Ulaanbaatar
Online voting for 2022 priority local development projects kicks off
Society
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. 2022 Local Development Fund (LDF) e-voting was officially launched on March 1, 2021 to continue until April 1, 2021 through SmartUB mobile application.
All citizens above 18 age residing in all 171 khoroos of nine districts of Ulaanbaatar city are able to vote and propose for LDF-funded development and infrastructure projects to be carried out in 2022.
And the projects with the most number of votes in the e-voting will be selected for implementation with the funding from LDF in the year of 2022.
The online voting mechanism is being implemented for the third time since 2018 with support from the Municipality of Ulaanbaatar and the Asia Foundation and funded by the Swiss Development Agency. Before e-voting system was introduced enabling every citizen to vote, each household was entitled to only one vote on a paper ballot within every May.
In 2020, the e-voting application SmartUB was employed by more than 347,000 citizens out a total of 806,000 eligible citizens to choose the local development projects in their living areas.
A greater part of the voters proposed to install more street surveillance cameras in public places, improve Ger district re-planning, build more children playgrounds and green areas and establish street lightning.
LFD was legalized through Budget Law in 2011 and is a citizen participatory tool for the financing of investment in a particular aimag the capital city, soum and districts. It enables local citizens to vote their proposals by participating in the decision-making process of investment projects and programs funded by the LDF.
The sources of the LDF are pooled as certain percentages of the state revenues including VAT, royalties, exploration and mining license incomes. The fund investments are commonly made in the area of local infrastructure, restoration and renovation of public properties, reservation of pastureland/water source and local business.
