The use of provisional or tendered votes is a mechanism to:
• defuse potential dispute and maintain voter service during voting station operations;
• provide an opportunity to vote for persons who allege that they have been subject to administrative error in the compilation of voters lists, or in the marking on these lists of persons who have already voted.
It is a better service to issue a voter who claims, but cannot prove, eligibility to vote at that voting station, a vote in a form that can be subject to later eligibility verification, than to risk disrupting voting for other voters, and possibly denying the opportunity to vote to a voter who has been the victim of an official error in compiling or marking voters registers for that voting station, or who has been challenged as to the right to vote on unsustainable grounds.
While this minimizes disputes in the voting station, prevents disruption to voter service, and maximizes equity and accessibility for voters, this method has some major disadvantages, including:
• additional costs of special materials and staffing (both to issue and investigate eligibility of such ballots);
• the necessity for strict management control of the process;
• the potential to delay count results while the eligibility of voters voting in this fashion is being investigated.
The need for provisional or tendered vote facilities is likely to be greatest in those environments that can least afford them, in terms of costs and management capacity, with inexperienced election administrations, hasty or cost-cutting voters register compilation and production, and less well-trained voting station staff.
Whether provisional or tendered vote facilities are provided, and the classes of voters who may be eligible for such ballots, will depend on analysis of the consequent risks to general acceptance of election outcomes if errors in voters registers used for voting cannot be remedied in this or some other manner such as by provisions for voting day registration.
Qualifications for a Provisional or Tendered Vote
Circumstances under which voters may be issued with provisional or tendered votes must be clearly defined in legislation. Relevant circumstances could include:
Where a voter claims not to have already voted yet their name has been marked as having voted on the voter’s list . Voting station staff may and do make errors in marking voters’ lists, particularly where there are a number of similar names on the list.
Where a voter claims to have registered to vote at that voting station yet their name cannot be found on the voters list: (This should not be confused with systems for absentee voting in voting stations on voting day - where a voter is applying to vote at a voting station other than the one(s) at which their name appears on the normal voters list) Even in highly experienced electoral administrations errors can occur, in the compilation and production of voters’ registers and voting station voters' lists that are not discovered during in-house checking or periods for public review.
In environments where there have been significant changes to voting rights or electoral boundaries, where there is inexperienced management or new systems for voters register compilation and production, and particularly for first-time elections, there are likely to be some significant errors in voters’ lists.
Implementation of provisional or tendered vote facilities (or facilities for voting day registration) can be a major influence on maintaining harmonious voting station operations in such situations.
Where a voter’ eligibility to vote has been officially challenged by voting station staff or (where allowed) by party or candidate representatives, with no conclusive resolution. In these situations it may not be possible for the voting station manager, without further information at hand, to make an informed decision on whether to allow the voter to vote. Use of a provisional/tendered vote can allow later, fuller investigation and adjudication .
Voting Methods
It is important that the provisional or tendered vote process is not perceived as being a way for the electoral management body to provide for their administrative inaccuracies or omissions. These votes must be seriously investigated to determine if they are eligible for inclusion in the count.
In some jurisdictions, tendered votes are issued of a different colour to normal votes or are kept separately in an envelope for provisional or tendered ballots. They are then placed in the same ballot box in the same fashion as normal votes, and are not further dealt with, apart from being excluded from vote counts. While this may appease potentially aggravated voters during voting hours, it does little for election integrity.
More effective and equitable systems for provisional or tendered votes would ensure that these votes were subject to investigation and included in the count where the vote was found to be eligible. While the provisional voting method would be established in legislation, the following steps are one method of implementing a sound provisional or tendered voting system.
Establish Eligibility
After establishing the voter is in a category entitled to a provisional or tendered vote, offer this to the voter. Some verification may be required, such as :
• for voters who cannot be found on the voter’s list, firmly establish that the address for which they believe is registered to vote is within the geographic area covered by the voters list in that voting station;
• for voters marked on the list who claim they have not already voted, a check of any multiple voting controls instituted--for instance, where a system of marking persons who have voted with ink has been effectively implemented, such a mark would be firm evidence that a voter had already voted and not be entitled to a provisional vote.
Record Voter Details and Issue Ballot
Voters' identity information should be recorded for inclusion with their ballot to enable later eligibility checking. Such details would include name and claimed registered address, as well as information that would assist in eligibility checking, such as:
• date of birth;
• any former names or aliases used by the voter;
• details of any receipts for registration or voter identification cards shown by the voter.
Voters should sign a declaration, preferably witnessed by the electoral manager of the voting station or another registered voter, that these details are correct. Once this declaration has been signed, the voter is given the relevant ballot(s).
Enveloping of Ballot
When voters have completed their vote, the ballot is sealed in an envelope containing their declaration before being placed in the ballot box. Measures need to be taken to ensure voting secrecy. This could include:
• using a double enveloping system, whereby the voter's ballot is placed in an inner envelope, which is then placed in an outer envelope containing the voters' identification information; once this information has been checked, the inner envelope is separated from the outer envelope and mixed with other ballots before being opened for the ballot count.
• alternatively, a single stubbed or counter foiled envelope could be used, with the voter's details being written on the envelope stub or counterfoil which is removed after eligibility checking and the envelope mixed with other ballots before being extracted for counting.
Eligibility Checking
Following the completion of counts for regular votes (where provisional or tendered vote envelopes may be required for checking of voting material reconciliations), provisional or tendered vote envelopes are forwarded to the electoral management body.
Depending on the standing of the electoral management body, eligibility checking could be conducted by it or be part of the duties of any election tribunal constituted to resolve election disputes. The eligibility checking process should be open to party and candidate representatives and independent observers.
Clear criteria for this checking must be specified in the legislative framework, particularly in terms of what may constitute "administrative errors" that have resulted in a voter being omitted from a voter’s list. For example, can eligibility be established.
• Only if an administrative failure or error in correctly processing information proven to have been received from a voter can be shown?
• Are there wider criteria, involving removal from a register due to the voter failing to respond to objection or other voter registration revision proceedings?
• In continuous list update systems, can votes be accepted if the voters have not updated their registration when moving to a new address?
Counts of Provisional or Tendered Votes
Those provisional or tendered votes from voters deemed eligible to have voted are then opened and admitted to the count of ballots for the relevant electoral district.
Update of Voter Registration
In continuous voter registration systems, other provisions may be appropriate as well, including:
• Provisional or tendered ballot voters to complete a voter registration form in the voting station;
• To reinstate or add to the voter’s list those who were wrongfully omitted ;
• To follow up with people whose votes were ruled ineligible to encourage them to update their registration.
Service from Voting Station Staff
Voting station managers should ensure that voting station staff are not reluctant to issue voters provisional or tendered votes in circumstances where voters are eligible to such votes. Voting station staff’s resistance may be due to any of the following reasons:
• Additional work
involved;
• A reluctance to accept that there may be errors in voter’s lists;
• A lack of emphasis in their training that legislative provisions for provisional or tendered votes create a right for voters, rather than a privilege of which the voter may or may not be advised;
Voting station staff training should make clear any rights of voters to a provisional or tendered vote .
