Parties tech up for elections

In the run-up to the 2009 national elections, political parties are using Internet and mobile technology to help change their political fortunes.

“Technology is very important to the election plans for the DA (Democratic Alliance). With it, we can increase participation because it's an easy way to get people involved and it's also relatively cost-effective. Most people today already communicate through e-mail and their mobiles,” states Anthony Hazell, director of relationship management for the DA.

The DA was the first local party to incorporate the use of mobile technology in its election campaign. It has joined Pocit Elect for fundraising, and used SMSes in the last registration drive to encourage people to register to vote. “We will use it in the next registration also,” he notes.

Hazell says the DA wants to increase participation and interaction and will do this through mobile and Internet technology. “In mid-February, we will be launching our new Web site. This Web site has been created with New Media in mind - meaning there will be a focus on interaction and participation, through the use of social networking tools.”

The party also plans to encourage volunteerism by creating a social networking platform for volunteers - titled Contribute to Change - with multiple functionalities, to primarily serve as a recruitment platform for its volunteer programmes. Hazell adds that the DA also has a new mobisite and will continue to use mobile technology to encourage participation in its volunteer programmes.

Following the recent release of its 2009 election manifesto, the ANC has invited the public to make comments and suggestions on its manifesto online.

Jessie Duarte, ANC spokesperson, says: “This initiative aims to deepen popular involvement in setting the national agenda, and to expand opportunities for a meaningful exchange of ideas among South Africans.”

The public will now be able to make suggestions to the party on its 2009 election manifesto online, using the Web, mobile phone and popular social media platforms. Duarte notes the aim is to increase debate, saying: “We encourage people to use the online space to talk about the challenges they face, and to discuss and debate what they feel needs to be done. The organisation has put plans in place to address the challenges; now we are encouraging public dialogue on these plans.”

The party has not revealed any new initiatives using technology and will rather focus on extending existing campaigns. One of those is the My Vision My Future campaign - unveiled last year - which invited members of the public to make suggestions towards the ANC's 2009 election manifesto. Duarte says those comments and suggestions were incorporated in the drafting of the party's manifesto.

“There are millions of voters with access to information technology and a key part of our campaign is to reach those voters,” says Congress of the People (Cope) chief information officer JJ Thobane.

Thobane says extending the party's reach through technology is key, stating that of the 22 million voting populace, almost 90% of those have access to a cellphone. This means that they can be reached quickly and on more regularly, he says.

“You can try to reach people from door to door, but it really is not practical. With cellphones you can communicate with them wherever they are and on a more regular basis.”

This week, the new kid on the block recorded 13 000 members on social networking site, Facebook, and plans to capitalise on this. The site has now become more than just another way of reaching the public, notes Thobane. “Facebook is a branch. Instead of having to physically go and join a branch, someone can become a part of our Facebook community, join the party and interact with other members.”

The party also intends to upgrade its Web site to make it more accessible and interactive for the public, create a weekly electronic newsletter to update readers, create profiles on other networking sites for increased public interaction, and increase its use of cellphone technology in the future.

Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx, notes that local political parties still have a long way to go.

“Using technology in political campaigns is essentially a new idea in the world. The Obama campaign will be a benchmark for many for years to come, because that campaign managed to successfully integrate so many systems so well. But the question really is whether these political parties have the technology and strategy sussed.”

Strategy is key, says Goldstuck. And he feels the DA is the only political party that has announced its strategy.

Goldstuck notes that if political parties fail to acknowledge and correct any mistakes they make in their technology-based campaigns, they might never see the full benefits of their work.

“Only the DA shows signs of having a strategy around their technology use. But they made some mistakes the first time around and didn't admit to them. You need to add humility to experimentation because there will be a lot of mistakes made,” he says.