Information Required before Voting Day
Voters turning out at a voting station at which they are not permitted to vote is a common problem and a major source of disruption. It takes time for polling officials to redirect voters and may even lead to altercations. It may also lead to voters being denied an opportunity to vote, if they are unable to travel to the correct voting station by the time of closing of the poll. Pro-active information to voters on their correct voting station will enhance accessibility and service levels to voters. (See Information at Voting Locations for additional information)
The information about voting locations that is useful to convey to voters is:
The voting location or locations at which the voter is eligible to vote: If more than one location is used, identification of the closest location, in order to aid voting station resource planning, is useful.
The address of the relevant location or locations and the geographic area which it services.
The hours during which the voting location will be open for voting for:
• normal voting stations, it is important to emphasize the time of closing.
• early voting facilities, dates and voting hours are required.
• mail voting, the closing hour and date for receipt of returned ballots requires heavy emphasis, with wide publicity also being given to locations for personal return of mail ballots.
• voters serviced by mobile voting stations, - it is important that these voters are aware of the scheduled time and date the mobile voting station will be at their location. The date needs particular emphasis if mobile voting stations are conducting voting in advance of voting day.
If transport to and from voting stations is being provided by election authorities, the departure time and locations as well as return times of this transport will need to be announced. If this is occurring in a high security risk environment, assurances of security need also to be provided.
Information before Voting Day
Information on voting locations can be issued in general fashion, targeted specifically at each individual voter, or a combination of methods used. The appropriate information method will be partially dependent on the flexibility voters have in determining where they will vote. Possible methods are:
Publish a list of voting locations and hours of operation, accompanied by a map of the relevant electoral districts, in the print media. This could be preceded by a series of teaser advertisements in a variety of media announcing when and where this list will be available. Local media could be targeted for local electoral district information, with consolidated information published in national media.
Distribute information to each household on the location and voting hours of the appropriate voting station for that address. Support for this by media advertising, advising voters that they should have received this information and giving a contact number or address for arrangement of supply if a voter has not received this printed information, is useful both to raise awareness and to correct delivery errors. This information could be combined with other information on voting procedures, in a general voting guide. This can be cost-effective. Care needs to be taken that the delivery of this information is undertaken accurately, particularly at the borders of electoral districts, and that all recipients are encouraged to check their eligibility to vote.
Include voting location information on a personal voter identification card for all registered voters. This can be an effective means where voters are assigned to a single voting station. It could entail significant additional costs depending on the style of the voter identification card. In addition to the voter's personal details the reverse of the card can contain the address, location map, and hours of operation of the assigned voting station. The card could be provided as part of the voter registration process, by mail where mail services are reliable, required to be collected from government offices, or they distributed at community meetings.
Hold community meetings, particularly where media and delivery resources lack penetration, or in areas where awareness of voting is low.
Provide inquiry offices and/or telephone services as a resource for voters' questions on the location of their appropriate voting station.
Use and publicize the actual voting station premises as information centers for voters.
Mobile Voting Station Information
Additional methods of information before voting day may be required where mobile stations are being used. This could include:
• posters announcing time of team visits in prominent locations in institutions
• information direct to the voter if home visits are to be made.
• direct communication with the community, or its individual members, by radio or other means, to announce voting hours and dates may be necessary for mobile voting stations servicing remote areas.
Information on Voting Day
Various methods can be used to provide information on the voting day.
General publicity on voting day through the media can emphasize the hours of operation of voting stations and contact details for information offices where more detailed information can be provided. It may also be useful to publish, in generally circulated print media on voting day, a listing of the addresses of voting stations and the localities which they serve.
Use of centralized telephone inquiry systems on voting day for redirection of voters has not always proved successful and, therefore, should be subject to very careful load capacity and effectiveness analysis before implementation.
In voting stations display prominent maps at the entrance showing the geographic area in which voters must be registered to be eligible to vote at that voting station will assist in early warning to voters that they may be at the wrong voting station.
Providing systems to allow staff to redirect voters to their correct voting station, if they have turned out at one where they are unable to vote. The complexity of these systems will depend on the flexibility of rules regarding where a voter may vote.
An information officer able to provide voters with a contact number or address at which they may check their correct voting station. where voters are allowed no choice in voting station or method.
Provide information officers in voting stations with voters’ lists for surrounding voting station areas if certified voters lists for use in voting stations are produced in sufficient time.
Local registry offices should also be open on voting day to help redirect voters where voters’ lists are based on civil registers.
Use of tendered or provisional ballots may assist voters who attend the wrong voting station where systems are more flexible, and account for the fact that voter registration processes are often incomplete, and rarely fully accurate.
Specific Information for Absentee Voting on Voting Day
In countries spanning more than one time zone where absentee voting is allowed on voting day, information to absentee voters should make clear any specific rules as to the closing time for voters voting in a different time zone from the area in which they are registered. This will be particularly necessary in jurisdictions where absentee voting must close no later than the equivalent closing time in the voter's own electoral district.
