Audio visual applications are widely used by election management bodies (EMBs) to reach voters.
Common audio visual applications include radio and television programs, publications using audio tapes, video tapes, compact disks (CDs) and digital video disks (DVDs), cinema, lasers/holograms and multimedia activities.
Preparing audio video material for public distribution is a difficult task. Skilled, professional advertising companies, audio-visual companies and/or broadcasters are often the best choice for preparing audio visual material for broadcasting or distribution. While these services may be expensive, the difference in quality between professional and amateur audio visual material can make a big difference in the effectiveness of the material.
When using audio visual technology to reach voters, it is advisable to use a mix of different methods. No one audio visual technology can be considered the only effective media to be used and there is a need to maximise the impact of an EMB's information campaign.
Television and radio are traditionally the most used and most effective audio visual technologies for informing voters. The relative weight given to television and radio broadcasting depends on the local patterns of use of these media. In some countries, television has a greater impact than radio in reaching audiences. In other countries, radio has a greater reach. Advertising agencies can advise on the market reach of the various broadcasting alternatives available, so that an EMB can judge where best to spend its resources.
Radio
Public broadcast radio is extensively used in many countries for electoral advertising. It is relatively inexpensive and it has the potential to reach a wide audience. Radio advertising is particularly useful for audiences who have difficulty with printed material for literacy or disability reasons.
Public radio is also particularly effective in culturally diverse countries where several different languages may be spoken. Alternative radio stations are also a way to offer a wide range of broadcasts in various languages that can appeal to people from a variety of cultures. Radio is also increasingly being broadcast on the Internet, expanding its reach around the world for those with access to the Internet.
The wide range and reach of public radio broadcasting makes it a very important tool for communicating electoral matters.
Television
Publicly broadcast television is widely used by many electoral authorities for electoral advertising. Like radio, it has the potential to reach a wide audience and is useful for audiences who have difficulty with printed material for literacy or disability reasons. It also has the added benefit of using images as well as sound, making it a very powerful medium. However, television advertising tends to be expensive.
Audio tapes/compact disks
Recordings of electoral material on audio tapes and/or compact disks (CDs) are a relatively inexpensive way of reaching voters who have special needs or who do not have access to public broadcast radio or television. Tape and CD players are relatively cheap and widely available in many societies.
Material recorded on tapes and CDs could simply be copies of material designed for broadcast on radio. However, unlike radio which is generally restricted to short messages of a minute or two maximum, tapes and CDs can include additional information for little extra expense.
Material recorded on tape and CD can also be tailored to special audiences, in a way that would not be practicable for radio broadcasting. For example, readings of detailed electoral information contained in printed material can be recorded on tape and CD for voters who are unable to read the printed material for disability or literacy reasons.
Video tape
Electoral material recorded on video tape has similar virtues to material recorded on audio tape or CD but with the added advantage of providing visual information. This means electoral messages can be conveyed using images as well as sound. Analysis of the effectiveness of communication methods indicates that many people learn better by seeing information compared with only hearing it, making video recordings a powerful learning tool.
Video recordings can include the same material used for broadcast television, but, as with radio versus tape and CD recordings, the lower price of video production and distribution means that much more information can be included on a video.
Video is particularly useful in countries with poor television facilities, where videos tend to be more widely accessible. The challenge for EMBs in these situations is to distribute videos effectively so that target audiences are reached.
Video is also a very useful tool for electoral education taking place in schools and other community groups. Videos can be used in electoral education facilities, if they exist, or for electoral education sessions held in schools, community centres and the like, either presented by EMB staff or by local teachers.
Digital video disk
DVD technology is relatively new, and the reach of people with DVD players at the beginning of the 21st century is still relatively limited compared to people with access to audio tape, CD, and video players.
DVD recordings can combine the virtues of audio, video and multimedia presentations in a portable format similar to CD recordings.
Cinema
Cinemas can be used for communicating electoral information to voters in a similar fashion to television advertising. The effectiveness of cinema advertising compared to television depends on the local audience reach of cinema compared to alternative media.
Lasers/holograms
Lasers and holograms are comparatively specialised uses of technology for communicating electoral information. Lasers and holograms can be used for dramatic effect in presentations and displays in electoral education facilities. For example, lasers and holograms can be used as part of pre-recorded multimedia presentations for school groups. In Canberra, Australia, lasers and holograms are used by the Australian Electoral Commission at its electoral education centre to give the appearance of live miniature presenters talking and interacting with props in presentations for school groups.
Multimedia
Multimedia material can be distributed on CD-ROM, DVD and the Internet to give a more interactive, non-linear form of information presentation compared to radio, recorded audio, television or video material. Multimedia material, which generally has to be run on a computer equipped with speakers, combines audio, still images and moving video images with the flexibility of a computerised presentation to present users with an informative, entertaining medium.
Multimedia material can give the user the option of viewing material in an order chosen by the viewer, rather than a specified linear order, as is the case with television or video material.
Multimedia material is well suited to convey complex material and is particularly useful for school students’ electoral education. However, it is relatively expensive to produce, and an EMB needs to decide whether the expected return on using such material is worth the cost.
