Voter registration establishes the eligibility of individuals to vote. As one of the more costly, time-consuming and complex aspects of the electoral process, it often accounts for a considerable portion of the budget, staff time and resources of an election management authority. If conducted well, voter registration confers legitimacy to the process. The entire electoral process may be perceived as illegitimate should the registration system be flawed.
Voter registration is both the most central and most expensive aspect of the electoral process. The task of registering voters and producing voters’ lists often accounts for more than 50 percent of the overall cost of administering elections. Various factors affect these costs, including the type of system used to register voters, the administrative capacity of the election management authority, and the country’s social, economic and demographic characteristics.
The ACE topic on Voter Registration is divided into two main sections, general issues and specific administrative issues. The first section deals in depth with the three major voter registration systems namely: the periodic list, the continuous register and the civil register. It argues that there is no one better system of voter registration. It does this through a comparative perspective where each system has advantages and disadvantages that make it more or less effective in differing social, political, economic, and environmental contexts.
Throughout this topic, the section also explores various issues to be addressed in designing a voter registration system. For example, the use of voter registration cards or national identity (ID) cards, the computerization of voters’ lists, allowing voter registration on election day, provisions for anonymous voters and special provisions for displaced persons. Lastly, the topic sections will examine the administrative planning and organization processes behind a voter registration exercise. These issues tend to be more focused, more detailed and applicable to all voter registration systems. Examples of these issues are procurement policies, the selection and training of staff, implementing the voter registration plan, maintaining the voters’ list and distributing the final voters’ list.
