Voter registration can be conducted on an ad hoc basis only for a specific election or organized on a permanent basis either with periodic updating or with updating as a more continuous process. Ad hoc registration occurs least frequently, with the exception of post-conflict elections, which are often conducted with an ad hoc registry of voters. Nevertheless, there are exceptional cases even in well-established democracies where a permanent voter registry was instituted only recently (i.e., Canada in 1997).
In addition, voter registration may be compulsory or voluntary for citizens. A global survey of 124 countries by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) found that compulsory voter registration is quite common in Western Europe as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. In those nations, it is organized on a continuous basis whereby the voter is automatically registered on a voter list after turning 18 years of age, with no requirement to appear before any public authority. This system is based on individual citizenship and age information, provided from either civil registry records or residents’ rolls compiled at local government levels.
Compulsory registration is not widely practiced in Africa or North America. In South America, the two practices are evenly distributed. Again, much depends on the way civil registries and residence records are organized.
Permanent voter registers are updated either on a continuous basis or at specific time intervals, normally during the period immediately preceding an election. Continuous registration requires an appropriate infrastructure to maintain the register either at the electoral administration or at the civil register. This involves adding the names and other relevant information for those who satisfy eligibility requirements (attaining citizenship, satisfying residency requirements, and attaining voting age) and deleting the names of those who no longer meet the eligibility requirements (usually because of death and change of residency). Continuous registers are used more often than periodic registers in all regions of the world, despite the complex machinery and high cost incurred. It is important to note, however that voter registration through a periodic voter register is ultimately a more expensive operation than maintaining a continuous register (IDEA, 2002, p. 30).
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