Vote for me, the Blue Lotus

Elections in India begin today, and the candidates from each party are campaigning in full force, marching with groups of supporters in the streets. Depending on how financially lubricated the candidate and/or party is, these marches can be basic flag waving affairs, or wild circuses with loud speakers and music, floats and lights.

Unlike in America where there is one official day for everyone to vote (of course there are early voting opportunities and absentee ballots, but everyone knows that on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, they can vote), here there is a four week time span and you vote depending on your region and constituency on a specific day. Because India mobilizes about 600 million people to vote, there's not enough machinery, security, etc. to handle it all at once. To give you an idea of the kind of manuveuring required, they had to move cricket season in order to have enough security available for the elections!

Many of these 600 million voters are illiterate. How do you make an impression on a voter who can't read? You use a symbol and a color. Take for example, the man pictured above. I don't know who he is, but in the flyer that his people handed me as their parade passed my rickshaw (captive audience--we were stuck in his traffic jam) he says to look for the blue lotus on the ballot. In addition to his symbol and color, his flyer was actually a 3-page booklet translated into 3 different languages: Hindi, Marathi, and English. Intense.

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