After collecting registration data on the voter registration forms, election officials can produce a preliminary voters’ list. This is given to political parties and candidates for their campaign use. The election management authority uses it to estimate the number of people eligible to vote in each geographic area; that estimate helps in establishing voting districts. In addition, voters can check their information as it appears in the preliminary voters’ list, and can file claims or objections with the aim of changing their entries or being added to the list.
In the past, preliminary voters’ lists were typically posted for public inspection or made available in a public place, such as a government office or a public library. Privacy concerns have led many countries to stop publicly displaying the list. Instead, some form of verification (e.g. a postcard) generally is handed or sent to voters to confirm that they are registered and to explain where they should vote. In some jurisdictions, voters may check their registration status by going to the office of the election management authority in person, contacting it by telephone or visiting its website.
The preliminary list enables citizens to check whether they are duly registered to vote in the next electoral event or need to contact the registration office to request a change in their listing. The list also allows political parties and candidates to determine whether there are inaccurate or fraudulent entries and whether many of their supporters are unregistered and therefore need to be encouraged to apply for registration.
If registration officials receive no requests for changes, the preliminary list becomes the final voters list used on Election Day. This outcome would be surprising, however, since it is very unlikely that officials succeeded in contacting every eligible voter in the first round of registration. More commonly requests for changes are received, making it possible to use the preliminary list as the basis for assessing how the registration process has performed in terms of currency, accuracy and completeness. The necessary changes are incorporated to produce a revised (i.e. final) voters list.
The preliminary voters’ list also serves at least three other purposes:
- Before the final list is ready, it gives parties a list of voters whom they may contact for support in a voting division, voting area or electoral district.
- In some countries it provides the basis for calculating the amount of government financing to which a candidate or party is entitled, as well as spending limits during the campaign itself
- It also gives the election management authority an opportunity to estimate the number of voting stations it will need and if necessary where more or less polling stations will be required as well as the number of ballot papers that have to be printed.
Role of Political Parties
The preliminary voters list is normally made available to political parties for their review – an additional verification of the quality of the list. Political parties have a vested interest in reviewing the list and confirming its accuracy. Their participation in the voter registration process is crucial:
- Free and fair elections require openness and transparency. That includes the fact that no important information should be kept secret. By sharing the preliminary voters list with political parties, the election administration promotes transparency in the electoral process.
- To improve the quality of the list, election administrators usually try to enlist the help of voters and civil society organizations. Parties can often provide updates and corrections to the listed information. The result will be a list that performs better in terms of currency, accuracy and completeness.
Privacy Concerns
External checks on the list must not compromise the privacy of the people listed. In some countries, many privacy concerns have been raised in connection with voter registration information and procedures. Personal safety reasons may require that the names of certain registered voters be suppressed from the public rolls; for example: judges, police officers and people who fear attack by an abusive former spouse or partner. Such persons may be placed on a list of anonymous or “silent” voters.
Sometimes only limited information is available to third parties, that is, anyone other than the election management authority or the individual citizen. Some jurisdictions restrict the display of citizen identification numbers or other identification; some do not reveal age or street address. Most jurisdictions ban usage of the lists for anything other than election purposes; in particular, they ban commercial use in order to ensure that people who register to vote are not thereby exposed to a barrage of sales offers.
Preliminary List with Different Registration Systems
In preparing the preliminary list, there is one significant difference between the procedure in a system with a periodic list and a system with a continuous register and that is the time when this task is performed. In some periodic list systems, the election management authority develops the preliminary list in the official election period by mounting a registration initiative. In a continuous list system, the election management authority completes most of the work in developing the preliminary list well before the start of the election campaign; if the work was done properly (that is, scoring well on the three criteria of currency, accuracy and completeness), there should be relatively few changes to the list during the election period.
Electoral administrators describe this way of working as “managing the spikes.” Of course, not all spikes in activity can be eliminated from the voter registration process – except in a country using the civil registry system.
In such a system there is no need for a preliminary list if the registry has been properly created and maintained. Usually it is mandatory for citizens to be listed in the civil registry, and the information it contains can be used for various purposes, including for elections. Typically registration is required at the time of birth or naturalisation; thereafter, citizens must promptly report changes to their registration information – for example, changes of name, address or marital status. The list is consequently continually updated and is always kept current. Consequently, there is no need for a preliminary voters list when an election is called.
