Every ‘safe vote’ matters

• 6% say they will not vote 
• 29% not aware of the health/safety protocols

A General Election is one of the paramount national events of any country. The Rotaract Club of Law Faculty, Colombo University has launched a novel project branded ‘Viral Vote’ to share the concept of ‘Safe Voting’ in the up and coming General Elections of Sri Lanka scheduled for 5 August. 

Dulmini Gamage the President of Rotaract Club, Law Faculty Colombo University said, “We conducted an online research study on a sample of 450 people which revealed that 28.9% of respondents do not know the health and safety guidelines to be maintained while voting, which we felt was our duty to address. Given that we are from the Faculty of Law we are also driving this concept ‘Cast your vote’.”

“Sri Lanka is at such a juncture, she is also battling against a global pandemic that has affected 17 million and costed almost 0.7 million lives. Sri Lanka with a strong performance has only 2,800 reported cases and 11 deaths at a recovery rate of above 75% which is a strong performance,” said the District Rotaract Representative for Sri Lanka Kasun Segera. “Let me congratulate the Rotaract Club of Law Faculty, University of Colombo for this unique project.”

“Sri Lanka faces two difficult situations during this upcoming election. One is the discouragement among the citizens to exercise their right to vote, as they are agitated about the health risks posed by COVID-19. On the other hand, if the citizens are ignorant of the health and safety guidelines imposed by the authorities while voting, Sri Lanka would face the risk of spreading the virus again. Hence the project ‘Stop the Spread’ that was launched by Rotary District 3220,” said the Project Director Dr. Rohantha Athukorala. 

The Rotaract Club of Faculty of Law, University of Colombo having identified the challenging situation initiated the project ‘Viral Vote’ to educate the general public about these concerns. The survey conducted by the Rotaract Club of Faculty of Law revealed that a majority – 48.6% have decided to vote in the upcoming election while 16% have decided not to cast their votes. 35.4% of the total has not yet decided to exercise their right. Apart from that, 71.1% of the responses revealed that the majority is aware of the health and safety guidelines imposed by the authorities to stop the spread of COVID-19, but alarmingly, the rest of 28.9% are not aware of these guidelines.

“The dynamic Rotaract Club of Faculty of Law launched a PR campaign and a series of webinars to convey a few messages to the public. First and foremost, this project focused on delivering health and safety guidelines that the public should be aware of to stop the spread of COVID-19. The guidelines about the safety practices that citizens have to follow at election campaigns, at the polling booth while voting and while celebrating the results of the election, are being circulated periodically. Secondly, we encourage people to cast their votes in the upcoming election as the right to vote comes with many legal implications,” said the defiant Dulmini Gamage. A common misconception that majority of the citizens have is that their single vote will not make a difference in the country. But a single vote exercised with a greater sense, combined with thousands of other such votes, will make a difference in the governance of a country.

Project Viral Vote will be educating the general public about the aforementioned aspects through an extensive PR campaign carried through different social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. The campaign circulates informative posts with health and safety guidelines as well as the legal implications of the right to vote. Also, a series of cartoon illustrations is published, encircling a character named ‘Sumane’ which displays the ‘election adventures’ of him demonstrating the importance of voting and how to follow the health guidelines while voting. 

The strong PR campaign is conducted in trilingual, to reach the targeted voter base also includes two webinars that will be feature Chathurika Akuruoda, lecturer of Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo and Sachinda Dulanjana, Former speaker of youth parliament and a former official delegate to the United Nations, in Sinhala and English languages respectively, to discuss the legal responsibility of exercising one’s vote.

A vote which is cast rationally, and most importantly, following all the health and safety guidelines will directly affect this country’s democracy while aiding to stop the spread of the virus said President Dulmini Gamage. The project Viral Vote by Rotaract Club of Faculty of Law, University of Colombo believes that ‘Every Safe Vote Matters’ and encourages the general public of Sri Lanka to vote in the upcoming General Election while taking maximum precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19.