Companies launch voter initiatives for Lok Sabha Election 2024

Additionally, companies are granting employees time off to vote, recognizing that conflicting work schedules can often serve as a barrier to participation.

With the polls to elect the next Lok Sabha now under way, there has been a surge of initiatives by companies and institutions across the board to get employees to fulfil an important right and duty: exercise their franchise.

The 2024 general election will be in seven phases from April 19 to June 1 to elect 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha. The counting of votes will be on June 4.

Polling for the 2024 election began on Friday morning, with around 16.86 crore voters across 102 constituencies being eligible to exercise their franchise in the first phase.

Among the strategies companies are implementing to ensure greater participation in the world's largest such exercise are voter registration drives, where employees are provided with information and assistance to get their names included in the electoral rolls. A more common and widely adopted step is to grant time off to vote, recognising that conflicting work schedules can often serve as a barrier to participation.

At consulting firm Core Integra, all the phase-wise election dates are available at a click on ‘Ctrl F’, its flagship platform with open access to more than 10,000 employees. This allows for appropriate planning of the work schedule and meetings so as to make time to go down to the nearest voting booth.

“Employees are mandated to vote and ensure that their family members are voting. We have a good number of youngsters fresh on the job, we have been checking since the last few months if they are registered voters. If not, we have encouraged them to register to be able to vote for the first time,” Mahesh Krishnamoorthy, managing director of Core Integra, told Moneycontrol.

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For out-of-station employees, the company has ensured they have work-from-home facility for the day before and after the  election date in their home location.

On its part, 315Work Avenue, a coworking firm, said it will declare a paid holiday for all employees on polling day, and will also allow employees to travel to cities where they are enrolled as voters and work remotely.

Meanwhile, accommodation provider University Living is providing voter education material and resources that can empower employees with information about registration deadlines, polling locations, absentee ballots and candidates’ platforms. This includes organising webinars and guest speakers, and creating internal guides.

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Going a step further, the company is organising a ‘Voting Challenge’, where people post pictures of their fingers with the indelible ink marking denoting that they had cast their vote, with the first 10 employees winning gift hampers.

“Openly communicating the company’s support for voting and the importance of civic engagement can create a culture where employees feel encouraged to participate,” said Mayank Maheshwari, co-founder and chief operating officer, University Living.

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At Sharda University, international students will be welcoming the voters during the day.

“The government asked that Sharda University create a model voting booth on campus, since Knowledge Park is located in a higher education area, the majority of voters will be young people who will be casting their first ballots. The idea is to make this initiative more creative,” said Ajit Kumar, director of Sharda University.

Hence, a model booth equipped with all necessities including childcare services for women voting with young children has been built. In order to encourage young students to vote, Sharda University is also getting in touch with other universities in Knowledge Park., an enclave in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida that houses several educational institutions. They also use various activities, such as creating posters and slogans, to promote Vote Day on their social media platforms in an effort to get students and young people to cast their ballot.

“Because Sharda Hospital is located close to the campus, we will also be making particular preparations for senior citizens, such as giving them wheelchairs. The hospital's staff will offer assistance,” Kumar added.

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