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 Total Electors EP Ratio Gender Ratio PER & EPIC Coverage - 100% Polling Stations 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

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

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

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 StationWaiting Area PO ExitEntry P3P2P1 VC T1 T2 Toilet (Gents) Toilet (Ladies) DW

Outcome: % increase in voter turnout over 2009 General Elections

Outcome: % 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”