Publication | Survey

Survey on the Effectiveness of the VOICE+ Voter Education Project in the DRC

IFES conducted a survey of voting-age adults in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through face-to-face interviews in the fall of 2012. The survey was designed to evaluate civic and voter education activities implemented in Kinshasa, Bas Congo, Nord Kivu and Province Orientale, as part of the IFES Voter Opinion and Involvement through Civic Education Plus (VOICE+) Project.

The survey collected data to evaluate the effectiveness of its voter education activities that aim to inform citizens about key concepts on elections. The main activities evaluated in this survey are the boîte à images (image box) civic education sessions; a civic and voter education toolkit using pictures and guided discussion; and a media campaign using radio and TV spots to help citizens better understand the subject.

Survey results indicate that attendance of boîtes à images civic and voter education sessions is associated with higher knowledge levels of electoral issues among respondents. Results also show that respondents who have attended these sessions and were exposed to informational messages on elections through the media report the highest knowledge levels and highest shares of “very good” scores. These findings highlight the need to use both image-based civic and voter education materials in face-to face settings as well as media-driven civic and voter education formats to maximize the impact and retention of electoral knowledge.