Election Commission of India and Facebook team up for nationwide voter registration campaign

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has partnered with Facebook to launch a nationwide voter registration reminder. From 1 to 4 July, a voter registration reminder will be sent to people who are eligible to vote in India, on Facebook. The reminder will appear in 13 languages which will include, English, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, Assamese, Marathi and Oriya. In a press release by Facebook , Chief Election Commissioner, ECI, Dr. Nasim Zaidi, said, “I am pleased to announce that the Election Commission of India is going to launch a ‘Special Drive to enrol left out electors, with a particular focus on first time electors. This is a step towards fulfillment of the motto of ECI that ‘NO VOTER TO BE LEFT BEHIND’.” For the nationwide voter registration campaign, A ‘Register Now’ button would be provided. By clicking on it, the eligible voters would be directed to the National Voters’ Services Portal (NVSP) for registration. **During state elections** of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab, and Manipur, in 2017, Facebook had added a ‘polling day reminder’ option which took people to the Election Commission’s website. “People use Facebook to learn, talk and get involved with issues that matter to them. We want to build products that support this type of civic engagement-on Election Day and everyday.We believe that democracies are stronger when more people are engaged, that’s why we are encouraging everyone who is eligible to register to vote and connecting them with resources,” said Ankhi Das, Public Policy Director for India, South and Central Asia.