In determining the necessary standard of facilities required in a voting station, there are some basic issues to consider, including:
• the effective implementation of all required voting procedures;
• the public's ability to vote in safety and comfort;
• provision of an acceptable work environment for voting operations officials.
Standard checklist reports are useful in determining the facilities available at voting locations and providing the basis for needs assessments. ( Needs assessments are further discussed at Voting Site Needs Assessments.)
Minimum Standards
There will be a bare minimum standard that must be provided at voting locations in any environment. These standards will relate to the ability to implement all required procedures in a safe environment.
Elements of comfort in voting locations may be a relative concept that will vary from environment to environment. What is acceptable in a less developed rural area may not be an acceptable standard in advanced urban areas.
However, even in regard to comfort there are some facilities, such as access to toilets and water, that should be regarded as essential at any voting location. Details of facilities that are necessary at voting locations are discussed below.
Condition of Premises
Wherever possible, buildings in sound condition should be used. The condition of external and internal building walls, roof, ceilings windows, and floor should be assessed.
The voting area should have adequate ventilation and a level, non-slip floor surface. Where there is no alternative to a building in poor condition, the electoral management body may need to supply waterproof sheeting for temporary repair purposes.
Accessibility
There are two issues regarding accessibility:
• the accessibility of the voting site location;
• the ease with which voters and officials can use the location for voting.
Accessibility of the voting site location to transport facilities, its relationship to where voters reside, and similar issues are discussed at Locations of Voting Sites.
There are a number of issues that can be assessed in terms of ease of access within the voting site, with special attention being paid to accident prevention and the needs of disabled voters. These issues would include:
• vehicle parking facilities;
• width, gradient, state of repair, and non-slip surfaces of approach paths and entrance and exit of the voting area;
• number of external and internal steps (wherever possible areas with level external and internal access, or with ramps as an alternative to steps, should be used);
• railings provided on landings, stairs, and ramps;
• lighting available for approach paths and its accessibility for use;
• non-slip surfaces on voting station floor area;
• entrance, exit, and internal doorways of sufficient width to allow free access and suitable for speedy evacuation in case of emergencies;
• internal corridors of sufficient width;
• the area available for use is sufficient to cope with the expected number of voters, officials, and observers using an approved voting station layout;
• whether a single room of sufficient size for all voting activities is available or whether multiple rooms must be used;
• availability of a covered area outside the voting station for voters waiting to enter.
Most of these factors cannot be easily ameliorated by actions of the electoral management body. Premises that do not meet all these criteria may be the best available premises. In some jurisdictions, for example:
• portable ramps are supplied to voting stations to assist disabled voter access;
• temporary coverings are supplied to provide voters waiting to vote with some shelter.
While useful, these would not be generally regarded as essential needs.
Security and Safety
Security considerations concern the internal security facilities and the ability to secure the external area around the voting station. With regard to internal arrangements:
• it would generally be essential that any area of a building used for voting has lockable external doors and preferably also windows;
• where the building has its own electronic security system, this must be accessible to voting operations officials to activate/deactivate or owner's representatives be available for these tasks;
• fire extinguishing equipment should also be accessible.
If security forces will not be guarding voting sites from the time of delivery of materials through the commencement of voting, it is highly preferable that the location has security alarms installed.
Where legal provisions bar political activity in a defined area around a voting station, consideration needs to be given to the suitability of the location for establishing this area. Locations with external fencing may be preferable.
In high security-risk areas a cleared area around the voting location would be preferable for establishing a security perimeter.
A secure area would also preferably be available so that bulky equipment, particularly voting compartments and any additional furniture required, can be delivered during the week before voting day and stored on the site awaiting use.
Electricity
Each voting station would preferably have a reliable electricity supply. While this is primarily important for lighting, this would also include power outlets in the area to be used for voting, with a load capacity sufficient for any electronic equipment to be used during the vote.
Fuse boxes or other circuit breaking equipment should be accessible to voting operations officials in case of power failure.
Where a permanent reliable electricity supply is not available, arrangement should be made by the electoral management body for supply of generators, either from other state sources such as the military or by lease from private contractors. Where portable electricity supply equipment is used, it should be tested prior to the commencement of voting.
Lighting
In most environments, and particularly where counts are undertaken at voting stations, voting station operations will extend beyond daylight hours. It is essential that the area used for voting and the count should have reliable lighting. Existing facilities may need to be supplemented by the provision of portable electric lamps.
Special attention should be paid to lighting in the area in which voting compartments will be positioned. Where a reliable electricity supply cannot be provided, sufficient portable lighting facilities, such as battery, gas, or other fuel lamps, will need to be included with the voting material provided by the electoral management body.
Where electricity supplies are not reliable, flashlights and batteries or even candles may also be required as back-up emergency lighting.
Communications Facilities
It is essential that voting stations have reliable communications with the electoral management body during their hours of operation. The area used for voting would preferably contain one, and in high security-risk environments preferably two, reliable fixed telephone connections or have these accessible in close proximity.
Where reliable permanent telephone connections are not available, the electoral management body should arrange, where sufficient time and the technical facilities are available, for sufficient fixed telephone lines to be installed or, alternatively, the provision of mobile phones or portable radio communication equipment to the voting station.
Where mobile phone or radio communication is to be used, it is essential that voting locations chosen have reliable reception. It is also essential that strict controls on the issue and return of portable telecommunications equipment are instituted.
Fax Machines
In some jurisdictions fax machines are provided by the electoral management body to all voting stations with fixed telephone lines. These may be useful and convenient for such tasks as:
• ensuring correct, consistent receipt of any further instructions or directions to voting station managers during voting;
• receipt of formal legal advice on issues arising during voting;
• transmission of count results, where counts are undertaken at voting stations.
However, they could not be regarded as essential or even necessarily as cost-effective use of resources.
Photocopiers
Similarly, there may be a use for photocopiers in voting stations for such matters as emergency re-supply of official forms. When assessing voting location facilities, it can be useful to determine if photocopying facilities are available.
However, this would not generally be regarded as an essential facility.
Furniture
The essential basic requirements are for tables and chairs available in good condition to be sufficient for polling staff, party/candidate representative, and observer use, and to provide some seating for elderly or physically handicapped voters. The number needed will depend on the number of staff to be allocated to the voting station and their roles, but generally provision will need to be made for:
• table and chair for voting station manager and deputy;
• table and chair for entrance control officer;
• tables and chairs for voter eligibility checking officers and voting materials issuing officers;
• tables for ballot boxes and chairs for ballot box guards;
• chair for any exit control officers;
• table for information materials;
• tables and chairs for party/candidate representatives and observers.
Sufficient chairs should also be provided so that staff who are mobile through the voting station, such as queue control offices and information staff, also have somewhere to sit, and a small number should also be provided for voter use.
Additional tables and chairs may be needed for use in voting compartments, depending on the design of the voting compartment used.
Where no special barriers are provided for crowd control, the availability of additional tables and chairs can be useful for defining areas for queues and voter flow. However, if this is done, strict control must be exercised to ensure that these are not used instead of secret voting compartments by electors marking their ballots.
Use of schools and similar public premises as voting locations will generally ensure that sufficient tables and chairs are available on site, Where the room(s) to be used for voting are insufficiently supplied, wherever possible arrangements should be made for this shortfall to be made up from elsewhere in the institution. If sufficient tables and chairs are not available from the voting site, the electoral management body should arrange for the lease and delivery to the location of sufficient quantity for the identified needs.
Additional furniture, such as lockable storage cabinets for materials, can be useful but not generally essential. Packaging used for delivery of materials may suffice for materials storage during voting hours.
Polling Staff Amenities
Toilet facilities and drinking water for staff use are necessary requirements. Separate toilets for male and female staff would be preferable. In areas where no available or otherwise suitable locations can provide these facilities, arrangements should be made for their provision from other state agencies. Portable toilets may be leased commercially and delivered and returned with voting equipment. The military may be able to assist with these facilities.
In rural areas where portable toilets may not be able to be obtained, or where temporary shelters are erected for voting, during set-up of the voting station, the digging of pits and erection of screens for toilet facilities may be required.
Small quantities of drinking water could be delivered with voting materials. However, particularly where larger numbers of voters are expected, and there is no nearby public source of drinking water it may be more practicable to negotiate for the use of water tankers from local government, water authority, or military sources.
Where elections are to be held in cold conditions, premises used would preferably have some form of heating available.
Additional facilities, such as tea/coffee making facilities, a separate area for staff to eat or take breaks, access to refrigerator, stove, microwave, and/or a meals preparation area, would assist in maintaining staff comfort, but are not necessary and would not generally be supplied by the electoral management body if not already present on the premises.
Voter Amenities
For staff, availability of toilet and drinking water facilities is necessary. In many circumstances, voters and staff may be able to share the same facilities.
However, some leases may contain conditions that preclude voters from using staff toilet facilities, and security reasons may also preclude this. Where such facilities are not available, they should be provided in a similar fashion as described above for staff.
A ratio of one portable toilet for every four to five hundred voters expected should be sufficient, as long as voters are not faced with long voting delays. Drinking water, if not available on the premises, would again be more effectively provided by use of water tankers from state or military sources.
