Baseline
Alijaj, Candidate for the National Council (Social Democratic Party), sits in a wheelchair, has a speech impairment and comes from a migration background. In addition, his first name is “Islam”. What’s more, he holds an unpromising position on the party list in Zurich.
His election seems almost impossible, as does his overarching goal: to give the 1.8 million Swiss people with disabilities a strong voice in the Swiss Parliament. To achieve this, around 10,000 people would have to put his name on their electoral list multiple times.
Solution
To inspire people with and without disabilities, the election campaign capitalized on participation instead of pity and staged Islam’s election as a historic milestone. Another important element of the campaign: Islam’s AI avatar.
Text to speech made it possible to largely compensate for Islam’s speech impairment, enabling him to present his election program. Backed by over 100 supporters, his campaign became a movement advocating for the rights of people with disabilities.
Result
On October 22, 2023, Islam Alijaj made history. He surpassed four rivals on his party’s list and was sensationally elected to the National Council with over 95,000 votes.
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