Impact of Technology on National Election Campaign in India Credit: CNN An Nguyen

Facts About 2014 India General Election  Elections will take place from April 7, 2014 to May 12, 2014  Nine polling days spread across six weeks  They will elect members of the 16 th government of India  The results of the election will be declared on May 16 th, 2014 Credit: Associated Press Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Primary Candidates Rahul Gandhi Indian National Congress (INC) Incumbent Party Main Talking-Points: Universal healthcare Pensions for the aged and disabled Narendra Modi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Main Talking-Points: Improve economy and infrastructure Eliminate corruption Credit: Wikimedia Commons Other primary candidates include: Dr. Manmohan Singh (Current Prime Minister) of the INC and Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party

The Biggest Election in History  More than 814 million people are eligible to vote in 2014  Indian politicians are estimated to spend about $5 billion on campaigning:  Fundraising  Advertising  Outreach  Rallies  The 2014 general election will cost three times the amount spent in India’s previous national vote in 2009  To reach out to the masses of people in India, politicians have turned to technology and social media  Politicians realize the impact of the youth vote  More than 20 million are first-time voters between years

Technology Impact on the Election  Voters will visit 930,000 polling booths to cast their votes using 1.7 million electronic voting machines, or EVMs A polling official carries an EVM after collecting it from a distribution center in Kerala, India. Credit: Sivaram V./Reuters

Electronic Voting Machines  Compact and portable, affordable, and durable  Designed to withstand India’s diverse climates  Powered by two alkaline batteries  Easily used in rural areas of India where there is limited or no electricity  Each unit costs only 10,500 Indian rupees, or about $175  Symbol-oriented design  Voting will be more widely accessible in a country with 287 million illiterate adults  Multilingual electorate that speaks 22 officially-recognized languages and hundreds of unofficial languages

Using Social Media as Political Warfare to Capture Votes  200 million Internet users in India  This demographic makes for the highest Twitter and Facebook usage in the world, outside of the United States  24 million voters aged 18 to 19 will be polling for the first time in an election in which social media and internet- based campaigning are critical outreach strategies  Twitter, Facebook, Google Hangouts, and mobile crowd sourcing provide social and internet-based campaigning battlegrounds  Social Media  More Exposure  More Votes!

Rajul Gandhi Facebook: 355,000 Likes

Narendra Modi Facebook: 13 Million Likes Million Fans

Credit: Simplify360 “The two biggest names – Modi and Gandhi – are not the most talked about on social media…” (Washington Post) Arvind Kejriwal is dominating social media because his party has capture the attention of young voters familiar with online platforms. The party’s anti-corruption views resonate with the young, tech-savvy, and urban populations.