Since so much of the work of election administration involves gathering, storing, validating and updating data on the identity of voters, election officials in different countries have begun to computerise many of these processes. The advantages are clear and often compelling. Computers offer election officials the capacity to securely store large amounts of data, to process and sort the data in various ways, and particularly to alter features such as electoral boundaries by referring to computerised files on voter populations.
In some cases, however, the social, economic or political environment may make computerisation difficult or even impossible. Despite this, there should still be ways to undertake registration initiatives that perform well on the criteria of currency, accuracy and completeness. Although computerisation of registration is now increasingly common in economically advanced democracies, computers came into use mostly within the past generation and especially the last decade. Before the 1980s and 1990s, computers were far less efficient, effective or affordable as registration tools.
Where practical, electoral administrators now find that computers can make aspects of registration more efficient and cost-effective. In fact, they face mounting pressure to “modernise” registration, which may lead them to adopt computerised systems. The urge to computerise is often driven by rising expectations about speeding up registration, as well as the need to sort voters’ lists in various ways (e.g. by geographic units such as voting divisions).
It is important, though, to recognise the costs involved in developing and maintaining computerised registration files. It is not simply a matter of developing and installing computer hardware and software: there will be an ongoing need to service and upgrade the system, and to have skilled and highly trained personnel to operate it. What is required is a careful evaluation of advantages and disadvantages, along with a realistic appraisal of the capacity to sustain the system into the future.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Computerisation
Computerisation of various components of the voter registration process can lower costs and greatly increase the reliability of data. Computerisation is particularly useful for the following tasks:
- Initial recording of voter information;
- Matching voter identification cards, including registration numbers, with the voter registration database;
- Maintaining the continuous list, including distributing to voters a copy of information currently on file;
- Printing copies of preliminary voters’ lists;
- Maintaining records of materials inventory at local registration offices and headquarters;
- Data entry to revise the preliminary voters’ list;
- Printing copies of the final voters’ list;
- General record keeping and maintenance;
- Identifying duplicate registrations;
- Producing statistics on voter registration by geographic area, as well as by gender, age, etc.;
- Providing consistency and standards for data shown on voters’ lists at low cost and without wasting paper,
- Providing copies of the list in a variety of electronic formats to political parties; and
- Keeping an audit trail of the changes made to each voter record for example, by whom a change was made, on the basis of what source information, what data were changed, which record attributes were affected, etc.
Computerisation also has disadvantages:
- Privacy and confidentiality: Computerisation does not necessarily lead to breaches of privacy or confidentiality. But given the ease of storing, sharing and transmitting computerised data, there is a possibility that data may be shared inappropriately or even illegally.
- Risk of theft: A computerised system closely links hardware (a valuable commodity to thieves) with voter registration software and information (generally not valuable to thieves). A manually produced voters’ list normally separates hardware and information. For example, a typewriter used to produce a list is entirely separate from the voters’ list itself, which exists on paper. With computerised lists, however, the information normally is stored in the computer and thus is inextricably tied to the hardware. If the hardware is stolen, the software and registration information will be lost as well.
- Inappropriate information sharing: Computerisation makes it easier for government agencies to share information that perhaps should be protected (for example, citizens’ health or tax records).
- Cost: There is a hefty price tag for computer hardware, software and maintenance. Ongoing service and upgrades will be required, as will an electronic infrastructure for operating the system efficiently.
Getting Started
There are no off-the-shelf computer programmes for large-scale voter registration initiatives, but election management authorities planning to computerise the voters’ list do not need to start from scratch. Often, considerable assistance is available from election management authorities in other countries that have successfully computerised. The key is to find a suitable system that can be applied with reasonable effectiveness and efficiency.
Concerns and/or misunderstandings are widespread regarding the capabilities and use of computers. When computerisation was discussed in one setting, for example, a common concern was that the computer could reveal a voter’s political affiliation or ethnic group membership. In another setting, the fear was that election results could easily be manipulated by election management authorities or the government. In a third setting, advocates of computerisation asserted that the computer could rectify errors in data entry, or correct falsified or poorly completed records. A well-publicised pilot project can do much to remove misconceptions.
