Initiative: Mahavoter campaign
Organization: Litmus Test Project
Country: India
Facebook: @LitmusTestProject
Twitter: @LTP_India
Website: www.litmustestproject.com
MahaVoter is an initiative spearheaded by the Litmus Test Project (LTP) in collaboration with various social media platforms and youth-led creative groups. MahaVoter was launched ahead of the 2017 local body elections to reach out to youth with a dedicated awareness campaign on ‘why’ and ‘how’ to vote.
The need for such an initiative was realised after abyssal voter turnouts for consecutive elections was witnessed for the local body elections in Mumbai. Further, mainstream news channels and newspapers, too, could focus very little on local needs since prime time debates and front page headlines would be focused on national news.
Through its website, chat bots, on-ground activities and hastags VoteKarMaharashtra and GetInkedMumbai, MahaVoters was able to engage millions of youth on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp, and redirect them to relevant information about voting rights and guidelines. Strategic partnership with Facebook and Twitter turned out to be game changers for them and the 2017 local body elections saw 55 per cent turnout, the highest in 70 years and 12 per cent higher than last time.
Initiative: National Multimedia Initiative for Ending Child Marriage
