“Don’t sleep or you will be outvoted.”

With these words, the democratic opposition party appealed to citizens to vote in the June 1989 election in Poland, the first semi-free elections in 40 years. The landslide results saw the Solidarity Party defeat the Communist Polish United Workers Party – which previously had held a monopoly on power – ultimately changing the course of history in Europe.

In 2023, ahead of the parliamentary elections, the Polish City of Gdansk, birthplace of the Solidarity movement, reinvoked the historic phrase and its iconic ‘solidarity font’ for the digital age.

“The reality of 2020 has increased frustration and problems in voters’ lives,” said Dominika Dowgiert, who works in the City of Gdansk’s communications department. “Over the years we have observed the decrease of social involvement in Poland. Social, health and economic crises effectively distracted people from the elections.”

The ‘don’t sleep’ campaign aimed to overcome this. Gdansk set a goal to beat the election turnout of 1989, when 62.7% of voters cast their ballot. It also aimed to raise awareness that every vote counts and to engage young people in the democratic process.

The effort succeeded in achieving this and more. The approach has been recognised internationally and is shortlisted in the Eurocities Awards, which will be held during the annual conference in Cluj Napoca in May.

Stronger together

Beginning its campaign in April 2023, ahead of the October parliamentary elections, the city created a dedicated website providing key facts on the electoral process and downloadable materials such as stickers and posters. It also organised in-person events and even a beach run to the polls.

It was on social media that the campaign really took off in Gdansk and beyond, and this was thanks to partnerships with organisations like the non-profit Gdansk Foundation which regularly collaborates with the city.

“We thought that the citizens of Gdansk and the citizens of Poland had to know that this [2023] election in Poland was really important,” said Dobrawa Morzyńska, Vice President of the Gdansk Foundation.

There were tensions in Poland around issues such as judiciary independence, freedom of the press and rights for minorities, LGBTQ+ people and women, as well as debates around issues such as tax, benefits and inequality.

“We did not tell people who they should vote for – we are a non-profit organisation so we cannot do that, and in the foundation we also have many different people with many different points of view. But we wanted to mobilise people just to vote,” said Morzyńska.

Getting young people to vote was a key focus – particularly as it was the first election when people born after Poland became a member of the European Union in 2004 were eligible to vote.

Agata Biały, a Coordinator at the Gdansk Foundation, said: “We especially wanted to mobilise these young people and women who were not active in voting, and show them that they are one person, but if we pull together one by one, we have a whole group that could really make a change. We are stronger together.”

Biały says that as the Gdansk Foundation is a “youngish organisation” they tapped into staff’s knowledge and ideas to design the promotion campaign. They engaged over 100 influencers, TikTokers, YouTubers and celebrities, including actors Maciej Zakościelny and Mateusz Janicki and presenter and journalist Małgorzata Rozenek – they were not paid but received a package of promotional materials such as campaign-branded T-shirts, coffee, and postcards, etc.

Materials were also sent to decision-makers and local leaders to raise their awareness and spread the word.

The Gdansk Foundation stresses that they were careful not to hand out unsustainable single-use nick-nacks but instead chose items that people could drink, re-use or wear.

Sounding the alarm

An early challenge was that it was difficult to get influencers on board – “the mood in Poland about politics wasn’t good,” said Biały. “People felt beaten, and they were focused on the problems in their own lives.”

But gradually as the team proved their authenticity and the campaign began to gain traction, this turned around and celebrities were soon getting in touch to see how they could get involved. And then things really snowballed.

Social media and the website reached an audience of 40 million users – as verified by the Institute of Media Monitoring – and there were 335,000 interactions on social media, as well as 40,000 visits to the website and 5,000 downloads of promotion materials. Soon, people began wanting to buy the merchandise themselves and the team raced to keep up with the pace of orders.

“The challenge then became that we just didn’t know how big this would be,” says Morzyńska. Still, this was a good problem to have.

As the campaign gathered pace, it also spread to more Polish cities beyond Gdansk. The three-metre-tall alarm clock that was created to remind people that the clock was ticking and the countdown to voting was on visited nine Polish cities and covered over 3,000 km in the period leading up to election day on 15 October 2023. People were encouraged to visit the website or take a picture of the clock and post it using the campaign’s #niespijbocieprzegłosuja hashtag [Don’t sleep or you will be outvoted].

As well as being supported by the Gdansk Foundation, local municipalities were also inspired to do their own events and promotions. Rzeszow branded local monuments and Katowice painted a mural in an underground passage, for example. The latter city also held an event featuring a comedy sketch about waking up in time for elections – starring the mayor.

“It was wonderful to see people going out of their comfort zone to take part in this fun campaign,” said Dowgiert. “Local governments can learn from this that creativity is beneficial and people like to relate to others who are having fun.”

Dowgiert also highlights that the in-person events and promotions, such as posters on buses and bus shelters, were as important as the online ones, particularly in order to reach older residents.

“It is crucial for the local government to fight misinformation, especially when it comes to communicating with the senior citizens, who are often vulnerable to being misled,” she said.

When voting day came around, the team’s hard work paid off. Costing just €56,000 (€26,000 from the city and €30,000 from the Gdansk Foundation), the partners believe the campaign delivered an excellent return on investment. There was a huge 81.5% election turnout in Gdansk and 74.38 % in Poland – including 69% of under-30s, up from 46% in the previous elections in 2019. In fact, more people under 29 voted than people over 60.

The governing Law and Justice party and its allies lost their majority in the October elections after being in office since 2015 and were replaced by an opposition coalition.

“Don’t sleep, or you will be outvoted – this was a campaign to increase voter turnout, which we launched in Gdansk on the 34th anniversary of the first partially free elections in Poland. Since April 2023, this well-known slogan had appeared in various places in our city and on the internet, referring to the historic poster from 4 June 1989,” said Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdansk.

“We partnered with people from various backgrounds to mobilise us – the citizens – to exercise our right to vote, although I prefer the word duty. On 15 October 2023, we fulfilled this civic duty.”

To thank residents for showing up and voting, local public and private institutions such as museums, theatres and the zoo offered people free entry during a weekend in November.

“It’s symbolic,” said Biały. “It tells people that you acknowledge what they did and that it matters. When you engage someone to do something, that person wants to be seen and wants to be heard.”

Maintaining momentum

And what about future elections?

“I think the logo and the motto of this election are universal,” said Dowgiert. “We can really put it on every election that’s coming. What encouraged people to vote in 1989 still encourages people to vote today.”

Perhaps this mobilisation could spread beyond Poland too. During the summer holidays, postcards were handed out in Gdansk to tourists to write home and share news of their holiday alongside the inspiring message: Don’t sleep or you will be outvoted.

Such awareness comes at a critical moment for democracy as this year around the world, more voters than ever in history will head to the polls, with at least 64 countries and the EU holding elections.

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Banner image: The giant campaign alarm clock in Gdansk Długi Targ, next to Neptune’s Fountain. Credits: D.Paszliński/gdansk.pl