There are several stages in the production of the preliminary voters list.
Data Gathering and Entry
As the information is gathered by registration officers or at registration centres, clerks begin entering the data on preliminary voters’ list forms or into the computer for an automated generation of a voters list. For either procedure, the data can be entered on a district or national basis. If national, the data can later be reopened on a district basis. On occasion, the information is processed manually. The information is entered by hand into a master ledger or record, and the voter is issued a receipt.
Data gathering for voter registration is normally organised on the basis of small geographic units. In the absence of formally defined administrative divisions (sometimes referred to as polls, voting areas or voting divisions), a unit may be a community, village, ward or even the area served by a voting station. Usually it is impractical to try to sort tens of thousands of registrations and file them on a list manually. Even with computers, huge lists can be a problem. When computers are used, the preference is often to sort entries geographically by street and building numbers. This is particularly useful for campaign activity.
At the conclusion of the period of gathering data through a door-to-door registration or registration centres, there may be a period allowed for registration by mail. If the registration system is computerised, this period coincides and concludes with the final stage of data entry for production of a preliminary list. In a system that produces the voters’ list manually, all the source documents must be collected before the transcription of information to a list can begin. The list may be compiled by hand or typewriter, and then reproduced by photo-offset printing or photocopying.
Actual List Production
In a list production, the usual approach is to start with a geographic framework – that is, assemble all the registrations for a geographic unit, then print or create a list of registered voters for the unit, then print or create a list of registered voters sorted according to a predetermined order. For manual lists, sorting is generally on the basis of family and given names. It can also be on the basis of community, street, building number if any, family name and given names. The preliminary voters list may indicate the gender of each registered voter, as well as other information such as occupation, age and telephone number.
The list may need to group entries by geographic area or identifier, such as street. Where applicable, the grouping may be by town, village or other populated place, or the list may simply be in alphabetical order.
Each step in list production is critical. Delays, inputting or typing mistakes, and printing errors may significantly lessen overall success. Adequate reproduction facilities and supplies must be organized in advance. Contingency plans must identify back-up methods to be used if any step in production fails. Difficulties can raise the costs or call into question the integrity of the list. When voter registration is carried out during the election period, every step of the process should be considered time-sensitive.
Locally or Centrally Produced?
A key question is whether to produce and print the preliminary list locally or centrally. It is useful to follow the same procedure planned for the final list; printing the preliminary list then serves as a test of the plan’s effectiveness. If lists are printed locally from a centrally held database, there must be an effective data transmission facility, together with appropriate local printing facilities and back-up. If lists are printed centrally, there must be an appropriate distribution system.
In all cases, substantial volumes of data must usually be transmitted back and forth between local and central election offices. To meet the ongoing data management requirements, there must be some secure data transmission facilities through reliable physical or electronic networks.
