Locations Where Absentee Voters May Vote
Legal frameworks for absentee voting should be clear about any restrictions on the voting locations at which particular absentee voters may vote. There are two different factors that need to be defined:
- the relationship between where the voter is registered to cast a normal vote and the electoral areas in which the voter may attend a voting location to cast an absentee vote;
- whether normal voting stations may be used for absentee voting or whether special absentee voting locations are to be established.
Voting within Electoral District of Registration
In their simpler forms, absentee voting frameworks would restrict the geographic area in which an absentee voter may attend a voting location to vote. For example, in constituency-based electoral systems, absentee voters could be restricted to voting at voting locations within the constituency for which they are entitled to vote. Where proportional representation elections for provincial or national bodies treat the whole province or country as a single electoral district, election or voter registration administration areas, or alternatively local government areas, could form the basis of such restrictions.
This simple process has a limited impact on accessibility, as its impact is restricted to voters still able to attend to vote within the electoral district for which they are registered to vote, and within what would be, in all but sparsely populated regions, a relatively small geographic area. Particularly in constituency-based systems it will minimise the impact on election administration, as:
- ballots used by absentee voters are those that would normally be supplied to voting stations in each area;
- there is little added complexity of systems to control ballot distribution and return for absentee voters;
- the impact on normal vote counting and tallying processes is minimised.
Voting Outside Electoral District of Registration
More accessible frameworks would also allow absentee voters to vote at voting locations in other electoral districts. Thus, widening the availability of absentee voting is likely to have significant impact on the operational actions and management capacities required. Where voters may vote at a voting location outside their electoral district, significant additional systems for distribution and return of ballot-related material will be required.
Where elections are for individual constituencies, voting material for multiple electoral districts may need to be supplied for issue at voting locations, with a consequent need for more intensive controls on both distribution, issue and return of ballot materials. There may be increased usage of this facility, and thus a potential need to appoint officials especially for the purpose of issuing absentee votes, or have separate voting facilities for absentee voters, either within normal voting locations or at special absentee voting locations.
Where procedures require absentee voters to register before voting day, pre-printed absentee voter ballot envelopes, or packs of voting material for each individual absentee voter, may be possible to prepare. While this may assist in ensuring that the correct material goes to each voter, it is an expensive option, and will require very strict controls on supply of materials to absentee voting locations.
More complex systems will be required for the handling of voters' completed ballots, as to whether at absentee voting locations, for example, there is a separate ballot box for each electoral district into which the appropriate ballots must be deposited. Generally, this may be a confusing exercise for voters and officials alike. However, in voting locations set up specifically for large numbers of absentee voters, it may be possible to set up separate voting stations or ballot issuing areas and ballot boxes for each electoral district.
In other cases, absentee voters ballots may all be deposited into the one ballot box and sorted after the close of voting. Using this system effectively would require that ballots be enveloped distinctively for each electoral district before being placed in the ballot box.
Reconciliation procedures at close of poll will also need to account for the ballots issued for each electoral district.
Sites Used for Absentee Voting
Where absentee voters may vote only at another voting station within their electoral district of registration, providing absentee voting facilities at all normal voting stations can be achieved relatively simply. In systems where absentee voters may vote at locations outside their electoral district of registration, whether absentee voting is accommodated at all normal voting stations, at a selection of normal voting stations, or only at specially set up absentee voting sites will again depend on careful consideration of the accessibility gains achieved balanced against the additional costs and abilities to maintain effective control of integrity, materials and logistics.
Use of Normal Voting Stations
Making absentee voting available at all voting locations will:
- maximise accessibility;
- require effective implementation of complex materials handling and integrity control procedures across all voting stations, and thus a generally higher level of election administration polling official skills;
- increase the complexity of operations in all voting stations.
More training for staff and often additional staff will be required; voting stations of larger physical area may also be required to allow a separate area for absentee voting. Limiting the number of voting stations that offer absentee voting facilities will moderate these requirements, at the expense of accessibility.
Use of Special Voting Locations
It can be more efficient to set up special absentee voting locations--for example, one in each electoral district (if elections are constituency-based), or in central and regional locations--rather than allowing absentee voting at normal voting stations. This management efficiency needs to be considered against the resulting reduction in accessibility .
Using this format can provide more effective controls, through concentration of specific absentee voting training and allocation of more experienced staff, and reducing the number of locations having to implement the more complex procedures and be supplied with additional materials for absentee votes. Thus it may be a more appropriate path to take where election management capacities are less abundant.
