Printed Materials

Voter education programmes rely heavily on printed materials. Printing provides a fast and cheap way of preparing large volumes of material. Most countries have printing facilities and various qualities of paper available, although some transitional settings may find both paper and ink to be in short supply.

This section of the topic area provides information on different ways in which printed material can be prepared and used. It also provides basic information on an aspect of materials production that is ignored too frequently by those who produce it, especially those in civil society, ie. legal, copyright, and identification issues.

There are legal, copyright, and identification issues that will ensure that materials can be reproduced, stored, researched, and evaluated better. Many of the sample materials available cannot be traced to a particular election and political moment. Because of this, there are three sections dealing with this topic, which can be skipped by those who want to look at specific educational issues covered in the further sections.

Reproduction, storage, research, evaluation, and law are discussed in the following:

• Legal Considerations
• How Copyright Affects Voter Education Programmes
• Indexing and Dating

Environmental issues – which are frequently overlooked when publishing – are discussed in

• Environmental considerations of Voter Education

Publication is discussed in the following:

• Traditional Print Items
• Specialty Print Items

Legal Considerations

There will be laws, bylaws, and local ordinances affecting printing and publication.

When this is handled by a publisher who has been in the field and knows what laws apply, the educator's job is made easier. But publishers often do not deal with material conveying political messages. And they may not have a good understanding of local ordinances in places where they do not usually distribute. In transitional settings, legislation may be in flux with national laws and local ordinances sometimes at odds.

So, it is best to have at least a working knowledge of the current laws and how these may affect printing and distribution. There is nothing more disheartening, costly and time wasting than having to reprint a batch of materials because something was left off, placed incorrectly or worded improperly. It is bad enough if it is an error of substance, most frustrating if it turns out to be merely a small legal requirement making no difference to the substance of the publication.

Laws related to printed materials can affect such concerns as identifying information, content, technical requirements, distribution methods and commercial restrictions.

Content Restrictions

It is possible for an election or a civic education programme to be conducted in a country that has censorship laws. These may be widespread or may come and go during the election process as governments invoke or revoke national and local states of emergency or martial law.

There may be laws that apply during election periods only. For example, newspaper opinion pieces and headlines (and by extension other publications of a newspaper type) may have to have an identifiable author whose name and street address are published during declared election times in order to enforce accountability.

There will inevitably be general laws governing public expression. Some countries have a very free regime for publishing; others have restrictions regarding the use of the national flag, symbols, pictures of political leaders, language and slogan restrictions, and so on.

Technical Restrictions

A second set of restrictions are those revolving around technical issues. Newspapers may be defined in a certain way and require registration, as may publications looking like comics, journals, magazines or pamphlets. The regulations can include requirements on what information is given on the ownership of the publication, its staff, its place of business, the printing works from which it originates, and so on. There might also be a legal requirement to lodge copies with one or more copyright repositories or libraries before or after publication.

In the case of ephemeral articles such as posters, fliers, and small handouts, there may be requirements that details about the distributor and publisher and possibly the printer, as well as information on the print run be included on the item.

There are good reasons why much of this information should be on a publication in any event (see How Copyright Affects Voter Education Programmes) and there is always the possibility that the material may have to be recalled or may be confiscated if it does not comply with local laws.

Distribution Restrictions and Opportunities

Often local municipalities have strict laws governing the displaying of posters, the handing out of materials at public places, and the leaving of materials for the public to pick up. These laws are normally a part of a general environmental control and can make compliance easy.

There may be more general laws governing the distribution of materials in countries that are less open. These also have to be taken into account because they can affect not only the producer of the material but the user as well.

Some countries have made allowance for easy and cost-effective distribution of printed material through the post. There are ways of identifying and packaging newspapers, special mail, low-priority communications, and so on, which then ensures that they obtain cheaper distribution rates. Educators working on limited budgets should explore such opportunities, which are not always widely publicized.

Commercial Restrictions

There is invariably commercial protection of copyrights, images, and logos, which small printers and publishers often use to create attractive materials. It is not possible to use photographs or images without checking to see that they are available in the public domain. [1]

The restrictions mentioned above come about for a variety of reasons. In some cases, the motivation is entirely constructive. But even environmental bylaws have been used by some regimes to restrict the free flow of information. While some election authorities may have carte blanche in countries that otherwise restrict information, others may have to argue strongly to get their information exempt from restrictions that limit their ability to convey the necessary messages.

These same authorities should be vigilant not only for themselves but also for the nonstatutory organisations and associations that are providing electoral support. They may also want, if they intend to develop a strategy of including civil society organisations in the educational programme, to provide guidance for smaller organizations that may have difficulty navigating their way through the shoals of the law.

Notes:

[1] For images which can be used and a discussion of public domain materials, see Where There Is No Artist.

How Copyright Affects Voter Education Programmes

Copyright discussions are important in ensuring that people get recognised for their work and that there is a well organized and displayed ownership, partly for recognition and partly to ensure accountability. While much of the information in this section is fairly technical, it is worth remembering the values that underpin voter education and the implications of these as far as copyright issues are concerned. If one of the major aims of electoral and civic education is to build democracy through the development of civic values and citizen responsibility, it seems reasonable to expect that organizations and government agencies involved in this work should promote open and honest dealings with each other's materials by paying due respect to copyright.

The section covers the following:

• what is copyright?
• how do copyright matters affect voter education?
• what are the legal frameworks for copyright?
• how is permission obtained to use copyrighted material?

What is Copyright?

Freedom of expression is one of the cornerstones of a democracy. This fundamental human right is generally understood to grant freedom of speech to citizens and, in particular, to the media. It should also be remembered that it grants creative freedom to writers, musicians, painters, and the like: people who pursue the original expression of ideas through research or art.

Another basic human right is the right to own property, where property is understood not to be limited to land. People are not permitted to rob others of something they own. This can apply as much to a person's original expression of certain ideas as it does to physical property. The product of someone's own intellectual efforts is called intellectual property: it belongs to that person in the same way that physical property does.

Copyright, though traditionally not considered one of the fundamental human rights, can be seen as an extension of the two basic rights mentioned previously. Copyright laws prevent anyone from copying or appropriating the intellectual property of another person. Copyright laws provide protection for anyone who does creative work, on condition that their work fulfils two basic requirements. First, it must be presented in material (or physical) form: in writing, in a sound recording, in a painting or sculpture. There is no copyright on ideas, but only on the material expression of ideas. Second, a work is eligible for copyright only if it is original. This does not mean that it has to be highly innovative and present ideas that have never been mentioned before. It simply means that the work has not been copied, but is the product of its author's own efforts.

How Do Copyright Matters Affect Voter Education?

Voter education materials are produced for a very specific purpose and often under fairly pressurised conditions. There are two types of agencies that generally get involved in producing these materials:

• nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), which are committed to promoting democracy and political literacy amongst citizens
• statutory electoral authorities, which produce such materials if the implementation of voter education campaigns is part of their official mandate

In both instances, the development of voter education materials is motivated by a desire to see elections succeed. Because such large numbers of people require information and insight into electoral processes at the time of an election, voter education agencies are always interested in the distribution of materials on the widest possible scale. Combining these imperatives with the fact that voter education has to happen under enormous time and financial constraints, it is tempting to use ready-made resources rather than to design new materials from scratch each time.

NGOs, particularly those that define themselves as public-interest organizations, are inclined to be remarkably unpossessive about materials that they produce. Their main concern is to see the materials are used, and if this means that users end up photocopying the materials in large quantities, this is often cause for delight rather than dismay. In certain instances, copying is even actively encouraged, as in this caption from the front page of a civic education trainer's manual: "This material may be freely copied by trainers for use in workshops, with acknowledgement of source."

While the good intentions behind this kind of statement are easy to understand, there are drawbacks to dealing with original materials in this way.

Not only are NGOs often willing to allow their materials to be photocopied liberally in the interests of wider dissemination of information, but they are also inclined to be somewhat careless about even identifying materials as theirs. Many voter education materials are ephemeral in nature: pamphlets, posters, broadsheets, and comic strips. Perhaps because they are produced at great speed, or because they pass through many hands during the production process, such materials are often distributed without the name and contact details of the organization from whence they originated, let alone the names of contributing authors and illustrators.

It is important to remember that all such original work, even in the area of voter education, is protected by copyright law. And this, after all, is not a bad thing. Consider a scenario where an NGO in a country preparing for elections develops an information booklet for voters. The booklet is reproduced in-house in fairly large numbers (through a simple photocopying and stapling process) for distribution in the area of the country where the NGO is based. Close to the time of the elections, the electoral commission of that country, having seen a copy of the booklet, decides to reproduce it for distribution nationwide. The name of the NGO that produced the booklet does not appear anywhere, and the electoral commission assumes that the organization, in the interest of successful elections, would support mass distribution of the booklet anyway. Funds are duly voted to this project and the booklet is printed for distribution with the logo and contact details of the electoral commission on the front page.

People respectful of copyright will react to this scenario with some alarm. It is but one example of how voter education material produced by one agency can be appropriated by another. Situations also arise where the mass media, and newspapers in particular, reproduce voter education materials assumed to be in the public domain. And, of course, NGOs have been known to copy each other's work too, without giving credit where it is due.

Not only is this an internal problem in countries running elections, but it has become increasingly easy for voter education agencies to gain access to materials from beyond their borders. A number of international agencies facilitate voter education across the globe. When copying materials from foreign sources, the same rules should apply.

In the final analysis, it is simply not worth being coy about copyright matters. It does not take much to acknowledge the original work of the writers and illustrators who create voter education materials, and to respect the procedures that copyright laws impose. It should not be forgotten that the development of materials requires fairly considerable financial input. In the case of NGOs, this money often is received from donor agencies. If the materials are then reproduced by others without any acknowledgement of the time, skill, and money invested in the process of origination, this does an injustice to all involved.

In instances where it is possible, some sort of financial agreement should be reached to allow for the copying of materials. In a country like the United States, the right to financial reward for one's intellectual efforts forms the basis of copyright law. Throughout the world, the NGO sector is constantly struggling with financial problems. Buying the right to reproduce voter education materials can make a small contribution toward the sustainability of the NGOs that developed them.

When it is not possible to pay for permission to reproduce voter education materials, or in cases where voter education agencies decide to waive such costs, it is important (at the very least) to apply for permission through the proper channels and formally to acknowledge the source of such materials. The creative skills of people working in NGOs are often not sufficiently appreciated, and they can be as self-effacing as their organizations are in their commitment to the interests of society at large. Nevertheless, NGOs are well known for their capacity to be responsive to community needs, to experiment with innovative methodologies and to be a step ahead of bigger, less-flexible educational institutions, particularly in the state, which by their very nature cannot move as fast.

NGOs and their staff deserve better recognition of their work in the area of voter education, and respecting their copyright is a good place to start.

What are the Legal Frameworks for Copyright?

There are two international copyright conventions, and most countries in the world are signatories to either one or both of these. The Berne Convention stipulates that a work does not need to be formally registered in order to enjoy copyright protection. Copyright is understood to be inherent and automatic, whether a formal notice of copyright appears in a work or not. The Berne Convention also lays down the principle that copyright on a particular work should be respected throughout the life of the authors and for a fixed number of years after their death (in most countries the cut-off point is fifty years). When copyright on a work expires, it falls into the public domain.

The United Copyright Convention (UCC) does not specify the duration of copyright. Its most important provision is that in countries where authors are required to register their work for copyright purposes (although the UCC does not demand this), such formalities can be complied with by simply placing a copyright notice in the work, together with the name of the copyright holder and the date of first publication. The registration procedure is as straightforward as that: it does not involve making formal application to official bodies, filling in lengthy forms, or standing in interminable queues. Authors of published works (as opposed to unique works of art) may be required to deposit a copy (or copies) of their work with an official body, such as their country's state library.

These international conventions do not preclude the need for signatory countries to have copyright legislation of their own. Rather, the conventions provide guidelines for the drafting and application of such laws. Importantly, under the international conventions, countries undertake to provide the same copyright protection to writers and artists from outside their borders as they offer to those within.

Like any legislation, copyright laws can be fairly complex, and it is not possible to cover every aspect of copyright here. It is also difficult to make generalizations that apply in every country of the world. Broadly speaking, however, copyright is owned by the author of a work, that is, the creator of a material expression of an idea. This person may or may not be the person who had the idea originally. When the author is employed (for example in an NGO) and the work is created as part of that job, then copyright belongs to the employer. When a work is produced in the employ and under the direction of the state, then the state owns copyright.

In the case of commissioned work, copyright rests with the author, unless it is formally signed over. If an organisation develops a voter education manual, for example, and commissions a set of illustrations to form part of the manual, then copyright on the illustrations belongs to the artist, unless this is formally ceded to the organization. Much depends on the nature of the contract that is signed for commissioned work. A contract with an illustrator could specify, for instance, that the organization commissioning the work has the right to reuse the illustrations a certain number of times or for certain purposes.

Questions of copyright ownership become more complex in the case of collective works. Often in NGOs, voter education materials are the combined work of several authors. If the contributions of the various authors are indistinguishable from one another, then the authors own copyright jointly. Where the authors are in the employ of the organization, then in most cases the organization holds copyright. When a work is composed of separate, identifiable contributions by different authors (for example different chapters of a book), then the authors own copyright in their individual contributions, while the editor owns copyright on the compilation as a whole (known as compilation rights).

Finally, copyright can actually change owners, just as is the case with physical property. However, it cannot simply be given away. In order to change hands, copyright must be formally assigned. In such cases, authors or illustrators come to a formal agreement with publishers, commissioning agencies, or any other parties to assign all copyright in a particular work to them. An assignment of copyright must also guarantee that copyright in a work has not been granted to any other party.

How is Permission Obtained to use Copyright Material?

Though copyright is clearly intended to protect the interests of people who produce original work, copyright laws are mindful of the interests of broader society too. For example, copyright legislation generally permits writers to quote from other works, provided the source is acknowledged and the quotation is not excessively long. In educational institutions, photocopying is permitted, with certain limitations, for the individual use of students. In such cases where limited copying is allowed, the exact limits are difficult to define.

Copyright laws require that people apply the principle of "fair use" or "fair dealing" to determine whether something can be copied without obtaining formal permission from the author. It is almost impossible to quantify what this means, and the principle can be qualitative too. In the case of material that is sold on the commercial market, an obvious consideration is that copying should not jeopardise sales.

Out of respect for the creators of original work, and bearing in mind that sufficient respect often is not paid to the work of NGOs, it is recommended that formal permission be obtained to copy any work if the copying is not being done exclusively for personal use. Permission should be applied for in writing, and should clearly specify the intended use of the copyrighted material.

With works published by recognised publishing houses, it is often the case that authors hold copyright while the publishers hold quotation rights. Again, in such cases, the nature of the contract between the publisher and the author is all important. Contracts can specify such things as territorial rights (the territorial extent of copyright), translation rights, and a range of other restrictions. Generally, this is all linked to the financial interests of the author and the publisher. For this reason, permission to copy is often granted at a price.

In the area of voter education, it is unusual for people to be motivated by the desire to make a profit, although organizations involved in voter education obviously have to cover their costs. If one organization applies to another for permission to copy voter education material and clearly explains the context in which this will be used, it is reasonable to expect that such permission will be granted for free or at a very low cost. Having obtained permission to copy materials, it is important to be meticulous about acknowledging the source. As a courtesy, it is also recommended that a copy of the new materials be sent to the organization that granted permission for their work to be copied.

If an organization is approached for permission to copy voter education materials that they have produced, then as much information as possible should be obtained about the intended use: target audience, proposed print run, area of distribution, and anticipated price (if the material will be offered for sale). Such details will facilitate the decision about whether it is necessary or fair to charge a fee. As far as fees are concerned, there are no hard-and-fast rules and requests generally have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In granting permission, a letter should be written stating any particular terms and conditions that may apply. A copy of the new materials can also be requested.

Finally, the question arises about what should be done if copyright is violated. While the offended party understandably feels outraged when this occurs, unfortunately there is not much to be gained by taking copyright cases to court. In fact, such cases seldom reach the courts, unless there is very big money involved. If an organization discovers that its voter education materials have been copied without permission, a formal apology could be demanded and, if necessary, a fee imposed retrospectively.

Indexing and Dating

Researchers and librarians will become the custodians of the materials being produced for educators and citizens. These educators and citizens require information about the provenance of a publication.

But often, this is not available, because materials used for educational purposes in this enterprise are ephemeral or grey materials. In addition, little thought is given to the durability of the materials, so packages are prepared in which a manual might have all the suggested information that follows, but its component parts may not.

The following basic information should be provided on all printed material:

• Name and Address of the Producer or Publisher: While some material (particularly formal books) may be handed over to registered publishers, the trend is for election authorities and voter education organisations to self-publish using simple printing and binding techniques combined with specialised and limited printing runs. A number of these publishers are organisations established themselves for specialised and limited purposes, so good information about them is essential, including an address, and when they are consortia or coalitions, the component members.

This needs to be done for two reasons. First, users must be able to evaluate the material according to a range of criteria (especially if the material is produced during an election when bias is obviously an issue), one of which is the credibility of the publishing organisation. Second, those collecting or assessing the material activities that ensure ongoing use of the experience contained in the material or through its use need the information in order to catalogue and to obtain further copies or further information.

• Name of Authors and Collaborators on the Project: Again, this information is necessary for provenance and cataloguing reasons. However, there is a third reason. Those involved in education for democracy have often done this anonymously and have built up considerable xpertise and practical experience. When this is not recognised, through false modesty, or notions of collective responsibility and democratic equality, those who have done the primary work are often overlooked in favour of those who specialise in collecting materials and editing them. Neither the practitioners nor the organisations they represent receive the necessary recognition. Much of the material presently in use around the world has entered the public domain. Its origins are obscure; but it would be good to recognise those who have been innovators and leaders in this rapidly professionalising field.
• Publication Date: A surprising number of printed materials do not carry a date. At the very least, the year of publication should be used. This provides an indication of the context within which the material has been produced, and it also ensures that any researcher or evaluator is able to track the development of ideas and methods over time.

In election periods, dates may need to be more specific because of information changes. One edition of a pamphlet may be more up to date and authoritative than another; newspaper supplements may have detail that is only current on the day of production. But printed materials hang around, most notably in reception areas of offices but surprisingly also on public shelves and free distribution stands. Inaccurate material cannot be discarded if it is not dated.

So, in addition to the year, ephemeral material can require the month and even the day of publication.

Specialised publications such as lists of voting stations, amendments to regulations, and frequently asked questions for educators, can even have a time of printing on them to ensure that the most current version is always in use.

• Indexing and Cataloguing Keywords: Because the field of civic and voter education is a specialised one making use of materials from a variety of different disciplines, people cataloguing the materials find it difficult to do so. While it is not essential to provide keywords, it can be helpful for those who have produced the material to suggest these or, if they are publishing a large number of works, to establish a key word list for their own use.
• Copyright Information: In order to allow for the use of materials published for educational purposes, direction should be given to users about ways in which the material can be reproduced or additional copies obtained. For more information on this, see How Copyright Affects Voter Education Programmes.
• Package Information: Most educational materials are published as packages or as sets. Sometimes the material will come with a set of handouts or will be complemented by pamphlets and posters. In some cases, the material may be part of a series.

Because materials get separated from one another, a decision should be made as to how to ensure that there is a full record of the set of materials. It may not be possible to put full information on small pamphlets or artifacts. But these should have some identifying mark or logo and the primary document (often a manual or package cover) should have full and explicit details of the full set of materials. If possible, the primary document should mention not only titles but give some descriptive information particularly about posters and other art work.

• Statement of Purpose: Educational materials are produced for a reason. When they are taken out of that particular context, they become dysfunctional. But if they are attractive and available, educators from other contexts may want to use them and adapt them. Poorly trained and resourced educators may even want merely to adopt them.

In addition, researchers attempting to understand how the materials were prepared and used so that lessons can be drawn from their use may be made more generally available will also want information that often is not given.

Publishers should convey, in a preface, forward, introductory statement, or boxed highlight, a brief sense of the context within which the materials were produced and the purpose for which they were produced. This is especially important in electoral education because there are such divergences between various elections. Voter education material suitable for a founding election in which the electorate have never before voted will be very different from those prepared for a highly literate and election habituated community where elections are compulsory.

Environmental Considerations of Voter Education

Educators are no different from the majority of people in assuming that their work has no environmental impact. However, mass campaigns involving large scale productions of printed materials, distribution along road or air networks, on the spot distribution of ephemeral materials including pamphlets, newspapers, plastic carrier bags and so on all have their environmental consequences.

These impacts can be mitigated through a more conscious consideration at the planning stages.

Production methods which take account of water and waste management; acquisition and replacement of raw materials; and frugal consideration of the size and number of the publications required can all reduce impact.

In a number of cases, those involved in production will want to consider the decentralization of printing in order to reduce distribution impacts. This has been made much more feasible by the Internet, which enables print ready proofs to be distributed electronically to the point of use.

Of course, good forward planning can allow even more traditional means of distribution such as postal services. During pre-election campaigns, last minute production of materials inevitably results in use of the most wasteful means of distribution – such as large scale air or road courier services - adding costs and driving up environmental impacts.

At the point of contact between educators and the public, more care is likely to be taken to ensure that good citizenship is practiced in relation to litter, noise control, crowd management at mass events or interactions with the local authorities and with neighbours.

Traditional Print Items

This file takes a closer look at some traditional print materials that have been used in voter and civic education programmes. These include:

• "Books and Booklets":
• "Leaflets, Brochures, and Fliers":

The educational value of these materials and a variety of substantive, design, production, distribution, and cost and time considerations are discussed. The manner in which these items fit into the broader programme and complement other products and activities is also considered.

There are a variety of other printed items, including posters and banners, bookmarks, coasters, stickers, clothing, product packaging, and calendars that are discussed separately in Specialty Print Items.

This section discusses two separate matters:

• books as an educational medium
• issues that must be considered during the publishing process

This will be of use particularly to educators setting up programmes for the first time.

Educational Advantages of Using Books

The printing and distribution of books in people's home language changed the world. They remain the most powerful medium of communicating complex messages and have the advantage of being relatively easy to produce in quantity, low in unit cost, simple to store, and totally unreliant on electricity, telephone lines or computer terminals once they have been printed. And, unlike computers, they are not subject to the dangers of magnetic interference or virus corruption.

Even in situations of illiteracy, it requires only a single literate person willing to read aloud to convey the contained message, and that person requires only the skill of reading rather than mastery of the content of the book.

Surprisingly, there are few simple books containing information about elections and democracy available in many countries. Publishers of religious texts inevitably rely not only on market forces to determine their production and distribution but go out of their way to place such books in the hands of people who they believe will benefit from their ownership. In South Africa, the government made a similar attempt, using low-cost printing methods and the national postal network, to place copies of their new constitution in 7 million hands. In Mexico, the election commission produced a set of books on various aspects of democracy.

Disadvantages of Books

There are disadvantages to the use of books for individual or group education:

• The extended period that it takes to publish a book raises the possibility that the information will become outdated.
• Publication of a book where the intended audience is small makes the unit cost high and possibly unaffordable.
• Publication in book form has become somewhat mystified.

With radio, television, magazines and newspapers being the preferred means for popular communication, books have come to be associated with expert audiences or with particular niche markets. While there is a plethora of popular novels and self-help books being published, there is surprisingly little civic education material being published in book form at the same level. What is there seems directed at formal schooling at secondary or tertiary level in the form of texts which will be interpreted by a teacher or lecturer.

Booklets

Linked to the book, and perhaps more used by educators, is the booklet. A booklet can be written more rapidly, printed in larger quantities, and because it normally has a limited number of pages, it is less likely to receive the unnecessary deification that a book might receive. Yet booklets of this nature can be very influential and can serve a large number of readers per unit.

Complementary Programmes

This section has suggested that books and booklets be considered in their own right as an educational intervention. But they are also a tool to assist other educational interventions and, as such, provide particularly appropriate supplementary materials for face-to-face programmes. For more on comic style booklets, see Comics and Pictorials.

Whether a source of reference to be consulted during a workshop, as material to be handed out for further reading, or as a gift to leave with a single person or family after a house visit, publications ensure that knowledge is not fleeting and that learning continues after the initial interaction.

One of the advantages of making substantial materials available following a face-to-face interaction is that the book becomes a locally available resource. And in situations where such resources are scarce, it is likely to be well used by a range of people.

Such usage goes beyond the individualistic perception of a book and the reason it is considered a relatively high-cost option. Originally, books were used in community settings, and there is no reason why this use should not be exploited educationally.

A further complementary usage is as a supplement to radio, which suffers from its ephemeral nature. Texts are used in distance education programmes, and a cheap booklet may be made available before or after a particular radio broadcast. In the case of the second, radio becomes one option in the book publishing distribution strategy.

Publishing a Book

The preparation of a book, whether small or large, for a limited audience or mass distribution, goes through a similar process.

The Initial Idea: Unless an author has submitted a text to a publisher, it is likely that the publisher will have the initial idea, including a set of explicit or implicit educational goals, about what is required. Publishers who are experienced and know their audience well are likely to have concrete ideas. Or, the concept may be less well formed at this stage.

The Audience: The concept has to firm up rather quickly, especially if there is an entirely commercial means of publishing. When a publisher has the money to underwrite the publication, it remains essential to ask critical questions about the size and context of the audience. These are questions that educators will already have posed.

In addition, educators should consider whether the publication of a book or booklet will be a more effective way of achieving their goals than any other. And they should establish a set of guidelines for the remainder of the project that will establish the audience, the quality of the publication, its level of language, and any other principles necessary to guide the writers and those who will produce the book.

The Text: Production of a text should be considered the responsibility of one or more writers, working either independently of one another or together on an outline established by the publisher.

There are occasions when the production of a text initiates a book. Proceedings of conferences and reports from monitoring teams are often of such quality that there is a temptation to turn these into books. Writers also submit manuscripts that a commercial publisher may venture to publish.

But those involved in civic education should begin with a concept and a set of educational objectives before developing a text.

Editing of the Text: Writers write. Editors edit. There should be a division between these two tasks. Very few manuscripts are published unedited, and the editor's task is considered either the refining of the manuscript, or in some celebrated occasions, the recovery of a book from a thicket of text.

The editing task is one that is likely to be iterative, and it is possible that at the end of this process, the book that was intended may still not be available. Editors need to maintain close contact with writers and in some cases, there may be an ongoing collaborative exercize from the start of the project.

Design of the Book: In addition to the writer and the editor, there will be a person who takes on the responsibility for designing the book. When only text is envisaged, such a person will take responsibility for designing the page layout (including page numbering, margins, headings, and highlights), selecting the type of lettering to be used, working out the best way to separate the book into sections and chapters, and establishing a contents page and all the ancillary pages.

A good designer knows about and can suggest cost-cutting measures to manage paper. There are standard paper sizes that have implications for how the page is made up, how many pages a book should have, how pages are folded and cut, and whether a nonstandard page is required for the particular publication. Designers also understand the quality of paper and the impact of text on the colour and texture of different available papers.

When the book is more elaborate and is intended to have diagrams, pictures, and photographs or decorative text, or where a special paper is to be used, designers will play a hand in preparing this as well. They may also be called upon to make some suggestions about binding.

Many books published today start with a design, and when an elaborate book is planned, writers, designers, and editors may be required to work hand in hand from the start of the project.

On the other hand, simple computer software is available that can assist anyone with basic design skills or experience to develop a book design. The software does not yet take the place of a person with a flair for design but it certainly makes such a person's job easier; and it makes it possible for educators to view and review the design of the book earlier than might otherwise be possible.

The Cover Design: Whatever the inside of a book might look like, it is the cover that counts when it comes to initial impressions. And those designing covers must have a good understanding of what initial impression is required.

The discussion of the outside impression of the book requires not only a decision about the title, the text that will appear (including the introduction to the book) and the manner in which both will be presented with illustration to provide a pick-me-up look. People publishing books and booklets in support of education programmes must also consider more practical matters such as the likely placement of the book when it reaches the first distribution point, the manner in which the book will be stored, and the distribution mechanism.

Such considerations will determine matters such as size and likely binding. Small books can get lost on a shelf, especially if they are staple bound and therefore have no discernable spine. Large coffee table size books may be too heavy to be posted without expensive packing, or they may not fit on a standard shelf in a little community library.

Thus, a decision to produce a good-looking cover can be insufficient to ensure that the book or booklet are friendly to the reader, the distributor, the library and the educator. The cover needs to be considered in conjunction with the weight of the entire publication.

Marketing and Distribution Plan: Whether the education programme has decided to produce a textbook, a booklet, or even a set of popular novels aimed at adolescents covering democratic themes, they need to develop a marketing and distribution plan during the early phases of the project.

Such a plan will develop realism about the size of a print run, the likely income that will be available to offset the costs, the manner in which the publication will get to its intended audience, the date by which this must happen, and the effort that will have to be put into ensuring that the audience receives and reads the book.

Publishing houses involved in regular commercial, academic, and popular publishing, have this expertise. But they may choose not to publish the book that the programme believes is essential. Often, education programmes make choices using criteria other than those of a publishing house. But it may be possible to obtain the guidance of such a publishing house in developing a plan.

If this cannot be sought, educators should obtain the support and advice of other people in the book publishing world. Obtaining such advice will also publicise the publication, and could have the additional benefit of ensuring that any overlap is spotted early on rather than at the point of no return.

A marketing and distribution plan should include advertizing, book launches, point of sale or free distribution discussions, sending of preliminary copies for book review and to potential groups of users, and decisions about the style of distribution.

Some books have a long shelf life and after an initial spurt of sales may settle down to a regular order every so often for an extended period. Other books need to get out into the market in one fell swoop. General texts for democracy may not change much and could be considered in the first category. A special pre-election book needs to get out as it will be good only for pulping once the election is over.

Typesetting and Layout: A range of technical options, including improved computer software and printers, sophisticated scanners and photocopiers makes the production of a book relatively simple. Indeed, those who have access to such equipment make the mistake of believing that it is all necessary and that a book cannot be done in any other way.

However, there are countries that must still rely on manual typesetting machines, galley proofs, layout stripping and pasting up of proofs by hand. Such time-honoured methods remain viable, although they do require a different set of skills.

In general, however, educators in countries operating in such a paradigm will work in collaboration with specialized printers or publishers rather than attempt to generate the major part of the publication in-house, as may be possible with computer assistance.

Proofreading: Similarly, proofreading, or the checking of text for last-minute corrections, differs depending on whether the printing is done through a computer-based or manual system. In a computer-based system, there is temptation to do proofreading on the screen and to rely on the tools available (especially the spell checker). This is not sufficient.

Proofing is essential and should be done on a hard copy in the format in which it will appear on the final version, so all errors can be spotted. Such work should be done by someone other than the writer.

Printing: Because printing appears to be one of the last tasks to be done, there is an inclination to leave its arrangement also to the last minute. However, printers operate under a number of constraints.

Once it has been established that the printer can actually handle the job, the printer must ensure that the machines are available and are prepared for the print run required. Printers must have all the necessary consumables, especially the paper. In many developing countries, paper is in short supply and must be ordered well in advance and stored carefully for the job.

When the job is complete, unless arrangements are made to take delivery immediately, the printer will be faced with a storage problem and may need to make arrangements in this regard as well.

Distribution and Delivery: There are too many books and booklets sitting on floors in government offices, electoral institutions and NGOs to suggest that, having gone through all the obvious tasks of publishing, distribution and delivery will take care of themselves.

A plan should be developed for ensuring that the publication gets from the printer to the reader in time.

Leaflets, Brochures, and Fliers

A well-designed leaflet can contain a great deal of information. This information can supplement messages featured on posters and banners or through television and radio. Leaflets can be distribed by hand or by post.

In general, whether a leaflet, a slightly more bulky brochure or a simple one-page flier, the key element in the design is the creative use of headlines, text design, and paper.

When a country has a standard paper and envelope size, there are likely to be a few standard pamphlet designs. By folding paper, the designer establishes the equivalent of separate or combined pages, each fold providing an imaginary break. In addition, folded paper enables the designer to establish a cover, or to lead the eye to a new piece of information. Complex information can be hidden until it is explained, and the reader can be guided sequentially through the necessary information.

The standard A4 page is often folded in a U or a Z shape. A standard A3 page can be folded in half and then treated like an A4 sheet. These provide remarkable versatility, and other more complex folds can be attempted. The Adobe web site gives a range of folding options for small pamphlets.

While creative folding can produce more interesting leaflets and even facilitate the flow of information, it does complicate the production process, requiring either special machinery or significant numbers of people. It will also increase the amount of time required for production before materials can be packaged and delivered. The educator will want to take these factors into consideration.

The advantage of using a single sheet in this way is obvious: it is light to distribute, relatively cheap and quick to produce, and comfortable to hold and read. It does not need binding or collating and can easily be done in an office, on a photocopy machine for small runs.

Fliers tend to be used to advertize events or places and are normally produced in large numbers; an A5 sheet may be appropriate and a simple offset printer can print two fliers on an A4 sheet.

Purpose, Content, and Design: These forms of communication are normally used for mass distribution and a general audience. For this reason they contain simple language, a limited amount of information, and a very clear and logical flow. There is a tendency by educators to shortchange the design on a leaflet or flier for a mass audience, and to over-design brochures that have a more elite public. This is shortsighted, as good design will assist in making the leaflet easy to read and ensure a better impact.

So, text should be as carefully considered as illustration. Costs of design are offset against the mass production and therefore work out at very little per unit.

Distribution and Complementary Elements: A leaflet or brochure is a regular component of direct mail campaigns, but the same product can also be used during networking in support of the programme, in briefing of face to face educators, and in packages of distance education materials.

Because many organizations conduct direct mail campaigns, it may be possible to persuade such organizations to include voter education material at no extra cost to their mailing list. In many cases, leaflets and fliers can also be inserted in newspapers and other publications.

Fliers are used to drum up support for an event such as a mock election or rally, or to motivate people to register or vote. In general, bulk quantities are given to individuals and then taken door to door, handed out on street corners, or passed out at large events or community meeting places.

In transitional settings, where nationwide distribution networks may not exist and where the quality of the transportation infrastructure may be relatively poor, educators may need to assemble ad hoc forces of distributors and allow more time for delivery of materials to their final destinations.

Unintended Use: Becuase leaflets are produced in bulk and sent to someone in the post or handed to them at an event or on the street, it may be the only information that that person receives about the election. It is very likely that it will be stuck on a notice board or wall for others to read.

If the design is a complicated one, this means that it is not read in the form intended. A Z-fold leaflet will be flattened out into a single page/poster. A more complicated fold may result in the leaflet being torn or cut and then flattened out, or covers may appear upside down because the other text is more important. Because the person only has one leaflet, he may photocopy one side, causing red colours to appear black, reverse text to disappear, and so on.

Mailing two leaflets to a community group immediately makes it possible for a better display. Creating leaflets that fold out into a meaningful poster, or ensuring that the leaflet has some instructions for its display are obvious options. If it is decided to create a leaflet that doubles as a poster, the poster design also needs to be considered (see Posters and Banners).

Those who produce the leaflets or brochures can either bemoan the ignorance of community groups or they can be motivated by the community spirit displayed by this use of resources and design leaflets that can be posted on community boards.

Sponsors: The bulk distribution of leaflets and fliers makes them ideal vehicles for carrying advertizements. There are two approaches to this.

The first is to approach a company involved in its own distribution of material and request that it carry voter information or education.

The second is to approach a company, particularly a local company in the vicinity where the leaflet will be distributed, and request that it sponsor the production and receive credit for this.

In other words, the name becomes associated with the product and with the voter education programme.

If this is too close for comfort, a company may agree to place an advertizement on the leaflet. Local small and medium enterprises can find this useful because they tend not to have the budgets to advertize in more expensive media.

Educators will, however, want to stress the nonpartisan nature of their undertaking and warn prospective sponsors that a high political profile on their part might be incompatible with the voter education programme.

Specialty Print Items

This section takes a look at the increasingly creative application of printing methods to different surfaces, whether paper, fabric, or plastic products, as well as some variations on the more traditional book and booklet. In particular, the files in this section highlight the use in voter and civic education programmes of:

• Comics and Pictorials
• Posters and Banners
• Bookmarks
• Beverage Coasters
• Stickers
• Voter Education Clothing
• Promoting Voter and Civic Education with Packaging
• Calendars

Comics and Pictorials

Illustrated publications using the formats of the comic, cartoon or picture book can be used with good effect for particular audiences. When used for people with limited literacy, care has to be taken to use very simple formats for the text.

Comics

People who can read and who have some contact with film (through television or cinema) enjoy comic-illustrated stories which combine narrative, dialogue and illustrations.

The format for comics determines that the stories are short, populated with easily recognizable characters with whom the reader can associate, and with concepts that are familiar but can be placed in strange contexts.

There is a growth in popularity of the graphic novel, which is longer and may have an extended cast of characters and a more complex story line. Such a production may be an illustration of a standard story, but in most cases it is likely to be a combination of words and illustrations entirely of its own genre.

Pictorials

Pictorials, unlike comics, use photographs and words rather than cartoons or illustrations. These are considered very much the second cousin of the comic, but they remain very popular and have something of the feel of the romance and the soap opera to them.

It is possible to use the format of comic, graphic novel or pictorial to convey messages about civic and voter education.

Production

These forms are often chosen because they appear to have limited text and can have diagrams and pictures of voting procedures and ballot papers. Local artists can draw simple cartoons or illustrations and these can then be used to create short books that can be simply and cheaply produced.

Some have used the format to tell stories that have educational consequences and that convey information while the story is being told.

Still others have used the form in the interesting graphic novel genre to raise social questions and to invoke civic activism.

In all these cases, the form has the advantage of also conveying basic public information, as many comics do, through advertizing on the outside and inner covers. The publication acts as a keepsake and memento; and as a pass-along for those who decide to take education into their own hands.

Limitations

There are, however, some serious limitations to the use of such publications and these relate primarily to cost and target audience.

Cost

While reproduction of a comic is much the same as that of a book, there are additional reproduction costs linked to the number of illustrations, especially if these are in colour. But the major cost factor is the creation of the work.

Illustrators need not be cheap, and those who are able to work in this medium must either combine with or be writers. In addition, there are considerable costs in developing story lines, which often resemble, and may be used for, scripts for video or film productions. The techniques of the modern comic mimic in many ways (flashback, extreme close up, cutaways, and so on) those of film.

Available Options

Illustrated material can be prepared in a number of different ways. In addition to the graphic novel or comic, it is possible to use the example of the illustrated and narrated postcard used often in children's publications.

Photographic novels, or a mix of comic and text are also possible.

Target Audience

It is assumed that comics are relevant to the illiterate because they use few words. But, in fact, the combination of words and images in quite complex patterns make considerable demands on the illiterate or the neoliterate. It may be useful for those contemplating the use of comics in such situations to reflect on the age at which comics become popular amongst those who have the privilege of going to school, and hence becoming literate while still young. They are certainly not their first choice of reading matter: this is determined by the need to have pattern and simplicity.

In this regard, the picture book (or photo novella), a short story illustrated by a sequence of photographs, seems to be far more useful and accessible.

On the other hand, those who have used comics and graphic novels with their natural audiences, young, urban, schooled or semi-schooled people in a modern working environment, have had success.

Evaluation suggests that comics have less impact overall in a national educational programme than one would imagine, and their impact can be outweighed by their cost. The proviso is that comics are useful when the audience is particularly well understood and focussed.

Mixed Media

There are publications with a mix of text, pictorial, illustration and comic. These probably suffer from attempting too much, but they can work in a context where the comic itself is the dominant communication mode.

Posters and Banners

Posters can convey information and contribute to the aesthetics of an election. It is not surprising that they are amongst the most regularly collected electoral items.

The poster has always been an art form as well as a communicator, but the two are not always compatible and the purpose and placement of posters has to be considered in advance of any other criterion. When form and function mesh, a poster can be a very effective tool in the hands of the educator.

Where form outweighs function, the message can be lost and posters can be a waste of paper, a public eyesore, and an individual frustration. In short, a proper balance needs to be achieved between art and substance for a voter education poster to achieve its function.

Banners play a similar role as posters, although they are normally produced on fabric. Banners can be used for larger signs and in more outdoor situations. Their design also requires an understanding of purpose and placement, and then an appreciation of the production requirements that will translate suitably on the medium available.

Purpose

• Creating an Election Environment: If the purpose of the poster or banner is to decorate the environment and convey a particular feeling in regard to the election, then it is appropriate to make aesthetic considerations dominant. Posters and banners are used to decorate meeting places, streets, voting sites, and other electoral offices. Such displays, if they become ubiquitous, or if one of the posters becomes a collector's item and is therefore displayed widely by individuals, can create an imposing and climate-building backdrop to an election.

Many cities have established a tradition of using banners to fly on lampposts on special occasions or to hang on the outsides of buildings. Banners convey more of a message than flags but have a similar impact. They are colourful, motivational, and energy creating.

• Identity: A second purpose might be to develop an identity for the election authority or for the organization conducting the educational programme. While such an identity may be achieved merely from the organization's association with its products, a newly formed organization may have to establish itself, and a poster or banner displayed at appropriate places may be the best way to do this. Such posters are designed around the logo, image, or slogan of the organization, or seek to associate the organization with a particular historical moment or popular figure.
• Culture: A third purpose may be to establish a culture in favour of elections and democracy through its association with popular culture, celebrities, or historical moments. Such designs again may be primarily aesthetic in approach, but as they are beginning to convey a message they will have to come to terms with certain limitations imposed by the positioning of the display.

In similar vein, an election can have certain key slogans or concepts it wants to convey: "Your Vote Counts," "Vote For Peace and Prosperity," "Heal Your Land," and so on.

These posters may require a simple image or slogan, and can use colour to enhance the emotional rather than the communicative impact of the production.

• Dates, Times, Places, and Processes: When the purpose of the poster includes the communication of information that must be read and absorbed, designers should concentrate on that information as the central image.

Such posters can advertize the date of an election, the places where voting or registration takes place, educational events, the recruitment of election staff, key voter education messages beyond the simple election slogan, and so on. Many election authorities have prepared posters explaining steps in the voting process. Because all parts of an election authority are likely to want to communicate such information, there is some need to coordinate such activity and ensure that those requesting the posters and those designing them attempt to convey more than one bit of information in each production. This can be overdone, though, and there comes a moment when efficiency deals a blow to effectiveness.

• Audience: Posters can have common general purposes but be aimed at different audiences. Obviously, a poster aimed at young people is going to differ from one intended for placement in an army base or government office. Some have been specially designed for women.

Placement

The positioning of a poster must be determined before its production. When the purpose is clear, designers of posters should consider the intentional placement of a poster as well as the possible unintended placement. Even when precise instructions are given to those who will place posters, it is likely that they will also be used in other contexts. The placement instructions may well have to list the contexts within which the poster should not be used. Election laws and local ordinances may also place restrictions on where posters may be hung. With respect to banners, special permission may need to be obtained to hang them from light posts, buildings, or other poles or structures. Educators need to be aware of these restrictions and requirements and pass this information along to those who will be hanging the posters.

• Bulletin Boards: If a poster is intended for a bulletin board in an indoor situation such as a post office, where people will be able to look at it with some leisure and where they may even be able to step up close for a further look, it is possible to contemplate a design with a substantial word content, and to consider the design along the lines of a page of a book blown up to about A1 or A2 size. It may even be possible to consider smaller sizes such as A3 or A4 if only a small amount of information is to be conveyed. A similar approach can be taken at other similar venues. Such posters should be designed to convey one message at a distance and then entice the reader to come closer for more information.
• Outdoor: If, on the other hand, the poster is to be displayed on a roadside for passing motorists to read, the same poster cannot be used. But often they are. Drivers and passengers in cars can cope with about seven large words in light print on a dark background on an A1 or A2 poster. An indication of what can be used can be obtained from a study of the size and design of those road and freeway signs that now have international currency.

When more detailed messages must be conveyed, and there are other ways to do this apart from distracting drivers, such messages can be sequenced along a roadside.

• Meeting Places: In classroom or meeting situations, where people will be able to study a poster but only at a distance, limited information can be given and this may have to be supplemented with talk and interpretation or discussion. Such posters seldom contain words, especially if they are being used in situations of low literacy. In such situations, words become puzzles that do not convey meaning but do distract from other communication and cause insecurity amongst learners. It is in this situation that the flip chart becomes a particularly useful tool.
• Passing Crowds: People may not be able to stop and read or browse, nor may they be sitting down in a classroom setting. They may well be, as were the drivers, just passing by. Perhaps they are on a subway escalator, at a bus stop or in a crowd of people. Placement within these contexts requires the same consideration as for those moving faster: the conveying only of sufficient information and the possible repetition or sequencing of posters.

In general, repetition of a complex poster is less successful than sequencing of a variety of simple posters. People are seldom disciplined or skilled enough to be able to start reading or looking in the middle of a message (as would be required for people to get through a detailed poster while moving past a bunch of repetitions).

Thus, placement determines how much information the poster should contain, and in what format, size and colours, it should be designed. Many posters are designed and then approved in meeting rooms, only to disappoint when seen in situ. Where possible, an in situ evaluation should be conducted for any poster that must convey critical information.

Production

Effective poster and banner design is based on purpose and placement, and not necessarily on colourfulness or glossy finish. While colour can play an important role in attracting the attention of voters and in creating a mood, some successful designs have made use of very limited colours and less costly paper and printing. These types of posters may not become collector's items, but that presumably is not the primary purpose.

Countries with a culture of poster advertizing for newspapers will understand how effective a few words on a white newsprint background can be in enticing one to purchase a newspaper. Such a purchase should be considered a lesson for the design of a poster and the complementary activities that can follow such a design.

But in general, production will be on paper or cloth for posters and banners. Recent innovations in large-scale printing have made it possible to use plastic and other synthetic materials to good effect.

Reproduction of the image, when a large number of copies are required, is likely to be through printing. And the size of the poster is thus limited by the size of the printing press. It is possible to print large posters in sections and then compile these, as is often done with outdoor displays. Whatever size one chooses, there will be ramifications for packaging, storage, delivery and distribution, as well as the available spaces where posters can be hung and the amount of instruction, effort, and supplies required to hang the posters properly.

There are alternative ways to prepare smaller runs, or to do runs where the cost per unit does not come down substantially. The most costly is the preparation of lithographs, usually used for limited edition artistic renditions. A cheaper method, and one capable of more copies without degradation, is by silk-screening. Simple posters with limited wording (not necessarily losing impact) can be made by using paint and stencilling or other simple techniques.

Individual banners can be made using standard sign-writing techniques and paints. Otherwise, silk-screen and stencilling techniques, or the use of fabric printing methods, are appropriate. The use of treated paper or plastic may allow new methods of printing or commercial silk-screening.

Each of these has its uses. The ability to produce a poster in very simple circumstances makes it not only a useful tool but also an appropriate educational method.

Complementary Activities

The creation of posters by students provides a method of categorizing and synthesizing learning in a creative way that is a very powerful test of what has been learned, and is also a powerful message to others of what has been learned. Because of this, educators can choose to decorate a place with locally produced posters and banners rather than with those developed at a distance. In some cases, poster and logo design as well as slogan development contests have been held in schools to generate public relations and media coverage for the voter education programme and to select winning entries for use by the voter education programmes.

In such ways, the poster becomes a teaching tool, and, while some posters are purposely produced for this, others can be appropriated by a skilled group educator.

Notes:

[1] Standard paper sizes are different in the United States of America and in those places which have adopted the European standard. This topic area uses the European standard of measurement. An A4 size is the standard letter page. A5 is that page folded in half; A3 a double size.

Bookmarks

Another interesting idea is to print bookmarks with voter education slogans and messages. These can be distributed through public libraries and reading rooms, book stores, schools and universities, non-governmental organizations, and as inserts into a variety of publications, whether books, booklets, or magazines that are specifically dedicated to elections, or though newspapers and the like. They might even be worked into the design of a leaflet or brochure (depending upon the weight and quality of the paper) to be detached along a perforated line and then used. They can also be inserted into multi-media packages that might include other products with the same theme, slogan, and logo such as stickers, games, booklets, posters, and even clothing. These can be particularly popular with young people.

Beverage Coasters

Bevarage coasters have become increasingly popular in cafe cultures where the population may spend a great deal of time relaxing, people watching, and socializing with friends over a cup of coffee, a glass of water, or a glass of wine. While a great deal of information cannot fit onto a coaster, it is of sufficient size to accommodate a logo, slogan and some vital bits of information such as the date, time and type of elections, and may reflect the design and colour schemes used for other voter education products such as stickers, posters, shopping bags, t-shirts, and more. Once produced, the coasters can be distributed to restuarant, bar and cafe owners, who are usually more than happy to put them to use. Special materials will need to be used and the printer will also need to have the capacity to cut the coasters according to the specified size and shape.

Stickers

Stickers are also an increasingly popular voter information item. These can come in any variety of shapes and sizes, from relatively small stickers that might be used to adorn school notebooks and children's items, to larger stickers that might be posted to public transport, utility polls, or information boards, to stickers specifically designed for the bumpers of cars. How much information can be included will depend upon the size of the sticker. Smaller stickers will not be able to accommodate very complex designs or a lot of words, perhaps a logo and a slogan only. Additional information, such as the date, time, and type of voting might be added to larger stickers.

Stickers tend to be a big hit with younger voters and can be distributed through schools and universities, through civil society organizations, and at special events as well as part of mixed-media packages that might include t-shirts, posters, comic books, and so on. Many countries also use stickers with the proclamation "I Voted" as a means of demonstrating pride among those who have cast their a ballots and motivating those who have yet to do so.

If stickers are to be posted in pulic areas, whether on buses, poles, buildings, bus stops,or in metro stations, educators may want to double check election laws and local ordinances to ensure that this is not a problem. Some companies have exclusive rights to advertising in and on public transport and produce their own, specially sized stickers, for designated locations.

Voter Education Clothing

Clothing with election slogans and designs can come in a variety of forms from t-shirts and baseball caps to articles of clothing made with the election message worked directly into the fabric design, as occurs in Africa where women can literally become walking billboards for a cause. 

Clothing items can be used to help promote voter education events and programmes, such as "Rock the Vote" style campaigns;  to identify participants in those campaigns (or certain groups such as election monitoring or voter education teams);  and to build momentum for citizen activism, for example encouraging people to register and to vote.

Cloth can be printed relatively cheaply using block prints, silk screening or more substantial printing methods. 

Clothing items can be a self-financing means of spreading voter education messages and tend to be relatively easy to distribute due to popular demand. However, experience in developing countries is that education organizers end up paying for this clothing and do not recoup their initial investments.

Election regulations often restrict the wearing of certain types of clothing on election days.   While these regulations are intended to avoid conflict and electioneering around polling stations, slogan and personality based clothing distributed by nonpartisan education groups can become confused with this, or even over time associated with a particular party or group of parties.

Therefore local conditions must be taken into account when developing such materials.

In Taiwan, election clothing and related paraphenalia – mascots, head and armbands, water bottles, and all manner of noise making and banner waving artifacts – have become intrinsic to election campaigns.   These have the advantage of bringing elections to life, see 'Political Parties in Voter Education:en/ve/vea/vea04/vea04c. In other countries, such exhuberant partisanship can be intimidating and limit freedom of movement and association. This has certainly been the case in elections conducted under conditions of latent and unresolved conflict or oppression. 

Promoting Voter and Civic Education with Product Packaging

An increasingly empoyed means of communicating voter and civic education messages is the use of product packaging. In this way, boxes of cereal, milk containers, candy wrappers, and match box covers can all carry messages to voters.

Another option has been to print shopping bags with voter education slogans, logos, and pertinent information to be distributed to shoppers through vendors at stores and market places. Because plastic bags, in particular, can be used over and over again, these tend be a highly visible item out on the streets during the course of an election campaign.

Some restuarants will also have paper placemats or tray mats (in the case of many fast-food restuarants) that can be printed with voter education messages and that can accommodate a significant amount of information. In style and theme, this might reinforce other materials such as posters and leaflets that are being made available through other means.

Packaging is printed on a routine basis and companies are often pleased to provide a valuable public service by incorporating certain messages into the overall packaging design. Once cooperation is agreed upon, educators will want to confer with the company printing and assembling the packaging to determine their schedule relative to that of the voter education programme. Print ready designs, in the specified dimensions and format, for the voter education announcement can then be provided to the printer.

Calendars

Whether of the pocket or wall-hanging variety, calendars have also become a means of communicating voter and civic education messages. The size of the calendar will determine how much information can be included.

Some calendars will merely have a slogan, logo, and details about the date, time, and type of elections. These may fit easily into a wallet, appointment book or diary for easy reference.

In the case of a wall hanging calendar, and where election related milestones are known well in advance, much more detailed information may be provided. This might include information on the voter registration process; the candidate nomination and qualification process; pre-election day events and activities such as early voting or deadlines for applications to vote by absentee ballot or mobile ballot box; election day activities; and the deadlines for the determiniation of preliminary and final results, certification of candidates, and seating of the elected body. Each month might introduce a new theme with the months of the election period focused on voter information and education messages and the rest of the year dedicated to broader, but mutually reinforcing, civic education messages.

These more substantive calendars might include frequently asked questions (FAQs) or learning exercizes. If developed for young people, the calendars might come with specially developed stickers so that students can track electoral events and then identify them on the calendar by affixing the various stickers to the dates with which they correspond. Calendars can also include contact information for regisration and election offices, political party headquarters, civil society organizations active in voter and civic education or election monitoring and public advocacy, and other public offices of note.

Many election authorities, civil society organizations and political parties may also have special calendars that announce the number of days left to the election, for example: 10 days until Election Day! Each day, a page is ripped off to reveal the shrinking timetable until election day. This helps to focus and motivate those working on some aspect of the campaign or election.