We unexpectedly found ourselves thrust into the midst of the election campaign when a family member received a call on their mobile phone early in the week.
I happened to take the call. A lady greeted me with a soft, "Hello," and then, "Who will you vote for?" When asked to identify herself, she said, "I am from Party A."
When I suggested it was bad form for her to ask us that question, she replied, "Ok,” and hung up.
Later the same week, on a very hot afternoon at 3 pm, a man called the same mobile.
He introduced himself as a member of Party B and without preamble, asked us to vote for candidate X of his party.
These mobile phone campaigns are a new phenomenon in 2024.
I suppose we should be glad they aren't automated bot calls like the annoying real estate developer marketing calls.
But receiving calls from multiple parties within two days seemed like they had inadvertently planned to execute their plans simultaneously!
2019 was a pretty humdrum affair.
2024 turns out to be a year of running an active get-the-vote campaign.
It is also the year of the digital campaign.