Voter lists prepared after the
registration process are commonly made available to political parties and may
be inspected by the public. This increases public confidence in election
integrity and ensures that the process is transparent. However, making personal
information public may raise issues concerning privacy rights. Different
countries have adopted various solutions to this problem.
For example, New Zealand
has an “unpublished roll.” This is a special list of persons whose safety may
be jeopardized by public disclosure of their address. These individuals need to
submit a special application and furnish supporting documentation, such as a
court order, a restraining order or an official statement by a police officer.[1]
When Canada
created a National Register of Electors, it limited use of any information
contained in it through provisions in the Canada Elections Act and the Privacy
Act. Register information may be used only for electoral purposes and any
other use is illegal. The Privacy Commissioner has the right to verify how
information in the National Register is collected, stored, updated and used.
Only registered political parties, members of Parliament and candidates have
access to the names and addresses of electors, which they may use only to send
campaign information, recruit new members and seek campaign contributions. The
legislation also allows any elector in Canada to request that his or her
name be removed from the Register or to prohibit transfer of contact
information to a province or territory. Electors who choose not to be on the
National Register of Electors retain the right to vote but they must register
before voting.
In the U.K., the information about voters contained in the published
list is very limited. Finally, another way
to deal with the privacy issue is not to release the voters list at all. This
is the approach chosen in Denmark,
where the electoral register is not published or accessible to the public or
political parties.[2]
[2] Folketing (Danish Parliament),
“Parliamentary Elections and Election Administration in Denmark.”
