ECI focus on improving voter turnouts in 266 parliamentary constituencies

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is planning targeted intervention to increase voting in 266 parliamentary constituencies from nine States and Union Territories which have had extremely low turnouts.

The States and Union Territories had a voter turnout lower than the national average of 67.40% in the 2019 general election. Out of the total 50 identified rural parliamentary constituencies, 40 are from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In a day-long “Conference on Low Voter Turnout” held on April 5 with Municipal Commissioners from major cities and select District Election Officers (DEOs) from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, it was stressed that a “one size fits all” approach has not worked and different strategies have to be worked out for different areas, the poll body said in a statement.

The conference was chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.

While addressing the Municipal Commissioners and DEOs, Mr. Rajiv Kumar said that a total of 266 constituencies with low voter turnout have been identified and asked all Municipal Commissioners, DEOs, and State Chief Electoral Officers concerned to find ways to reach out to voters in a targeted manner.

The CEC directed them to prepare a booth-wise action plan for enhanced participation and behaviour change. He asked the officials to prepare different strategies for urban and rural areas and plan interventions accordingly for different target audiences.

Urban-specific hurdles to increased voter turnout were identified and targeted city specific interventions were planned. The officers were encouraged to develop tailored, region-specific outreach programmes that resonate with the unique needs and demographics of their constituencies.