SHILLONG: The State Election Department is going all out to ensure participation of the youth in the electoral process.
After holding road shows and flash mobs, the department is now targeting cafes, which are favourite hangouts of youngsters.
The department said the concept of holding programmes at cafes has been conceived because these are popular places for rendezvous.
According to Kharkongor, the Election Commission will connect to the youths through music, arts and social media.
The department is also using technology effectively to address the issue of urban voter apathy.
Speaking to media persons, Chief Electoral Officer Frederick R Kharkongor said an app will be rolled out on the date of election that will give voters updates on queue status in their respective polling booths.
The department believes this application will help mitigate the problem of low voting percentage in urban constituencies.
For differently abled voters, the election department will design a sign language app that will have 114 electoral terms accompanied by short video clip. Election officials who have been trained in using the app will be able to understand sign language.
The Meghalaya Deaf Association is helping the Election Department
in developing the application.
In addition, volunteers from NCC and other organisations will also be deployed to assist and facilitate the disabled voters in polling stations.
Kharkongor informed that the C-Vigil app, which was recently launched, is already working well and many people have come forward and uploaded various instances of violation of the model code of conduct and necessary action was taken.