Providing equitable, cost-effective access to voting facilities for voters in remote communities is a challenge for electoral management bodies. To establish normal voting stations in remote areas can create problems with regard to:
• recruitment and training of staff;
• transport of materials and equipment;
• management of large numbers of small voting stations;
• cost-effectiveness of full day voting facilities in areas that may contain very few voters.
Alternatively, providing only normal voting stations at a very few locations in remote areas will require some voters to travel very long distances to vote in areas where transport means and infrastructure may be inadequate.
Other Potential Voting Facilities
Methods that could be adopted to ensure that these voters have equitable access to voting facilities include:
• voting by mail (see Early voting);
• provision of special mobile voting stations.
In societies with advanced technology and good infrastructure, voting by phone, facsimile and direct computer link may also make home-based methods of voting feasible for voters living in remote areas.
To provide coverage of voters in remote areas a combination of methods may enhance accessibility in the most cost-effective manner.
Mail Voting
Where vote by mail systems are generally in use voters in remote areas may be catered for as they meet the general criteria of (see Early voting) excessive distance of the voter's address of registration from a voting station. What may be regarded as an excessive distance could vary according to the geography, transport infrastructure and accessibility of transport in the particular environment.
In some societies where access to private vehicles or transport services is lacking, travel of even five kilometers to vote may be difficult. In more developed societies with better infrastructure a greater distance threshold may be reasonable. Where permanent voter’s registers are maintained, enabling those voters meeting this criterion to register permanently as a mail voter can assist their continued access to voting material. However, this must be accompanied by stringent regular review.
Reliance on mail voting facilities alone may not be sufficient to provide accessibility for voters in remote areas. In many instances, voters in remote areas may be members of more traditional societies where there are higher levels of illiteracy making mail voting challenging. Mail services in general may also be less reliable to remote areas, or are unable to effect the turnaround of mailing out voting materials and its return to the electoral management body within the time period provided in legal frameworks for the election.
Each remote locality should be individually examined in discussions with postal authorities when determining voting facilities to be provided for remote areas.
Mobile Voting Stations
Mobile voting stations can be more cost-effective in remote areas than providing sufficient normal voting stations to provide reasonable accessibility to all voters and can have reliability and integrity advantages over reliance on voting by mail. Mobile voting stations should offer the same range of services available in normal voting stations. Given the distances often involved in servicing remote areas, they would be more effective if they can operate during any legislatively defined period for early voting, rather than being restricted to operation on the normal voting day.
Unlike mobile voting for institutions or other facilities in urban locations, in remote areas mobile voting stations are usually dealing with voters in a specific geographic area. Thus voting procedures can mirror those used in normal voting stations, with voters’ lists being produced for the defined geographic locality being serviced by the mobile voting station.
(General considerations to be taken into account for mobile voting stations are discussed in Other special voting arrangements) However, in determining the implementation of mobile voting stations in remote areas, there are some further specific considerations.
Access Standards for Mobile Voting Stations
To ensure equity and efficiency in provision of services to remote communities, it can be useful to define access standards in the election's legislative or regulatory framework. Issues that could be considered include:
• whether the areas or electoral districts within which remote area mobile voting should or may be implemented should be legislatively defined;
• through legislation or administrative rules, determining a threshold number of voters in a locality which would require the provision of a normal voting station;
• for efficiency, determining through legislation or administrative rules a minimum number of voters in a locality for provision of a mobile voting location.
Mobile Voting Station Itineraries
Plans for mobile voting station activity in remote areas need to address a cost effective itinerary for servicing all points to be visited by mobile voting stations. Consideration needs to include:
• the numbers of voters at each potential service point and thus the time that the mobile voting station may need to be open at each location;
• the overall distances involved;
• the transport methods available to service potential mobile voting station routes;
• associated costs both in transport and staffing;
• associated costs in publicizing the routes of the mobile voting stations.
The advantage of mobile voting stations is their efficiency through flexibility in servicing a number of locations. However, itineraries and schedules for locations to be visited must follow a definite and publicized plan. The locations to be serviced by mobile voting stations should be formally determined and publicized by the electoral management body, in a similar manner to normal voting station locations. Additional publicity in the form of contact with individual voters in the remote areas to be covered by the mobile voting station may be warranted.
Exigencies in the field may lead to variations in the planned schedule, due to longer than expected traveling time or slower than expected processing of voters. Mechanisms for announcement to the affected communities of any changes in schedules need to be in place. In no circumstances should the mobile voting station leave a location before the scheduled closing time at that location.
Facilities Available At Voting Locations
At some or all voting locations in remote areas there may be no building suitable for conducting voting, and mobile voting stations may need to be equipped with tables, chairs, shade material, material (ropes/poles) for defining the voting area as well as voting materials.
Mobile voting stations need to be able to set up and move quickly, or they lose some of their advantage. There is a delicate balance to be achieved in ensuring that they have sufficient material and equipment, and yet are not overloaded and can be transported efficiently. An example of a mobile voting station that can be ready to service voters in a short period of time is a utility van vehicle.
Transport, Equipment and Provisions
The equipping of the mobile voting station with provisions and safety equipment for voting station staff will become particularly important if the mobile voting station is to be in the field for multiple days. In remote areas, the officials may need to carry with them sleeping or camping equipment, food, water, and first aid equipment sufficient for their needs.
Vehicles provided must be suitable for the terrain. Where rough terrain is to be traversed, emergency recovery equipment should be supplied. Air or water transport may be required to reach some voting locations, which will require careful consideration of the associated costs. The mobile voting station must have a portable radio or phone to maintain contact with the electoral management body, with a planned schedule of reporting.
Additional Staffing Requirements
Greater efficiency in staffing can be accomplished by appointing drivers or pilots for the mobile voting station as voting station staff. It may also be useful when voting in remote communities, particularly in traditional societies, to arrange for members of the community at each location to be appointed as voting station assistants to assist the core Staff.
Security
In higher risk security areas, the ability to secure the safety of a small group of traveling voting station staff in remote locations needs to be very carefully assessed as part of security risk analyses. It may be necessary to arrange for armed security force escorts.
