With a periodic list, registration involves managing a large volume of records. This can be done efficiently with computers, but using them may not always be practical or possible. Whether or not a system is computerised, it must perform a number of key tasks:
- Storing registration forms. The forms are critically important legal documents. They must be properly filed and secured. They provide the only proof of duplicate registration and are essential for prosecuting cases of duplicate voting.
- Transferring information from registration forms to the voters list. In a computerised system this may involve the creation of a voters’ list database. In a system that is not computerised, manual development of the voters list should promptly follow data collection; usually, preparation of the preliminary voters list begins while data collection is still underway.
- Storing and accessing data for the voters list. Even with a periodic list, records are often retained from one election to the next. However, ongoing changes are made to the data contained in a continuous register or civil registry. As a result, a number of agencies and databases must store and manage data. Computerisation greatly aids in storage but data from the different databases must still be matched to a particular voter. Some election management authorities have found that matching information from different sources is easier with voter registration databases structured on the basis of addresses rather than individual citizens.
- Managing data collection. A geographic framework is essential for data collection and the smaller the population units, the better. Managing registrations in an electoral district of 40,000 voters is difficult if all are included in one single file. Managing 100 administrative units of 400 voters each is considerably easier.
Short-Term Storage
Every system must provide short-term storage of the completed registration forms while the voters list is being developed, verified and finalised. Many countries require the electoral management authority to retain the original forms. If registration officers are used, they are responsible for the forms in their geographic areas. They compile the list for the area or names assigned to them. Working from the registration officer’s lists, other registration officials usually compile the master list for the region. In many jurisdictions there may be no national list. In a system based on single-member districts (i.e. that each elect one representative to the legislature), the list may be maintained at the local level.
The voter registration forms may be used to verify signatures on nomination forms, as well as on initiative and referendum petitions (which are particularly common in a system with a continuous register rather than a periodic list). Both voter identification cards and blank forms must be stored securely.
Data Transfer
Data will have to be sent from local data collection points (the registration centres or the local registration offices if door-to-door registration is used) to the central election management authority for development of the national voters’ list. A centralised computer database makes it possible to transmit the data through a transaction processing, with a high level of integrity checking to ensure completeness in the sending and reception of each record.
There are various ways of electronically transmitting data between local and regional or national offices of the election management authority. Where the infrastructure exists, transmission may be via wire-based or wireless internet, telephone lines, or even satellite. Alternatively, postal or dedicated delivery systems may be used to move data kept in physical form (e.g. printed copies of the voters’ list) or stored on a variety of devices (e.g. diskettes, CDs or memory sticks). Whichever method is used, the aim is secure and timely delivery.
If computers are not used, a typed or handwritten voters list may be transmitted. Policies must be developed specifying where and how the data should be delivered and in how many copies.
Producing Voters Lists
Where there is a national voters’ list, use of computers makes it easy to transfer data from the local site to the national election management authority. Centralised information may be needed in a country where voting is not organised by electoral district and representatives in the legislature are instead chosen on the basis of the proportion of votes each party receives.
In other systems, however, the list may cover only a specific geographic area – particularly in a country where voters elect a representative from each electoral district. In such a case, voters usually vote only in the area where they reside and the list could be maintained even at the voting division level. In Canada’s provinces, the periodic list is maintained only at the level of each electoral district.
Collecting large volumes of voter registration data and producing voters’ lists are laborious and highly involved procedures. Today these tasks can be fully automated with specially developed computer software. Voter registration software invariably is custom designed to local specifications at considerable expense.
