This question was posted on behalf of Dr. Régis Dandoy, NCCR Democracy at the University of Zurich.

Since 2002, Ecuador has a system with separate polling stations for women and men. I would like to know more about the "uniqueness" of the Ecuadorian system and about the possibility to compare it with other countries. This will feed into a research plan for an upcoming field study in Ecuador following the recent parliamentary and presidential elections. The study includes analyzing voting differences between men and women (such as turnout, invalid votes, voting patterns, preference votes, votes for female candidates, etc.). I would therefore like to ask:

• Which examples are there of countries that use a system with separate polling stations for women and men?
• What academic studies, electoral guides, position papers, etc. are available on this topic?

Dear Régis.

As far as I know, Greece was another example of this practice for some time.

In such an environment, I'm sure this may have produced some academic studies. Unfortunately, I’m not an expert in the field and I can’t provide a catalogue of such publications.

Good luck in your attempt.

Afghanistan, Pakistan and many countries in the MENA region have separate polling stations.

I like to tell of the first Afghan election, with separate polling stations.  Because female (and overall) illiteracy is so high, they couldn't find enough women to work as polling station officials, so in some stations imams served, sitting behind curtains which separated them from the voters.  While  the men's stations in Kabul (where I was working) had long lines, in at least two women's stations the women broken down the door to get in, they were so excited!  Veils flipped back, the women grew faces, and our big problem was getting them to leave so others could get in -- election day was not only a voice for the, but a rare chance to interact.

Algeria and many countries of North Africa have also separate polling stations .

Greetings..

There are many countries with separate polling stations for men and women including Arab states, and including Kuwait, for example.

In my country, Iraq, there is no such phenomenon. Men and women both vote at polling stations scattered across the country.

Wishing you luck in your search on this topic,

Esam Ibraheem

Dear all,

I did elections in Afghanistan on 2004 and 2009 and there are separated polling stations for men and woman. Other exaples are : Pakistan and other countries in Middle East.

Egypt is such. However, this is not applied all over the country. Some cities have this division, but in the countryside, this is not the case.

Tengo conocimiento que en Chile, existe la separación de mesas de votación, también en Colombia, el tema de separación de mesas obedece a que los documentos de identidad están separados para mujeres y hombres entonces se distribuyen así las mesas, pues es la conformación del registro electoral, pero también se está cambiando el sistema de cupos de los documentos y se están revolviendo los géneros en las mesas que no tienen división de documentos, existen varios países que tienen separados hombres y mujeres para los efectos de la votación 

Libya's recent election (2012) is worth mentioning too in addition to the countries referred to by other experts. The High National Election Commission ruled on differentiating the polling stations pretty late (about a week or so before the Election Day). International election observers had to reshuffle their deployment plans accordingly. Despite the fears that men-men / men-women election observer teams would have difficulties in exercising their duties comme il faut, no problems were reported, - mixed-sex teams were tolerated. 

Unlike the situation in Afghanistan, the HNEC managed to recruit enough women to staff female polling stations.

Argentina is another case.

I believe that in the Weimar Republic, there were some separate polling stations for men and women - I came across this in a Manchester Guardian article in 1932 - 33.

The practice of separate polling stations for men and women are prevalent mostly in Muslim majority countries. To add to the list of countries already mentioned in other messages, you can add Bangla Desh also. In Afghanistan there were separate voter registration centers also for men and women.

The biggest disadvantage of the system is  that it nearly doubles the number of polling stations required especially in rural areas increasing the cost of elections, e. I do not think it will increase the participation of women in elections. except in Muslim countries. 

I have not come across any study about this practice. 

Bonjour,à tous,c'est une autre expérience pour moi,bien que je suis né dans un pays  à cent pour cent musulman, mais on n'a jamais connu une telle expérience.Je crois que c'est beaucoup plus les pays qui appliquent le droit islamique,qui séparent les bureaux de vote pour  homme et bureau de vote pour  femme,si on suit les précédentes interventions.

Bonne continuation.

Dear Dr Regis Dandoy,

it was my first international experience for the first Afghanistan elections, 2004,  where I was an International trainer for election procedures. During trainings in some cases we had a separated classes and consultations, depend of several issues, first of all facilities, already made for specific, women purposes and women roll in society, where  men`s presence is not allowed because of traditional reasons.  Same was with Polling stations. Most positive effect was high level of willingness Afghanistan people  to learn about democracy, about elections  with a clear picture of better future.

Warm regards and successfully researching in this topics, 

Jagoda  Petrovic-Ukaj

In Bangladesh, the law has provision to set up separate polling stations for male and female voters. In the 9th parliamentary election held in late 2008, the average number of male voters per polling both was 600, while it was 500 for female voters. Even, in the densely populated city where there is a big school, two separate polling stations were set up - one for male and one for female. This practice has been following in Bangladesh since 1973, the first parliamentary election in the country. 

CEDAW encourages the use of special measures to reach the goals set
out in the Convention. In some countries, this could mean that the
provision of separate facilities (or separate queues) for voting is
required to ensure full equality of access to a secret vote for the
entire electorate. In such cases, the provision of such separate
facilities would not be discriminatory but would be considered
enabling for equal suffrage.

Female-only voting centres or rooms may be useful in three situations.
 In some countries where family or enforced proxy voting is a problem,
the use of female voting rooms inhibits men from casting ballots on
behalf of a woman. In cultures where women do not interact with men
who are not relatives, having a separate space with women staff for
all components of the voting process increases access for  women
voters’ participation. When women wear a Muslim veil and/or gloves and
their face and/or fingerprints are checked as part of the
identification process on voting day, having female staff and a room
where there are only women present  increases the accessibility of
polling. Decisions about using women-only voting centres or rooms need
to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of such a choice. Possible
disadvantages may include the added cost and complication involved;
whether segregated stations have a history of being effective (ie,
does it actually deter family voting and increase turnout, or not?);
and whether women-only polling stations are subject to distinct types
of fraud and/or violence (for example, in some contexts it is noted
that women-only polling stations are more likely to not open at all on
election day, thereby disenfranchising all women registered to vote at
these locations). If the decision to use segregated polling stations
is made, it should be taken early in the planning stage to allow time
to find enough suitable locations, female staff, and related budgets.
A change to the law may be needed to allow for separate male and
female voting places.

Some examples of the provision of women only polling facilities in
other areas are:

·      Afghanistan: uses separate male and female voting centres and
the female voting centres are staffed by women and only women are
allowed to enter them
·      Pakistan: uses either separate voting centres or separate
voting rooms in combined voting centres. Voting centres designated for
women are staffed solely by female personnel. Female polling security
is also available from the Government
·      Palestine and Egypt: uses separate voting centres in some
areas. In Egypt, separate queues may also be used at mixed centres.
·      Lebanon, Yemen and Jordan: use separate voting centres
·      Chile: separate voting places for men and women. In the few
mixed voting centres, men and women place their ballot papers in
separate boxes
·      Kuwait: legally mandated segregated voting centres for men and women
·      Bahrain: there is a separate area in each voting centre for women
·      Papua New Guinea: proposes to use separate booths for women to
cast their votes in the coming general elections in 2012, after
trialling it at a by-election

More information on this will be available in an upcoming publication
from UNDP's "Inclusive Electoral Processes: A Guide on
Electoral Management Bodies and Women’s Participation".  

In general the practice of separate polling station for men and women is common in the North Africa. countries, which are all muslims, exception made on Tunisia case, at least all the other countries names; Mauritania, Algeria, Algeria, Egypt, Libya apply it . The particularity is that both women and men car share the same polling centers or and stations , but will use  different queues in a some countries like Egypt. However, this is more cultural than political.