A voters’list that scores well on the three performance measures of currency, accuracy and completeness is a safeguard of free and fair elections. If the voter registration process is well documented and has open and transparent procedures, it will help ensure that the electoral system meets standards of legitimacy, contributing to the integrity of an election.
Keep Records
For each voter on a periodic list, the election management authority should have on file a copy of the voter registration form, as well as any and all supporting material used to evaluate or adjudicate the voter’s eligibility. As a precaution, it is useful and necessary to keep this information for a designated time, at least until the deadline has passed for appealing the election results; six months from the election date may be a reasonable period. Registration officials must effectively organize and maintain all the registration records that they have compiled. Creating a voters’ list from this material is a significant task but equally important is the task of organising the source documents, which may be needed to resolve disputes.
A periodic list normally is developed in a relatively short time immediately before the calling of an election or during the election campaign itself. For this reason, maintaining up-to-date files on all eligible voters is less a concern with a periodic list than with a continuous list or a civil registry. In fact, a major advantage of the periodic list is that it obviates the need to store old data and update it regularly.
Nonetheless, the overall integrity of a voters list may be challenged, and electoral administrators should be prepared to defend decisions on the eligibility of any person or group of persons. They should also be prepared for the possibility that a political party will accuse them of systematic bias against its supporters. At the very least they must keep materials relating to decisions on eligibility (e.g. registration forms, applications to challenge a voter’s registration or a decision of the revision court) and store these for a suitable time following the election. In addition, the information must be stored in a way that keeps it accessible. Since millions of records are likely to be involved, this is not an easy job. What is needed is a workable filing framework. Usually files are organised by administrative unit, defined geographically.
Electoral administrators must also be able to document why a particular decision was made. Failure to maintain adequate documentation and justification for decisions is unprofessional and gives the appearance of capricious behaviour. This can call into question the integrity of the election management authority and the legitimacy of the election itself. If the authority maintains proper records of decisions, it will be able to make consistent decisions in similar cases, though largely on an exception basis. Generally there should be clearly defined policies to guide decision making.
Establish Appeals Mechanisms
Decisions by the election management authority relating to the eligibility of a potential voter might include denial of the vote, a claim of a fraudulent registration, a claim of a duplicate registration or duplicate voting, rejection as a signatory of a nomination paper or petition of recall. All such decisions must be open and transparent.
Furthermore, there must be appropriate mechanisms for appeals. The first channel of appeal may be to the election management authority itself, usually the director of the local electoral office. A further appeal should be possible either with the election commission, if one exists, or the highest-ranking electoral officer. Finally, if circumstances warrant, an appeal should be possible through normal judicial channels.
Track Information Changes
The purpose of an audit trail is to identify errors in voter registration information, explain inconsistencies and properly manage the information. In ensuring the ability to audit the voter register, the key is to provide information that was used to update each record. The following questions illustrate the types of information needed in keeping records on changes of address:
- Did the change of information come from the individual or another source, such as the records of the public health department?
- What was the name of the clerk who entered the change of information into the system?
- Where and when was this done?
Being able to answer such questions makes it possible to resolve discrepancies between registers or databases. One rule is to accept what was entered most recently as best indicating the current information. A second rule is to contact the citizen for help with resolving discrepancies between databases.
Moreover, there should be a mechanism requiring citizens to confirm the accuracy of information on record and correct it if necessary. One such mechanism is the voter information card, delivered directly to the voter’s residence early in the campaign. The card may present important voter education messages: where to go to have the information on the card corrected; the date of the election; the political offices for which candidates are running the location, operating hours of the voter registration centre and the voting station.
Oversee Data Collection
Audit trail maintenance for the continuous register and civil registry may involve overseeing data collection. A difficulty is that the election management authority may not be responsible for collecting the data used for voter registration purposes and may have to depend on other government bodies to provide high-quality, reliable information. One solution is to mandate the election authority to directly oversee data collection by other bodies.
