EC’s voter registration reminder via FB soon

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is launching a special drive to enroll left out electors, with a special focus on first-time electors, on 1 July to achieve the commission’s goal of leaving no voter unregistered. In order to reach out to maximum eligible voters, the ECI is collaborating with Facebook to launch a nationwide voter registration reminder. There are over 180 million people in India on Facebook. The ‘Register Now’ button is designed to encourage Indian citizens to get their names on the Election Commission’s list. On 1 July, a notification of the voter registration reminder will be sent to people on Facebook in India who are eligible to vote. The reminder will be sent out in 13 Indian languages: English, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, Assamese, Marathi and Oriya.

There are over 180 million people in India on Facebook. The ‘Register Now’ button, which will be visible prominently on the about-to-be-released Facebook feature, is designed to encourage Indian citizens to get their names on the Election Commission’s list. On 1 July, a notification of the voter registration reminder will be sent to people on Facebook in India who are eligible to vote. The reminder will be sent out in 13 Indian languages: English, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, Assamese, Marathi and Oriya.

This is the first time Facebook’s voter registration reminder has been rolled out across India. In 2016 and 2017, chief electoral officers made such efforts at the State level during the respective Assembly elections.

By clicking on the ‘Register Now’ button on Facebook from 1 July onwards, people will be directed to the National Voters’ Services Portal, which will guide them through the registration process.

Speaking about the reaching out programme, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said, “I am pleased to announce that the Election Commission of India is launching a ‘special drive to enroll left out electors, with a special focus on first-time electors. This is a step towards fulfilment of the motto of ECI that ‘NO VOTER TO BE LEFT BEHIND‘ (sic).

As part of this campaign, on 1st July 2017, Facebook will run a voter registration reminder in multiple Indian languages to all the Facebook users in India. I urge all eligible citizens to enroll and VOTE i.e Recognize your Right and Perform your Duty).

I am sure this initiative will strengthen Election Commission of India’s enrolment campaign and encourage future voters to participate in the Electoral Process and become responsible Citizens of India.”

Commenting on the scheduled launch, Facebook’s Public Policy Director for India, South & Central Asia Ankhi Das said, “People use Face book to learn, talk and get involved with issues that matter to them. We want to build engagements that support this type of civic engagement — on election day and every day. We believe that democracies are stronger when more people are engaged; that’s why we are encouraging everyone who is eligible to register to vote and connecting them with resources.”