Election Commission ad campaign to focus on mandatory and ethical voting

NEW DELHI: At a time when all political parties are gearing up for the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of the state is preparing for an awareness campaign for voters.

The CEC’s office recently reached out to different advertising agencies giving them a template of the advertisement campaign it would soon be launching in the state. Besides reinforcing the need for mandatory voting, the CEC has asked the advertising agencies to focus their content on “ethical voting.”

The directive sent out to advertising agencies, accessed by ET said “most of political parties are responsible for making elections a dirty game” and “they (political parties) offer money, liquor, household goods etc to voters to get their votes. Also, they mislead or confuse voters. As a result, many voters misuse their votes in electing wrong candidate and further it hampers (sic) in formation of a good government”.

Another section under the title “Must vote” reads “Every vote counts. Voting is fundamental right of every citizen. All electorates must cast their vote and be a proud contributor to the success of the spirit of democracy and create a powerful and responsible government.”

The Commission’s office wants the campaign to be designed with creative content to fulfill the objective of informing and appealing to voters so they do not fall prey to any temptation and sell their vote.

A few advertising agencies have been empanelled to prepare the campaign for the Commission. Besides creating content for campaigns to be run on radio, television and print it will also run on social media.

“The campaign will centre on dissuading voters from selling their votes and encouraging them to cast their votes to form a good government” said a senior official privy to the development.