Twitter announces initiatives ahead of Assembly elections

New Delhi: Twitter on Thursday announced a series of initiatives to empower citizens with the right knowledge before they cast their votes in the upcoming Assembly elections in five states.

Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will be held between February 10 and March 7 in seven phases with the counting of votes on March 10. In all, elections will be held for 690 assembly seats, and 18.3 crore people, including 8.5 crore women, will be eligible to cast their votes in the five states.

“Elections are when people come to Twitter to find credible information about voting, to learn about candidates and their manifestos, and to engage in healthy civic debate and conversation. As a service for public conversation, Twitter is committed to enabling people to make informed decisions when exercising their civic rights,” Twitter said in a statement.

Twitter’s initiatives, powered by an Open Internet, are directed towards not just ensuring a high voter turnout but also aiding in ensuring voters are involved, engaged and informed throughout the election cycle, it added.

As part of the initiatives, Twitter will launch a customised emoji that will further be supported with a notification and reminder mechanism, which will allow people to voluntarily sign-up for reminders on the day voting starts.

Further, a voter education quiz will engage people in Q&As, equipping them with necessary facts about the polls, the statement said.