Vote Like A Boss Campaign is “absolutely neutral and non-partisan” -US Embassy official

Public Affairs Officer of the US Embassy in Georgetown, Bobby Adelson, has brushed aside accusations of the voter education campaign being a partisan one.

Vote Like A Boss Campaign is “absolutely neutral and non-partisan”  -US Embassy official

While other political parties and groups contesting the Local Government Elections have embraced the Vote Like A Boss Campaign, the opposition, People’s Progressive Party continues to attack the get out the vote initiative.

The PPP in a statement earlier this week, criticized the campaign as one that is supported by foreign interests and is geared towards driving votes to the APNU+AFC coalition.

But in all of its promotional material which includes television, radio, newspaper and online ads, the Vote Like A Boss campaign generally is targeting the young voting population and encouraging youths to go out and vote on Friday.

The campaign has brought together a number of local non-governmental organisations and is supported and funded by the U.S government through USAID.

Public Affairs Officer of the US Embassy in Georgetown, Bobby Adelson, has brushed aside accusations of the voter education campaign being a partisan one.

Appearing on the Jump Start morning radio show, Mr. Adelson said Vote Like A Boss is “absolutely neutral”.

“I have taken a good look at Vote Like  A Boss and again through USAID, we help fund this, and it is absolutely neutral and its non-partisan and its all about encouraging people to vote”, Adelson assured.

He added that “if you look at their material, its not saying vote for this person or vote for this issue. It is just saying especially to young people, to get out and vote. It has been more than 20 years and there is no excuse for voter apathy at this point and reality is to get out and vote, it actually really matters.”

Adelson said the US government will continue to support proactive efforts that encourage voting.

The Vote Like A Boss campaign was first launched in the run up to the May 2015 General Elections and was credited with playing a great part in encouraging young people to vote. The 2015 elections saw a record turn out of young and first time voters across the country.

The main political parties that contested the general elections all saw an increase in the number of votes they received, when compared to previous elections.

Although, political watchers and the parties themselves are expecting a low voter turn out for the Local Government Elections, the candidates and contesting parties and groups have been stepping up their efforts to ensure there is a big turnout at Friday’s elections.

 

 

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