An EMB exists primarily to render services to the electorate — not only those who regularly vote, but those who are entitled to vote. Given the many and wide-ranging tasks an EMB performs on behalf of voters, it needs to keep the electorate informed about its activities and programmes, and seek its views on EMB processes and performance. It is wrong to assume that, since political parties, CSOs, the legislature and the government are the institutions that by and large represent the electorate, an EMB need only deal with these institutions and can ignore individual voters.
An EMB can profit from creating direct channels of communication with the electorate. Potential means include telephone inquiry services; public inquiry desks and suggestions boxes at locations such as markets, shopping precincts or transport hubs; and interactive radio and television programming and ‘town hall’-type meetings featuring EMB members. Publicizing a list of EMB contact persons and their contact details on a regular basis is always a valuable service. In India, the EMB publishes a directory of contact details at the national level on its website within the information published under the Right to Information Act, and senior staff at the state level are appointed as public information officers. During the 2006 general elections in Fiji, the electoral office distributed a voter satisfaction survey at a sample of polling stations to collect impressions and direct feedback from voters on the conduct of the elections. At a number of elections in Australia, the EMB has arranged a survey involving structured interviewing of voters leaving polling stations; it has also commissioned a stakeholder satisfaction survey focused on candidates, political parties, the media and state electoral offices. More generally, feedback from voters can be obtained through focus groups research and broader surveys of voters.
It is important that an EMB respond quickly and accurately to all questions and comments received from the public. A delayed response, or no response, gives the EMB a public image of an inefficient organization that is not interested in serving the electorate. An EMB may also need to make extra effort to provide electoral services, materials and information to those marginalized through disability, illiteracy or remoteness.
An EMB can use the media to inform and educate the electorate about elections, and undertake its own publicity programmes — such as print and audiovisual information products, and a regularly updated website—to keep voters in touch with its activities. It is helpful to set up a professional unit within the EMB to deal with media relations and voter information.
