The Positive Impact Big Data Analysis can have on Elections
Elections have the potential to change destinies of nations and the very direction in which the countries are progressing. Political Parties from across the globe have been leveraging AI-driven Big Data tools and Data Analytics Solutions for quite some time now to influence the outcome of elections.
The first elections to leverage big data analytics tools was perhaps witnessed in the US Presidential elections of 2012. A total of 7 billion USD was spent by the Obama led Republican Party who eventually won, and a host of other parties combined to strategize and device their political campaigns. The Modi led BJP government in India soon picked up on Obama’s successful campaign strategies using Data Analytics to carve out a landslide victory back in 2014. The triumph back in 2014 was also followed up by an even more significant victory five years later in 2019, all thanks to statistical analytical techniques to target the voter base and a surgical approach towards political campaigning.
A Lever to make the entire world vote
Leveraging big data tools enables political leaders to convey his/ her electoral messages in the ways, occasions, and in the most appropriate places to reach each elector. Data mining techniques makes it possible to become aware of the propensity to vote of individuals, towards which a meticulous microtargeting campaign can also be directed.
The most striking case of such microtargeting campaigns was seen in the US Presidential elections of 2016. Here, the Democratic Party led by Donald Trump approached Cambridge Analytica – a British Consulting Firm having expertise in understanding human behavioral patterns through big data collection and analysis. “We find your voters and put them into action,” reads the slogan on the Cambridge Analytica website.
In many ways, leveraging big data analysis for political rallies, campaigns, conducting online campaigns at social media sites has also enabled politicians to reach a wider voter base. And most importantly appeal to the voters who have not voted in the past or those who believe that their vote doesn’t make a lot of difference.
In addition to that, Big data analytics also enables political leaders to reach out for votes across a diverse set of channels such as social media sites which were otherwise not possible via the traditional methods of political campaigns.
The future role of Data Analytics in elections
The competition to get voters through the help of technology has many dark aspects to it, such as breach of privacy, and a host of other ethical issues associated with it. However, with over a billion urban, educated and tech-friendly youths coming to age across the globe – the use of predictive analytical tools to influence the voter base is also likely to rise in the foreseeable future.
Using predictive big data analysis tools is not just about winning the elections by outsmarting one’s political rivals, but it is/ should be more about building strategies based on the public sentiments to bring in real change and change society for good.
