Using Digitalization to Enhance Voter Participation in Elections

Voter suppression has destroyed every single election across the globe. This way key stakeholders in any democracy are disenfranchised by suppressors to manipulate election results.

Just like any other avenue, technology can also help end voter suppression.

Digitalization and Democratic Facade:

The rise of digitalization has created unparalleled awareness in the erstwhile oppressed societies.

Authoritative countries have been given an opportunity to mend their relations with western countries by adapting to the American democracy model of universal voting and human rights.

Owing to its monopoly on international political setup, the United States gives favorable treatment to countries adapting to the western-style democracy.

This gave birth to the universal voting concept in countries where only a specific segment of the population could vote.

The erstwhile disenfranchised people are now part of the popular discourse, and the credit goes to the rising digitalization.

When a digital election drive is launched in any developed democracy, people across the globe follow it due to their access to the internet.

This way, even if the campaign fails in a targeted country, it impresses the like-minded people living thousands of miles away.

For instance, New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote in 1893. But it was only a matter of time before the concept penetrated across the globe, resulting in women’s suffrage movements in every corner of the world.

This way, women worldwide were inspired by New Zealand’s model, which encouraged them to get their voting rights.

Had the internet been widespread back then, it could have helped other countries to absorb values faster than it did, ultimately increasing the access to vote in different countries.

When politically oppressed countries embrace the western democratic model, a phenomenon called democratic façade, it opens many doors for residents there to participate in the decision-making setups. All of this becomes possible just because of digitalization.

Digitalization to Tackle Voter Apathy and Curb Voter Suppression

Politicians can also help their targeted audience reach the polling station on election day, thus defying all the voter suppression laws.

Voter apathy is one of the biggest problems being faced by any political candidate seeking public office.

A big chunk of people in every country is so averse to voting that they believe that their vote does not make a difference. This is predominantly the biggest reason for low voter turnouts, even in the most developed democracies. While lowering the voting age is one of the ways to address this crisis, however, it has its own cons as well.

This brings us to the importance of Digital Go to Vote campaigns, where voters are being pursued to cast their ballot on election day.

This online effort to bring people out of their homes is promising to drive results to a great extent. While it is true that only compulsory voting can pull all people to the polling station, however, these campaigns, introduced with the penetration of the internet, are better than doing nothing.

This is the biggest win of digital political marketing, as even if politicians do not launch an exclusive go to vote campaign, they end up convincing a fair number of voters to come to the polls, hence neutralizing the voter suppression efforts.

Obviously, this was not possible without rampant digitalization.

Digital Candidate Marketing to Defy Voter Suppression

A significant amount of the general public also does not vote just for the fact because they perceive all the politicians “equal.”

They believe that having any one of them would make a slight difference, as long as the bureaucratic system remains intact.

This is certainly the success of the voter suppression advocates, whose primary aim is to undermine the turnout.

However, reputation management campaigns are the best way to influence these types of thinkers.

When politicians mend their reputation online and increase their outreach, they can influence these people, ultimately encouraging them to cast their votes.

 This way digital reputation management services can combat voter suppression.

Final Thoughts

Digital political marketing is also one of the critical ways to defy voter suppression in the longer run. 

If implemented correctly, it can initiate a social debate within the society, thus initiating public protests.

This is often the beginning of long-term voting rights efforts, as it stops the autocratic elite from making voter suppression laws.

Similarly, it also encourages the relevant stakeholders to raise their voice for digital voting efforts, as manual voting, especially in non-developed countries, remains the biggest curse in the path of democracy.

Only when mail-in voting is introduced in each and every country, free and fair elections would be guaranteed, which would also lessen the burden on election officials.

When a proper digital marketing strategy is implemented to raise awareness, more and more people would be enfranchised in making the decisions of public interests.