Limitations on Access
As absentee voting is a more complex, more costly and potentially less transparent form of voting, access to absentee voting facilities is often restricted to those with particular legislatively-defined qualifications. The qualifications (if any) imposed for absentee voters will depend on the ability to provide and manage absentee voting facilities, and equity considerations for those who are unable to attend the voting station(s) at which they are registered to vote. In part, this will come down to a societal ethos of whether voting is seen as a right or a duty.
In its most narrow interpretation, absentee voting may be restricted to those whose official duties prevent them from attending their normal voting station--for example, polling officials, security forces on duty on voting day, officials of the state employed at foreign locations. If absentee voting facilities are to be provided, restricting them to serving employees of the state can raise questions about the integrity of the election process - especially where state organisations or the military are perceived as closely aligned to or under the influence of political forces.
Where equity considerations are given more weight, qualifications for absentee voting may be extended to categories of voters whose physical condition or employment duties prevent them from attending the voting station(s) at which they are registered to vote. Such categories could include:
- serving military personnel or security force personnel;
- people with physical disabilities, such as bed-ridden patients serviced by mobile voting facilities (see Hospitals and Other Care Institutions) or wheelchair patients whose assigned voting station lacks wheelchair access;
- other institutionalised voters;
- voters whose employment requires them to be absent from their area of registration on voting day or who have moved residence, since the deadline for voter registration, out of the electoral area in which they registered.
No-Limitation Systems
In systems where voter accessibility and maximising of participation are the dominant principles, access to absentee voting facilities provided may be open to any otherwise qualified voter. Implementing such systems requires a high level of professionalism in election administration and will have a significant effect in increasing election costs.
The convenience for voters of being able to vote at multiple voting locations is likely to encourage voters to use this more costly method rather than make some effort to attend the voting station at which they are basically eligible to vote. Less rigorous systems of establishing voter eligibility may not be sustainable with high numbers of absentee voters. Large numbers of absentee voters will exacerbate administrative pressures on integrity controls, voting materials supply, issue and return, and staffing requirements.
