This question is posted by ACE on behalf of Kevin Pallister, UMass Dartmouth. 

Some countries remove registered voters from the voter rolls if they do not vote in a specified number of consecutive elections. I am looking for more information on this practice, specifically: 

1. How many countries have provisions for removing voters from the voter registry for failure to vote in a specified number of consecutive elections? (Or, what are some examples of countries that do so?) 

2. Does such purging of voters for nonvoting typically have significant effects on the accuracy of the voter rolls or on voter turnout?

Summary of Responses

First off, the issue of removing voters from voter rolls was discussed in the context of the difficulties experienced on keeping accurate data on voters. A large cause of voter roll confusion stems from deceased voters and voters who relocate. In developing countries with high birth and death rates combined with rural population experiencing urbanization, it's common that either through incompetence or apathy, voter registration (both self-registered by the voters themselves or through organizations) often fails to update accurately. An example of this is Tunisia, where electoral rolls are updated by the voters. Due to the recent unrest and emigration recently, their voter rolls have been largely inaccurate and even led to a political contest between candidates trying to win over voters that didn't exist. Thus, the failure to update voter rolls can have a significant effect on the election, both in terms of predictions and results.

Practitioners' Network members provided structural examples from their areas of expertise for voter roll absentee control. 

• One simple institution that is implemented relatively widely in democracies is having a dual registry: a secondary roll of voters, composed on those who have been absent from a set number of recent elections. Instead of their data being removed from the voter roll, it's simply stored as backup and can be re-added to the active primary voter roll if needed.
• In Ecuador the development of the electoral registry from the National Electoral Council is conducted on the basis of information supplied by the Civil Registry. This is the first institution that processes civil information. The dual registry is used by the National Electoral Council in Ecuador to complement their three voter classification objectives:
• Obtain electoral absentee rates for each electoral registration sector
• Implement necessary changes in electoral document design in order to quantify electorate segments
• Obtain a base of study to explore the causes of absenteeism for the voters on the secondary passive voter roll
• In the United Kingdom, a system of yearly registration was the baseline for combating absenteeism in voter rolls, and despite recent changes positive confirmation of voters is still require before each election. It is noted here that this is possible through the extremely particular birth and death rate registrar and the use of other census databases.

Suggested Recommendations for Voter Rolls

What is important for the question of accurate voter rolls is how the register can be validated. If there is a good national identification system, a reliable registrar of deaths and births, strong taxation databases or even postal addresses, the problem is relatively easily addressed. Otherwise the only viable option is to re-register for each election. 

Another important mechanism may be to compare the records of the immigration office to identify citizens who leave a country legally. To overcome the effects caused by illegal migration on voter rolls in developing (and developed) countries, one can make calls through diplomatic and consular offices abroad, stating that the registration and information will not be used for penalties for immigration violations. Another strategy that contributes to the purification of the electoral register is to publish electoral lists by populations from small to large, preferably during the post-election stage.

Finally, the secondary voter roll should be utilized to maintain records on voters who have been absent. In this case if someone removed shows up to vote it would be quite easy to reincorporate that voter to the roll and allow him/her to vote. 

Countries Cited as Demonstrating Voter Poll Purging Effects (or Lack Thereof)

• Tunisia

• United Kingdom

• Ecuador

External Resources

‘Expanding Democracy: Voter Registration around the World’ (The Brennan Center) https://www.brennancenter.org/publication/expanding-democracy-voter-registration-around-world

‘Voter Purges Alter US Political Map’ (Al Jazeera America) http://america.aljazeera.com/blogs/scrutineer/2014/11/14/voter-purges-alteruspoliticalmap.html

‘Voter Registration and Inclusive Democracy: Analysing Registration Practices Worldwide’ (IDEA) http://www.idea.int/publications/vt/upload/Voter%20registration.pdf

‘Your Country, Your Vote- A Rough Guide to Voter Restrictions’ (ICIJ) http://www.icij.org/blog/2014/05/your-country-your-vote-rough-guide-global-voter-restrictions

Contributing Members

• Horacio Boneo
• Karima Amirat 
• David George Ian Mathieson
• Wilson Hinojosa
• Victor Hugo Ajila

It is quite difficult to eliminate from the rolls voters who are dead or who have migrated to other countries, and this “inflates” the rolls.  Even more difficult is to make sure that the address in the roll is the actual address, as many registered voters do not care to provide such information to the electoral authorities when they move.  The remotion from the rolls of voters who have not shown up to vote in a few elections is an attempt to improve the accuracy of voter rolls by assuming that a double or triple no-show is due in most cases to these reasons.  However, the reasonable thing to do is to keep the name of those removed in a secondary roll, which is not used for the computation of “registered” voters.  If someone removed shows up to vote it would be quite easy to reincorporate that voter to the roll and allow him/her to vote.  In the case of non declared changes of address, there are also procedures for solving the problem.  As to the measurement of voter turnout, it is probably better to use the population of voting age, which is a demographic measure more accurate and adequate than the number of people in the rolls.

Bonsoir

En Tunisie cette pratique n'existe pas et les listes électorales sont actualisées soit automatiquement par l instance supérieur des élections ou par les votants eux mêmes

Ceci dit, un grand débat a eu lieu lors des dernières élections concernant les votants décédés dont les noms existaient toujours sur les listes!

In the UK there used to be re-registration every year, and even with the recent changes in procedure this should require positive confirmation before each election.  This in a country with a tradition of informing Registrars of Births and Deaths, and other databases which can be consulted.  But you highlight the problem of removing those who have died or moved away.  In some developing countries with high birth rates and rural population moving to the cities there can often be more people deleted and added to  the register for each election than remain in the same polling district.

  But administrative convenience ids never a reason for removing the right to vote.

   What is important is how the register can be validated.  If there is a good National ID system, a reliable Registrar of Deaths, and/or strong Taxation databases or even Postal Addresses, the problem is relatively easy.  Otherwise the only option might be to re-register for each election.

En las Elecciones Seccionales del año 2014 de Ecuador, aplicamos la estructuración del Registro Electoral Activo y Pasivo, esta distinción de los electores consistió en ubicar en el registro activo a todos quienes frecuentemente acuden a sufragar, y el registro pasivo se ubicó a quienes teniendo obligación de sufragar, no lo hicieron en los tres últimos procesos electorales.

Esta clasificación de los electores tuvo como objetivos entre otros los siguientes

·         Obtener índices de ausentismo electoral por cada segmento del registro electoral.

·         Implementar los cambios necesarios en los diseños de los documentos electorales, para la cuantificación de los electores por cada segmento del registro electoral.

·         Obtener en base a un estudio, información de las causas para lo no asistencia a sufragar de las personas que se encuentren en el registro electoral pasivo.

Esta clasificación en ningún caso restringió  el acceso al voto para quienes se encuentran el registro pasivo y de esta manera se obtuvo información valiosa para emprender en convenios interinstitucionales que nos permitan actualizar la información de las personas que constan en el registro electoral.

Como complemento a lo manifestado por mi colega Wilson Hinojosa, quiero señalar que en Ecuador la competencia para elaborar el registro electoral la tiene el Consejo Nacional Electoral sobre la base de la información que entrega el Registro Civil, que es la institución que registra el estado civil de las personas. Esta institución es la primera que procesa la información; técnicamente solo se pueden excluir del registro electoral a las personas fallecidas. Por eso un mecanismo importante de depuración es el registro electoral activo y pasivo que ya fue explicado.

Otro mecanismo importante puede ser el de comparar los registros de la oficina de migración para identificar a los ciudadanos que salen de un país legalmente.

Para superar los efectos que ocasiona la migración ilegal se puede hacer llamados a través de las oficinas diplomáticas y consulares en el extranjero, aclarando que el registro y la información no será usada para sanciones por infracciones migratorias.

Otra estrategia que aporta a la depuración del registro electoral es publicar las listas de elecctores por poblaciones desde pequeñas a grandes, de preferencia durante la etapa post electoral.

En République Démocratique du Congo cette pratique n'existe pas pour certaines raisons. En premier lieu le vote étant un droit. Ensuite  l'inscription sur la liste des électeurs qui  est une exigence légale accordant le droit de vote à l'électeur. Dans cette nouvelle ère démocratique que connait la République Démocratique du Congo, les deux différents mises à jour du fichier électoral n'ont pas contraint les électeurs abstentionnistes de ne point s'y inscrire car une telle option est contraire à la législature congolaise.