In most systems, a voter must be registered before s/he is eligible to vote. Unless a civil registry is used as the basis for a voters list, registration is the responsibility of both the voter and the electoral management body. The electoral management body provides the means for registration, but the voters usually must make the effort to
register and provide proof of their eligibility.
To ensure integrity in voter registration, the electoral management body has the responsibility to develop a free, fair and credible registration system, where:
- any qualified person who wants to register is able to register;
- the voter list is accurate, reliable and up to date; and
- eligibility requirements are not used as a means to exclude certain portions of the
population from registering.
Elections are won or lost by votes. As a result, who is able to register, and subsequently, to vote, can directly impact the outcome of an election. Ensuring the integrity of voter registration is critical and is facilitated by a well-designed and implemented process which is adequately monitored by political
parties and civil society.
Integrity problems in voter registration can be found in most systems, and are not confined
to newly emerging democracies or polarized societies. For example, in the 1996 elections for the
U.S. Congress in Orange County, California, a citizens' monitoring group found 12,000 duplicate
voter registrations. Most of the duplicates were from hotly contested areas where one candidate lost by 1,000 votes and another had lost by only 92 votes. The monitors also
found that most voters with duplicate registrations had requested absentee ballots (see Absentee Voting) in order to avoid having to vote in person.134
New technology, such as computerized voter lists, is enabling electoral managers to develop regional or
national lists, allowing for computerized checks for double registration or against such things
as immigration files to ensure the voters are citizens. For instance, Elections Canada shifted from registering
voters for every federal election to a permanent registration list because 'by the early 1990s, the
technology had evolved to the point where customized software could be developed specifically
to produce preliminary and official lists of electors, in a format that could be imported into most
word processing'
135 For more on technology see Elections and Technology.
Eligibility requirements
The right to vote is one of the foundations of a democratic system of government. However, the
right to vote is usually considered as a privilege of citizenship, and as a result, every nation has
established eligibility requirements for voting. These requirements usually include citizenship
status, a minimum age and sometimes a residency requirement. Voters abroad during elections
are usually treated as a separate category. The requirements set certain conditions where citizens
can lose their right to vote. These can include residency in a mental institutions or certain classes of
convicted criminals, including those guilty of electoral offenses. Integrity issues can arise
when conditions are added to the eligibility requirements for the purpose of excluding certain
groups of citizens from registering.
Literacy tests have been used in some systems to determine fitness for voting. However, these
tests can also be used as a means of discrimination, as they can give examining officials discretion
in determining who passes and who doesn't, especially when the tests are administered orally.
For example, this practice was used in several U.S. southern states as a means to exclude African Americans
until a federal law, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, suspended the tests. This suspension was
challenged through the court system, but was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Property requirements can also be used as a means to determine fitness for voting and can be used
to discriminate against landless voters.
Ensuring eligible citizens are able to register
Eligible citizens are only able to vote if they are registered. Ensuring that every citizen who wants
to register is able to register is another integrity challenge. In less developed countries there are logistical problems associated with
registration, and in most systems there can be problems if eligible citizens try to
register but can't because of access or other problems, including discrimination.
There are different voter registration systems. Some systems use the civil registry as the
voter registry and, as a result, everyone is automatically registered. For example, Denmark uses its
computerized national civil registry to produce a computerized voter list. Ireland uses a list of
voters prepared annually by the county councils and county borough corporations. Using a civil registry can
reduce the number of integrity problems related to the individual citizen's ability to register and can help ensure that every eligible citizen is registered to vote.
Other systems place the responsibility for registration on the citizens themselves. Citizens register
on either a permanent registry (requiring a one-time registration) or on a periodic registry which
requires voter to re-enroll at fixed intervals. The permanent register can be less burdensome on voters,
but requires regular upkeep by electoral officials to ensure that voters who have moved away, or
who have died, are taken off of the lists. Canada for instance, found that with new technologies, a
permanent computerized register was less expensive, time-consuming and labor intensive than their earlier system or registering voters for every federal election. Elections Canada estimates it will result in a net savings of $30 million for every federal
general election, and believes it has exceeded their expectations for efficiency, accuracy and cost
savings. 136
For the newer democracies, or in countries undergoing a transition, it is often necessary to create new registries by re-registering every
voter in the country. This can be an enormous logistical undertaking for the electoral
management body, requiring the recruitment and training of registrars, designing a new
registration system and physically registering every eligible citizen. (For more information on the
logistical aspects of registration see Supplies - Distribution, and Supplies - Recovery and Evaluation)
Access to registration sites can also be a problem for voters. Some countries require the physical
presence of the voter at registration as an integrity measure. However, this can create logistical problems for electoral managers in
trying to reach rural residents, or for residents in sparsely populated areas to reach a voter
registration site. It can also create problems for citizens with a physical handicap who have
mobility problems. (For more information on this see Equal Access to the Electoral Process.) In several countries this issue has been addressed by using a mail-in registration system. However, in turn, mail-in registration has created its own integrity issues (see Registration by Mail).
Many countries have adopted special regulations to make it easier for handicapped persons to register.
In New Zealand, for example, a physically handicapped person can get someone else to fill in, date and sign the
voter registration application. However, that person must be a registered voter or have power of
attorney. There is even a special number to call to find out if a family member can register if they
are mentally incapable. 137
The timing of registration can also create integrity issues. Registration is usually cut off by a fixed
date before the elections to enable election managers to determine how many ballots will be needed and for them to be able to do their logistical planning. In countries with severe weather (see Calendar) or for voters with access problems, it may be difficult to get out and register within the specified timeframe. This means that voters who are unable to register during the allotted time,
or who move after the registration period, may lose their right to vote in that election. Some countries, such as Canada, have addressed this issue by allowing voters to register on voting day. Others publicize the close-off date widely so that citizens are aware of the registration timeframe.
Discrimination Issues
The right to register and to vote is usually found in the Constitution or in relevant laws allowing
for the enforcement of voting rights. Discrimination by registrars or other electoral officials in
registering voters based on race, language or other minority status, is illegal and is treated as a
civil rights matter in most countries. In Kenya, 'where approximately 60 percent of the
population's ethnicity can be determined by the first letter of their surname, errors in the
registration of voters - especially with names beginning with the letters A (Gusii), G (Kikuyu), K
(Kalenjin or Kikuyu), M (Kamba), N (Kikuyu) and O (Luo)' can be used to exclude certain
groups from voting. 138
In these cases, electoral managers need to ensure adequate measures are taken to protect the rights of all qualified citizens to register. Canada, for instance, adopted a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 which protected the freedoms and rights for all citizens to vote and run as candidates. It also allowed for court challenges based on discriminatory voting regulations. Elections Canada states: 'the adoption of the Charter has been the single most effective trigger for the removal of the last vestiges of discrimination.' 139
Right to privacy
Voter registration lists need to be available for political party and public inspection in order to
ensure the integrity of the lists. However, making private information public can raise the issue of
privacy. Countries address this issue in different ways. For instance, New Zealand has an 'unpublished roll'.
This is a special registry for persons who are afraid that registering to vote and listing their
address would jeopardize their safety:
If you believe that having your details recorded on the printed roll could threaten your
personal safety, you may request that your particulars are not shown on the printed roll.
You will need to make a separate application for this and produce some evidence of your
personal circumstances, such as a protection order, a restraining order, or a statutory
declaration from a member of the Police.140
Canada has protected the privacy of all information in the National Register of Electors by passing the
Canada Act and the Privacy Act. This requires that information on the registry can be used only for electoral
purposes, and any other use is illegal. A Privacy Commissioner was established that has the right to audit how
information from the National Register of Electors is collected, stored, updated and used. Only
registered political parties, members of Parliament, and candidates are allowed access to the names and
addresses, and they are allowed to use this list only to send campaign information, recruit new
members and seek campaign contributions.
This Act also enables every voter in Canada the right to have their name removed from the Register to prevent the
transfer of their name to the provinces or territories. This must be done in writing to the Chief
Electoral Officer. Electors who choose not to be on the National Register of Electors still retain
the right to vote, but must re-register before the election in which they wish to vote.141
Another way to handle the privacy issue is not to make the voters list available, as is done in Denmark, where the electoral register is not published nor is it accessible to the public or political
parties. This may be because the electoral registry is based on the computerized civil registration
system administered by the Ministry of the Interior. 142
