Voters and other electoral stakeholders are exposed to various electoral technologies in very different ways. Accordingly, the need for voter education and public information campaigns varies greatly. Overall, it is important to include all prospective users in the introduction of new technologies in order to increase acceptance and the likelihood of successful implementation.
Some new technologies, such as polling station locators and other voter information systems, are mostly a convenient additional service at the voters’ disposal. Public outreach for such systems only focuses on the widest possible awareness and usage of such systems.
In other cases, voters will be required to comply with certain procedures or use the technology themselves and need to know what to do. In addition to disseminating the information through its regular communication channels, the EMB can also set up demonstrations in public locations where voters can try the technology, for example cast an electronic test vote or check their registration status on an electronic poll book before the election takes place.
Any technology that plays a central role in the electoral process will be of interest to stakeholders such as political parties, the media or election observers. For them, the EMB needs to provide appropriate detailed documentation and make competent EMB staff available for enquiries.
In cases where technology is potentially disputed, for example when it seems very costly or is not welcome by all stakeholders, information campaigns need to go one step further. The EMB then needs to inform or remind stakeholders why the technology was chosen, which trade-offs and options were considered, and how expected improvements to the electoral process outweigh the potential downsides. Such an information campaign will not only be conducted around the election itself, but begin in the early stages of considering and selecting a technology, when relevant stakeholders should be given an opportunity to have their say.
