Another way to minimise the risks in using technology is to have clear policies concerning what information held by an election management body (EMB) is made public, and what information is kept private.
Many uses of technology are only as good as the quality of the data they contain. This is particularly important for electoral technology, where the data being used is often personal data of electors, as well as voting data.
For electoral data to be accurate, those providing the data need to be satisfied that their personal data is kept secure and that any sensitive data is kept private. On the other hand, those relying on electoral data, such as candidates, parties and election monitoring bodies, need to be satisfied that data is genuine, so some level of public scrutiny is desirable.
These competing needs for privacy for individuals' data and transparency for key electoral data need to be met so that the risks for all concerned are minimised.
Maintaining privacy standards
An EMB can establish clear, written, publicly available privacy standards. These standards could set out:
- what personal information is recorded and stored by the EMB
- what types of personal information are made publicly available (such as names and addresses)
- what types of personal information are not made publicly available (such as dates of birth, identity numbers, and so on)
- whether any personal information not made publicly available is made available to selected organisations (such as law enforcement agencies, social security agencies and medical research bodies)
- whether any personal information is supplied to candidates, political parties or members of parliament
- whether a person has the right to apply to have any personal information suppressed from public release (such as the address of a person who considers publication of his or her address to jeopardize his or her safety, or the safety of family members)
- whether a person has the right to apply to view his or her own private information and then amend any information that may be incorrect
In many countries, existing privacy laws apply to electoral data. However, where there are no legislated privacy laws in force, an EMB might follow its own voluntary privacy code.
Maintaining information availability
While an EMB needs to ensure that sensitive personal information is kept private, it needs also to have a clear policy stating what information held by the EMB is publicly available. Making information publicly available is an important part of ensuring that the electoral process is transparent and open to public scrutiny. Transparency helps to build trust in the overall electoral process.
As with an EMB's privacy policy, an EMB's information policy can clearly set out what information is made publicly available, and what needs to be done to gain access to such information. The list of items that could be made available by an EMB is extensive, and could include everything from that which is designated not sensitive, such as certain personal data, to sensitive internal working documents, such as advice to the government.
Some items that could routinely be made publicly available include:
- electoral roll data (including names, addresses, electoral districts), except for private personal data
- election results (including voting data at all counting levels for all recent elections)
- electoral laws, policies, procedures and guidelines
- political disclosure returns
Some countries have freedom of information laws that may require EMBs to make specified types of information publicly available, but where freedom of information laws are not in force, an EMB may need to establish its own voluntary procedures.
Technology can be used to facilitate information availability. In particular, where large amounts of data are made available, it may be more convenient, and more useful, to provide it in an electronic form. Information can be made available on EMB Internet sites, or on CD-ROMs, for example.
