasting & Video Conferencing

• Arranging local logistics

Plan of an Ideal Polling Station :

Main Polling Station Waiting Area

PO

Exit Entry

P3P2P1VC

T1

T2

Toilet (Gents)

Toilet (Ladies)

DW

Outcome:• 19.47 % increase in voter turnout over

2009 General Elections

Outcome:• 20.55 % increase in voter turnout in Model

Polling Stations over 2009 Elections

Outcome:• Uniform effect on all Assembly Constituencies

Outcome:• Uniform effect on most of the Polling Stations

Outcome :

• A total of 101 Polling Parties turned out to be Swift Polling Parties.

• A total of 99 Motivators achieved more than 80 % voting on their assigned Polling Station.

• Institutionalization of Ideal Polling Stations

• Institutionalization of Voter Facilitation Centers

Critique :

• Gender Gap Issues need to be tackled more effectively

• Proper rationalisation of polling stations needed

• Making voters familiarised with Electoral Roll is a challenge

• Voter facilitation is a continuous phenomenon which needs constant evaluation

The Way Forward :

• Rationalisation of polling station at section level

• Making every polling station an ideal polling station

• More focus on women participation

• Effective micro planning to reach each & every voter

Conclusion:

“ Voter Education and Voter Facilitation are two key factors that decide Electoral Participation and if these two are tackled in systematic, scientific & sustainable manner then the uniformity in electoral behavior can be certainly predicted.”

Thank You

“May God Bless Us All”