The District Election Office (DEO) in Bengaluru Urban has carried out several activities to boost voter turnout in the three Lok Sabha constituencies which have traditionally recorded average voting percentages. The election office devised macro- and micro-level SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) activities to influence voters to come out in large numbers, on Friday.
The DEO has directed companies to sanction leave to voters on the polling day, failing which action will be initiated. The Labour Department has been instructed to shut down offices working on Friday. Hoteliers have also been asked to allow workers to exercise their franchise.
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Detailing the efforts in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits, District Election Officer Tushar Giri Nath said election officials at every level held hundreds of programmes to reach out to the electorate. At the macro level, the election office roped in youth icons such as movie stars, sportsmen, and corporate leaders to participate in rallies, street marches, and other activities to send out a strong message on the importance of voting.
The icons spoke to students in colleges, stressing the need to vote and urged them to pass on the awareness to parents and their friends. The election officials held meetings with resident welfare associations (RWA) of apartment complexes to spread awareness about voting. For the same, in apartment complexes where there are more than 1,000 voters, dedicated booths are being set up to facilitate voting, Mr. Giri Nath said, hoping that this time people from apartments may come out in large numbers to vote.
Mr. Giri Nath said in the IT corridors, the election officials tied up with IT leaders and held events. “We have asked IT companies to declare a holiday and insist that the employees vote instead of going away, treating this as a long weekend,” he said.
Door-to-door awareness
At the micro level, of the 8,984 booths, in about 4,300 booths where voting percentage was poor, intense SVEEP activities were taken up. In about 1,700 booths where the voter turnout was less than 10% or 5%, the election officers went to the houses of the residents and pasted stickers about voting day and the importance of voting, he said. According to the data shared by the BBMP, the officers visited more than 2.9 lakh houses across the city and pasted stickers.
Mr. Giri Nath said the officials spoke to voters in every house and the response was positive. This activity would help increase the percentage and people would come out braving the heat. In most of the booths, drinking water facility will be set up besides providing shelter to provide shade from the scorching heat, he added.
The election office has also set up special booths with themes to promote conservation of water, forest, culture, ayurveda, Yakshagana, and Bengaluru Karaga. There are booths managed only by women, while 28 dedicated booths will be set up for the specially abled.
