Citizens have to fulfill another requirement to vote: they have to be
registered in the electoral register. Such a requirement is fundamental.
The electoral register is a catalogue within which citizens entitled to vote
are included. The inclusion of citizens in such a register implies that
citizens have met other requirements and are residents of a valid electoral
territory.
Depriving a qualified voter from being
included in the voter register is equivalent to denying the fundamental right
of suffrage, therefore the, “international standard for voter registration is
that the register must be comprehensive, inclusive, accurate and up to date,
and the process must be fully transparent.”[i]
Electoral laws have to establish adequate and simple mechanisms aimed at
promoting the inclusion of qualified voters in the voter register.
As has been said, electoral registries play a fundamental role in generating trust
among citizens. Equally, the voter register must safeguard against the
improper inclusion of persons not qualified or the multiple inclusion of
qualified voters. However creating and maintaining a voter registry is by no
means an easy task as, “Establishing and maintaining accurate voter registers
at the national level, or voter lists at the regional or local level, can be
one of the most difficult and, sometimes, the most controversial elements of an
election process.”[ii]
There are two basic classes of voter registers: “Active, or affirmative, registration systems require individuals to apply to
be registered as voters. In passive systems the voter register is compiled
automatically on the basis of residency or citizenship registers, or some other
form of record.”[iii] Sometimes
voter registers are compiled through a combination of these approaches. “Active”
registration systems place the emphasis on the voter and so informing and
motivating voters to register is a necessary adjunct. In general, “are somewhat more likely to
exclude ineligible persons, such as those who have died or those who have
permanently emigrated from the country.”[iv] Passive or state initiated systems may take
the form of drawing a voter register from other government records such as a
national registry or may be compiled exclusively for an election by a door to
door enumeration, or by a combination of both.
The success of this approach is directly impacted by the reliability and
currency of national records in the case the voter register is drawn down or
compiled from existing records. In general, comprehensive active systems, “are
more likely to ensure that all eligible voters are registered, though they do
not guarantee that more of these constituents will actually turn out to vote.”[v]
In either case, the resulting voter register
should be made public so that voters and political representatives alike may
review the register to ensure that qualified voters are included (and included
only once) and unqualified persons are not included. The notion of transparency
of the register of voters is critical in the same way as accuracy is
critical. It follows that the legal
framework needs to clearly establish the processes by which the voter register
may then be revised and that process as well must remain transparent. In doing
so, the legal framework must specify, “sufficient time for eligible voters to
register, for public inspection of the voters’ roll, for objections and for the
adjudication of appeals.”[vi]
Some countries as well permit registration of
voters on early voting days and election day.
Additions to the voter register at the voting place require establishing
the qualifications of the voter to vote and in that particular electoral district. Additions to the voter register at voting
places need to be tracked carefully to avoid the potential for double voting.
In a typical situations such as an immediate post
conflict situation where records are simply not available, there may not even
be a voter register and instead voters would present themselves on election day
and establish their identity and qualifications right at the voting
station. In such cases, the risk of multiple
voting necessarily increases and so other security features such as dipping a
finger of the voter in indelible ink is often introduced.
In whatever manner voter information is
collected for the register, that information should be limited to what is
required to establish the qualification to vote and the legal framework should
specify that other than purposes related to the conduct of the election that
the information shall not be used for unauthorized purposes. The legal framework should specify if there
are any other valid purposes for which the list may be used, for example for
campaigning by candidates or for citizen contact by the elected members.Often
voter registries are maintained centrally on the national level, however, in
federal states it is often the case that regional and local authorities will maintain
registries as well for their own purposes or may contribute to the national
registry.
Whatever the nature of the voter register and
the jurisdictional relationships involved, the responsibility for the accuracy of the
voter registers lies with a local or central state authority or electoral
management body, “must ensure that voter registers are maintained in an
accurate and transparent manner.”[vii]
The stakes are high because,” Inaccurate voter registers can disenfranchise
voters, undermine public confidence in election results, and create
opportunities for manipulation or fraud.”[viii]
[i] International IDEA, International Electoral Standards, 45.
[ii] OSCE, Election Observation Handbook, 58.
[iv] UN, Women & Elections, 49.
[vi] SADC and EISA, Principles for Election Management, Monitoring,
and Observation, 16.
[vii] International IDEA, International Electoral Standards, 47.
[viii] UN, Women & Elections, 54.
