Presented By Vikas Singh Narwal (I.A.S.) District Election Officer, Nimach (M.P.)

1. 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.)

2. NIMACH DISTRICT

3. General Information: • No. of Constituencies - 03 • Total Population - 847572 • Total Electors - 536388 • EP Ratio - 63.28 • Gender Ratio - 936 • PER & EPIC Coverage - 100% • Polling Stations - 644+1 • Critical Polling Stations - 67

4. 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. ”

5. The Green Carpet Initiative

6. Background: • ECI’s focus on SVEEP (Systematic Voter Education & Electoral Participation) • Low Voter Turnout History in Nimach • Ethical Voting Concerns • The Dignity Challenge

7. 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. ”

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. Model Polling Stations

12. Model Polling Stations

13. Model Polling Stations

14. Model Polling Stations

15. 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

16. Queue Less Management

17. Queue Less Management

18. Queue Less Management

19. Queue Less Management

20. 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

21. 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

22. SVEEP Activities

23. SVEEP Activities

24. SVEEP Activities

25. SVEEP Activities

26. SVEEP Activities

27. 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

28. 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

29. Cost Effective Solutions: • Use of token system • Rational use of government buildings & infrastructure • Cost effective Webcasting & Video Conferencing • Arranging local logistics

30. Plan of an Ideal Polling Station : Main Polling Station Waiting Area VC P1 P2 P3 PO T2 T1 Exit DW Entry Toilet (Gents) Toilet (Ladies)

31. Outcome: • 19.47 % increase in voter turnout over 2009 General Elections

32. Outcome: • 20.55 % increase in voter turnout in Model Polling Stations over 2009 Elections

33. Outcome: • Uniform effect on all Assembly Constituencies

34. Outcome: • Uniform effect on most of the Polling Stations

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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

38. 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.”

39. Thank You “May God Bless Us All”