Count to 5! Campaign
Digital Development (DD) is a nonpartisan organization that seeks to increase voter turn out
among young voters during the October 2008 presidential election in Azerbaijan. The organization
will concentrate its efforts on Kurdemir and Imishli regions of the country as well as the capital
city and projects to contact approximately 20,000 voters in the two regions as well as reach nearly
100,000 through text messaging in the rest of the country. The organization will use text messaging
and distribute election-related materials and information as a means of reaching and engaging potential voters.
The organization plans to conduct a post-election assessment of the project by contacting the volunteers
who took part in the campaign.
Project Description
In partnership with local partner NGOs in Imishli and Kurdemir regions, the Count to 5! Campaign will be
implemented through text messaging, distribution of election-related materials as well as community meetings.
The organization targets to reach 20,000 voters in Kurdemir and Imishli and 100,000 more through text
messaging in Baku and throughout Azerbaijan.
Non-partisan recruited volunteers will sign a Pledge Card stating that they will contact five potential
voters via text messaging. The volunteers will make sure that these voters know where their polling station is.
The organization will store the phone numbers in the database and send them text messages every
two weeks calling to vote and on the Election Day to remind once again the voters’ rights.
Using FrontlineSMS program and Azercell Website (10 free text messages daily)
Digital Development will send the messages to multiple people at once. DD will also produce non-partisan
flyers and posters containing information about the project, call out to vote and encourage people to find
their precincts and vote on the Election Day. These posters will be distributed through the country.
All forms and information will be posted on the Digital Development’s website making it easy for anybody
in Azerbaijan to sign up for a Pledge Card. After the election the volunteers will get in touch with their
five contacts to see the outcome of their effort. DD hopes that this will also decrease the chance of election
falsification and increase transparency.