Basic Considerations
Applications of technology can assist in the administration of voting operations. However these issues must be borne in mind when considering, specifying, develooping and implementing technology-based systems (See Elections and Technology).
In developing technological systems for voting operations administration or for use in voting it is essential that they be:
• suitable for the environment;
• carefully specified;
• subject to strict quality and cost controls;
• thoroughly tested under operational conditions, including, wherever possible, a period of parallel running, before implementation.
Staff Effectiveness
Operating staff must receive thorough pre-implementation training if the intended benefits of technology-based systems are to be realized.
This is as true for changes to telephone networks and introduction of basic word processing facilities as it is for implementation of large, specialized computer systems. Familiarity with systems will assist performance. For example, recruiting electoral officers who have been used during the voter registration phase accesses a pool of existing knowledge of the basic technologies used during the electoral process.
Confidence
There are issues of confidence that need to be addressed when introducing new technological solutions. The voting public, election administrators and electoral officers need to be confident that the systems implemented are reliable, secure and fulfill their information and service needs. Training and information on these issues is as important as training staff in the actual operation of technology-based systems.
Communications Systems
There are base requirements that voting operations administration offices be linked to each other by communication systems--by phone, radio and, if at all possible, facsimile transmission and electronically--and that these offices have voice communication facilities with voting stations under their control.
Use of computer technology for communications can speed the transfer, ensure comparability and provide automatic monitoring of information. However institution of wide area network (WAN) electronic mail (e-mail) systems between election administration offices has to be carefully considered in terms of cost-effectiveness, comparing the advantages to factors such as:
• what continuing use can be made of the equipment;
• the costs and method of acquisition (purchase or short-term lease);
• the skills upgrades (and their lasting effects) required for effective use;
• reliability and maintenance costs as compared to using other methods such as fax or regular ("snail") mail.
Similarly, computer communications may be effectively utilized in developed societies as an efficient means of communication between voting operations administrators and voters. In areas of high computer ownership and mobile cellular telephone ownership, alternative provision of voter information materials to voters or answers to queries by e-mail or text message has been proven to be cost-effective.
Provisions for lodging administrative requests from voters by e-mail, such as applications for absentee or mail ballots, when secured against misuse can also be a low cost method of improving voter service and increasing accessibility. Electronic lodging of required information from political participants, such as reports on party financing and expenditure, can also enhance administrative effectiveness.
Voting Methods
Introduction of technology-based methods of voting has significant implications for the administration of voting operations. Important management issues will include:
Administrative structure effects: Decisions will be required on whether centralized or distributed systems provide better guarantees of system performance, and management structures reflecting the system architecture implemented.
Communications liaison: Where voting information is electronically linked from voting stations or individual voters to central or regional hubs for amalgamation, ensuring communications reliability and security is essential.
Ability to provide system support: Implementing technology-based voting methods will require high levels of either in-house or contracted technical support.
Training: For both voters and voting station staff in the operation of technology-based voting methods.
Management Systems
Ranging from simple single-function spreadsheets to large coordinated or integrated databases that manage all aspects of voting station administration, there are numerous applications for computer technology in voting operations management. Even the simplest systems can improve management capacities. Some sample applications are:
Automated payroll systems for electoral officers: However, given the large staff volumes on a single pay run, and the fact that payroll management is not a core business of election administrations, it may not be effective for such systems to be developed in-house.
Contracting payroll services to other organizations may run the risk of swamping them with volumes that they are unlikely to manage. In some environments, locally-drawn cash or cheques may still be the most effective payroll method.
Materials acquisition and inventory records: Maintenance of computerized inventory records can simplify ordering processes. It can also simplify much of the packaging and preparation for dispatch of materials for voting stations, not only in accurately calculating materials requisitions, but in automatically printing packing lists and labels, dispatch schedules and acknowledgment receipts, and reconciliation of materials schedules for use both in voting stations and on return of material.
Monitoring systems: Computerized monitoring programs allow easy analysis of the state of readiness and progress of voting operations preparations. Simple spreadsheet-based or database systems of this type can be of great use where there are large numbers of geographically dispersed administrative offices responsible for local voting operations preparations.
Staffing and training records: Maintaining simple computer based lists of electoral officers, showing updated (where possible) contact information, experience, training received and an assessment of their performance can simplify the massive task of electoral officer recruitment.
Geographic information systems (GIS): GIS software showing voting sites can assist in determining voting site locations and planning voting site logistics.
Budgets and expenditure control: Simple computer based resource costing worksheets can allow comparability of resource bids and use in various locations and prompt identification of areas of inefficiency, or probable insufficient resources.
Maintaining computer based global budget and expenditure records allows faster manipulation of available funding and expenditure trend analysis.
Communications Technoloty