The latest election buzz is a bus, ‘Vote Express’, that will go to areas that recorded low voter turnout in the last two elections — the 2009 Parliamentary and 2011 Assembly — to improve the voting percentage.
Election Observer, Coimbatore, R.M. Srivastava flagged off the bus in the presence of Collector and Returning Officer Archana Patnaik at the Coimbatore Collectorate on Tuesday. According to sources, the district election machinery in association with Rathinam Group of Institutions had launched the Vote Express, which will have volunteers to do a variety of events to attract the attention of voters. There would be flash mobs, street plays, signature campaigns and much more. There would also be a mobile registration process campaign — voters could dial a toll-free number (040-71011511) for election related messages and information.
There would be celebrity messages delivered to the people who called the toll-free number as well.
ADVERTISEMENT
The bus had Wi-Fi facility, GPRS (global packet radio service) and other facilities.
People could also call the toll-free number to have the awareness campaign conducted in their locality as well. Very soon, there would be a EVM lookalike for people to familiarise themselves with the voting process.