The Question
This question was posted on behalf of the Swedish electoral review committee.

The Swedish "free right of nomination" means that there are no formal requirements to run and be eligible for an election and no registration or announcement of parties or candidates is needed before election day. Hence, a voter can form a party and nominate a candidate AND vote for that party and candidate directly on the ballot paper (write-in) on election day. Our questions are: Are there any other countries with the same or similar rules? What - in your experience - are the issues to consider relating to the introduction of electronic voting in such a system?

Summary of responses
The only other example given that is comparable to the Swedish system is from the United States, where “many US states allow write-in candidates for various offices.” In some states a candidate must file an advance notice before election day of their intention to run as a write-in candidate, while others have no such requirement.

Issues to take into consideration regarding electronic voting in such a system include allowing a candidate’s name to be typed in, registering data and how to identify a voter casting a write-in ballot with their vote.

It is noted that in 2010, a write-in candidate actually won a US Senate race in Alaska.

Although Japan does not allow unregistered write-in candidates, voters write the name of their chosen party/candidate on a blank voting slip. One expert believes there are lessons to be learned for write-in candidates from the Japanese example, especially related to determining a voter’s intentions.

Two other replies are sceptical of the practicalities and benefits of allowing write-in candidates on election day, with one believing that it would undermine confidence in the electoral process and may cause confusion and unrest.

Examples of related ACE Articles and Resources
Encyclopaedia:
• Registration requirements of candidates for election 
• Criteria to stand as a candidate

Names of contributors
1. Elijah James
2. Jonathan Stonestreet
3. Robert Marsh
4. Idi Boina
5. Pamela Mapondera

I am not aware of any other country with any same or similar rules.

However I can see no tangible benefit being derived from such an informality on election day for the candidate or party or even the electorate. One of the issue I see coming out of such a policy is the insufficient time that is not being granted to the electorate to have the opportunity to scrutinize or review to whom they are giving their "X" or "tick" towards...

The Electoral Process in ensuring that electorate confidence is had in it must be guided by planned and coordinated policy in an efficient way, which cannot be had with same day candidate registration. This practice may just create unnecessary confusion and unrest at the polling stations. 

If a candidate or party only decided at last minute to "feel" the need to join the race.. they may very well not be the elected leaders the electorate may require to effectively manage the affairs of a governing body...

Many US states allow write-in candidates for various offices. In some of these states, write-in votes are counted only if the candidate has filed an advance notice that he/she is running as a write-in candidate; others have no such requirement and count all write-in votes.

An electronic voting system has to comply with these provisions. In this case there must be a keyboard (or touch screen keyboard) that would allow the name to be typed in. There may be an issue of how the voting device logs the data, and whether a voter casting a write-in ballot could be identified with his/her vote. I'm not sure how this is addressed technically.

For more detailed information, the Secretaries of State of Georgia or Alaska might be able to help. Incidentally, in 2010 a write-in candidate won a US Senate race in Alaska.

In Japan they don't (or at least didn't in 2010) use ballot papers with the names of candidates and parties written on them at all.  Instead they post lists of candidates and parties in booths and voters write the name of their preferred party and/or candidate on a voting slip.  (A system which is only possible in a highly literate society like Japan.

Their rules accommodate votes for identifiable candidates even where the name written in is an informal one such as a stage name or sporting nickname.  They also have a rule whereby a write-in which could be for one of several candidates (e.g. "Tanaka" where there are two candidates with that surname) is divided counted as equal fractional votes for each candidate to whom the name could apply.

This is further complicated by the fact that in some parts of their electoral system a vote for either a party or an individual candidate is valid; a vote for a candidate is counted as a vote for that candidate's party and also affects the order of the party list.

As far as I am aware they do not allow unregistered write-in candidates, but I'm sure at least some of what they have learned would be relevant to write-in candidates in general and in particular to the difficulties of identifying for whom a write-in vote is intended.

Dans beaucoup des pays africains,il existe des dispositions relatives aux votes ou bien ce qu'on appelle le code électoral. les dispositions commencent à partir des inscriptions des électeurs,affichage des liste des candidats,c'est à dire le code fait une détaille de toutes les activités liées au processus jusqu'à la publications et la gestion des contentieux après les résultats. Donc il a des dates prévues par la loi pour s’inscrire en qualité d’électeur, des périodes pour les inscription des candidats ou d'un parti politique  selon le mode du scrutin et des ages bien précises pour briguer un poste .

Pour le vote Electronique ,il suffit de se conformer à la loi d'abord,et ce qui est technique appartient au spécialiste en technologie informatique et maintenance.

I haven't heard of such a system. However, I wonder how such a system would be managed, in terms of ballot paper verification and accountability. How would the electorate know about the prospective candidate for them to vote for him/her? How does the EMB prepare for an election for whom they are not sure of the candidates contesting for that election? I find it very difficult to administer such an election. How do they conduct their voter education?

It seems quite interesting as it is a new system coming into play.

We wish them the best.

Pamela Mapondera (Mrs.)