There are some important distinctions between voter information, voter education and civic education activities, in turn one form of education may flow smoothly into another and, in many cases, may be a subset of the broader effort.
There are certain features that are common to both voter information and education. Both must incorporate their own version of the election calendar and timetable. Both can make use of various stakeholders, including political parties (see Political Parties in Voter Education), election officials (see Election officials in voter education), and/ or the civil society sector to increase the reach of the programme and enhance its effectiveness. Both will be concerned with not just with voting on Election Day, but with Voter Registration. And finally, both will have to consider ways in which Election Sites can be used to reduce costs and improve the effectiveness of the programme.
As a result of this overlap, this topic area deals simultaneously with voter information and education unless otherwise noted. Civic education is not the primary focus of this topic area but it occupies an entire section of its own. Since voter information and education are often an important component of civic education programmes, however, some civic education products have been included in the sample materials section.
