In compiling a periodic list of voters, the implementation (i.e. registration) period is very brief, ranging from a weeks to months. In contrast, the planning can take months or even years. To a considerable extent, the success of implementation will depend on successful planning. It should also be borne in mind that public interest in the electoral event is much higher during the implementation period and mistakes or difficulties resulting from poor planning may assume extra importance and could cause more embarrassment. It may also affect the perception of the credibility of the electoral process. When registration takes place during an election campaign, it attracts more attention from the media, political parties, candidates and the electorate, and the interest grows as election day approaches.
In the implementation stage, major differences emerge between the periodic and continuous voters list systems. With a periodic list, most of the work is concentrated in the run-up to an election campaign or during the campaign itself. Pressure is inevitably high during this time, requiring peak performance from the registration system and the employees who operate it.
In a system using a continuous list, a goal is to separate most aspects of the registration process from the election period, with its pressures and intense scrutiny. Registration occurs instead between elections, when list maintenance can be undertaken in a calmer atmosphere.
Implementation is easier if a voter registration initiative is planned as an overall campaign involving specific outcomes, each with its own deadline. For example, there should be a firm date for producing the preliminary voters list, whether the source is a periodic list, a continuous register or a civil registry. Once that target date is set, planners can work backwards to determine when each element of the registration process needs to be completed. For example, if registration centres are to be used, how many need to be established and how many voters need to be processed each day to meet performance targets? What materials need to be delivered to the centres? Where will they be stored before and after registration? If computers are used, how will the data be entered electronically? If a new voter registration system is being introduced for the first time, eg biometric etc? How many workers need to be hired, in what job categories, with what amount of training and in what time frame? All these questions must be answered to establish the necessary timelines. And similar planning is required for the period of review and revisions to the preliminary list and production of the final voters list.
Plan for Problems
No matter how detailed and comprehensive the implementation plan is, there will inevitably be questions, concerns and problems arising. If they are foreseeable, they can be addressed in the plan itself. Following are some of the questions that often need to be anticipated in a voter registration initiative.
- If a door-to-door registration is to be used, are there plans for registering people with physical disabilities, residents of correctional institutions or homeless people?
- If registration centres are to be used, how many times must citizens present themselves at a centre and what are the consequent staffing requirements?
- What should a worker at a registration centre do if someone seeking to register lacks appropriate identification documents? Can such persons still register to vote or are they denied the chance to register?
- Should the election management authority establish mobile registration units to reduce travel time for voters who live in remote areas?
- If groups of citizens work outside their electoral district, or outside their country (e.g. in mines located in a neighbouring country), should the election management authority take special measures enabling them to register and vote?
- When merging data files from a number of registries (e.g. taxation lists, health insurance rolls), the most difficult problem may be to determine the unique identity of individuals listed on different registers. What happens when one list shows a name at a certain address and a second list shows a similar name with slightly different spelling at the same address? Which of the two listings will be decided as being accurate and how is the decision reached?
Contingency Planning
The implementation plan should provide for contingencies. For example, it may allow back-up support if regular personnel encounter difficulties they cannot solve. In such a case the first step should always be to contact the immediate supervisor (e.g. the registration supervisor or registration clerk supervisor). Following are other situations in which planning should anticipate problems:
- The demand for registration may exceed expectations and overwhelm the registration centre personnel on duty. A solution might be to increase centre staffing and hours of operation.
- Opponents of the election may resort to intimidation to prevent eligible voters from registering. A solution might be a steady stream of messages from the government as well as other stakeholders, supporting the electoral process and pledging to accept the election outcome.
- Many voters are not included in the voters list or are shown as residing at an old address. One solution might be to increase staffing during the revision period so that these citizens can easily register or update their voter information. A second solution, which can be applied along with the first, might be to allow Election Day registration so that anyone who is eligible can vote.
- A technology failure makes it impossible to transmit voter registration lists electronically from the central election management authority to local offices for printing, as called for in the implementation plan. A solution might be for the central election management authority to print local lists and distribute the printed copies to local offices.
Computerisation
Computerisation has greatly facilitated the task of producing and updating a civil registry. In both advanced and less developed countries, computer technology has come to play an important role in registration because it offers long-term storage capability, eases the task of maintaining data (including implementing changes and revisions) and helps in integrating multiple databases. Of all the registration systems, the civil registry has the most to gain from computerisation because it has multiple uses and relies on ongoing records maintenance.
But computerisation alone cannot solve all the difficulties encountered in the voter registration process. A computer system may readily flag discrepancies in identifying voters but the election management authority must still decide on how to resolve the issue. There often is more than one solution to the same problem. For example, every election management authority must confirm the identity of each registered voter. In some jurisdictions the authority does this by requiring a voter’s completed registration form to be witnessed by one or two other registered voters. In other jurisdictions, the election management authority accepts a declaration by the voter himself or herself attesting to the accuracy of the information on the form; no witness is required to sign. The first solution rules out full e-registration, since technology isn't readily available for electronic witnessing. The second solution is compatible with e-registration.
