As political parties visit every nook and cranny seeking votes for their candidates, district administrations and election officials are busy with a different campaign — urging the public to exercise their right to franchise. This campaigning is also done with the same zest.
Here too, social media reigns supreme. The Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) initiative and district administration are reaching out to the masses with peppy reels and activities.
While district collectors are seen promoting voting in short videos, some stand out, such as Ernakulam collector G Priyanka’s reminder to ‘Save the Date’ on April 9 to cast votes. She is also seen moving from colleges to metro stations to malls, organising oath-taking programmes, and chatting up youngsters on the need to ‘Vote with Pride’ as each vote counts because ‘Oru goal mathi kali maari mariyaan’ and ‘Oru vote mathi vidhi maatiyezhutaan’. This has now become a slogan as well.
The Ernakulam collectorate and Chief Electoral Office, Kerala, are promoting the song with a ‘reel’ competition. Dr Naveen Razak, whose ‘Rasputin’ dance clip with Dr Janaki Omkumar had gone viral a few years ago, has joined the initiative.
AI-powered short videos of the Chief Electoral Office, Kerala, where people are singing ‘Njan vote cheyyum, ithente vaaku’, are also getting attention online.
Anu Kumari, District Collector of Thiruvananthapuram, has gone the adventurous way to bring her district to the polling booths. In one, she is seen parachuting. In another, she explores her dancing skills with Chief Electoral Officer Ratan U Kelkar.
Popular faces have also been roped in to promote voting, such as MTB cyclist Sayyed Muhammed Mazin, snake rescuer and Forest beat officer Roshni G S, film actor Annie Jobie, and cricketer Nithya Lourde. The SVEEP promotions also target individuals with disabilities by releasing material in sign language.
Events held in public places were also attention-grabbing, says Srikanth K S, section officer at the Election Equipment Department. He is also part of the SVEEP team headed by the state nodal officer and additional CEO, C Sharmila. One such event was held underwater off Kovalam, where a poster ‘Dive into democracy’ was exhibited under the sea. Reels and images of this have gone viral.
Folk dances and performances by teams such as Kattal Penpada were staged at strategic points like Manaveeyam Veedhi and remote tribal colonies. As against the earlier times when voter awareness programmes limited themselves to poster-making and routine campaigns, the programmes now are zesty, fun-filled, with foot-tapping numbers, and slogans like ‘Vote aanu Voice’ and ‘Count on Kerala’ that match the election campaigns of parties.
Events in the capital, like ‘Olam’ and satire-laden street quizzes, have also been getting the message across. In one of the quizzes, the youngsters were asked about changes they expect in the voting system, to which they answered, “allow us to vote for our home constituency even if we are not at home” and “set up facilities to vote online”.
“A specific strategy is followed now. The design of the campaign materials, including slogans, is done from the CEO’s office in Thiruvananthapuram. However, each district looks at voter awareness based on its own hallmark. Like in Kollam, we have to bring in the theme ‘coastal campaigning’, and in Wayanad, we have to reach the tribal people,” says Sub Collector Akhil V Menon, one of the SVEEP nodal officers.
“The trend of SVEEP to target youngsters through such snappy campaigning started two years ago when a survey showed that those in the 18-30 age bracket are not that enthusiastic about voting. So, what started as a small effort in 2024 has gone full-blown this year,” says Srikanth, as he prepares for the D-day.
So ‘Save the Date’ and get ready to vote.