Basic Issues
Apart from the variety of forms, equipment, and information materials supplied to voting stations, there is a wide variety of general supplies required for voting station operations. Many of these will be standard stationery or supply items that can be acquired as easily through any standard government supply arrangements, or private contractors, without need for modification for election purposes.
However, as for equipment and materials produced specifically for election purposes, it is important that specifications for each general supply item are developed and samples of planned acquisitions tested against these specifications before acquisition. It might only be a plain envelope that is required, but if the form that has to be contained in it won't fit, or it doesn't maintain its seal under election conditions, it becomes useless to supply to a voting station.
General supply items are essential for the effective functioning of a voting station. They deserve as much attention in their acquisition as do other more innovative or customised material.
Types of Materials
The types and quantities of general supply materials that will be required for voting operations will vary widely according to voting methods and voting station management procedures. There will be little use, for example, in providing pens and pencils for marking ballots where machines or computers are used for voting. However, there will generally be a need for general supplies in some quantities in the following categories:
- office stationery--pens, pencils, note paper for use by polling officials and voters;
- packaging materials--for packing supply kits for despatch to the voting station, securing materials within the voting station, and return of materials from the voting station;
- emergency lighting, in case of power failure;
Under specific voting methods, there will also be a need for such items as:
- ballot validation tools;
- multiple voting prevention supplies--special inks and, if invisible inks are used, ultraviolet lights;
- tape or rope to seal off areas within or around the voting station;
Some more significant general supply items are discussed below.
Stationery Supplies
General stationery supplies are likely to include the following.
Pens and/or pencils will be required in sufficient quantities for record keeping by each polling official, for marking voters lists, preparing reports, completing voting records. Where ballots have to be manually marked by voters, pens or pencils for each voting compartment will be needed (including sufficient replacements for those that will inevitably disappear during voting). If pencils are used, sharpeners will also be required.
Rulers may assist polling officials working with voters lists.
Ink and ink pads, if there are official stamps to be applied to voting materials or records
Note paper will be used by polling officials.
Envelopes for voting material and forms could be specifically designed and printed for election purposes, or standard stock used. The latter method can be less costly. However, if used, it is highly preferable that stock envelopes either be provided with stick-on labels for use in the voting station, or be overprinted by the electoral management body to provide for standard completion of details such as:
- the voting station to which the material enclosed in the envelope refers;
- the type of material contained in the envelope;
- the election type and date;
- the signature of the relevant polling official.
Staplers/staples, rubber bands, paper clips or similar fastening materials.
Packaging Materials
Packaging methods and materials can vary widely, but there will be a need to supply some forms of:
- containers for transporting materials to voting stations and for their return from voting stations;
- method of fastening the packages;
- method of security sealing packages of accountable materials.
Containers could be cardboard boxes or heavy duty sacks for outer containers. It is also useful to provide inner containers--heavy duty envelopes or plastic bags--for packaging the various classes of material for return from the voting station. Each of these inner containers should either be supplied with a label, on which the contents and other relevant election information can be noted, or similarly directly overprinted. Complicated systems of colour-coded inner containers and labels tend to confuse more than assist polling officials. Some jurisdictions supply voting stations with sheets of brown paper in which to wrap materials for return; while economical, this is not necessarily effective.
Depending on where the ballot count is to take place, this packaging material may all be supplied to the voting station or, if separate count centres are used, sufficient labels, envelopes, and inner packaging appropriate to post-count packaging (for separation of ballots for the different parties or candidates, invalid ballots, forms used at the count) will also need to be supplied to the counting centre.
Fastening methods to be supplied could be balls of string or rolls of tape. Corporate printed adhesive tape promotes a professional image but does not add any fastening power for the additional expense. Where separate count centres are used, additional supplies for use during and after the count will be required.
Security sealing for packages of materials could be by paper adhesive seals or security tape. Whichever is used, it should be of the type that is split, and breaks apart when an attempt is made to open the package. What is important is that any attempt to open packages is visible. Where locks are used on ballot boxes, wax may be needed to seal keyholes. Sufficient supplies of security sealing materials need to be acquired to accommodate:
- packaging of materials following close of voting;
- any opening and resealing of packages during the count;
- the inevitable further opening and resealing that will occur once voting materials have been returned to storage--for investigations, research purposes, and the like.
Discussion of packaging methods is at Packaging Materials and Equipment for Delivery and Verification and Packing of Materials.
Emergency Lighting
For all voting stations that will be in operation in hours of darkness, it is useful to supply some form of emergency lighting. This could be torches/batteries, battery or gas powered lamps, or even candles and matches. Even in highly developed societies, power outages can occur during voting day. For voting locations where portable generators are supplied to provide power and lighting, arrangements for supply of fuel will also be necessary.
Validation Marks
In many election systems where each ballot is accountable, the ballot is validated on issue by the polling official placing an official mark or signing/initialling the back of the ballot. This can be a cost-effective manner of controlling that only valid ballot papers enter the count, and may preclude the need for special and expensive paper stocks or security print for ballots.
Official validating marks used by polling officials could be perforating instruments or stamps. A different, distinctive mark would preferably be provided to each voting station to enable full accountability and integrity checks during counts. These are highly accountable items, so the design should be kept secret until use, and then they should be kept under strict security at all times.
An official seal may also be used by the voting station manager to validate forms completed in the voting station or the integrity of materials packages to be returned after close of the voting station. Similarly, in some systems (though it is not a recommended solution) voters mark their ballots with an official stamp to indicate their voting preference. These will need to be supplied also as a highly accountable item, under strict security.
Multiple Voting Control Equipment
It has become more common in recent years for voters to have some part of their hand marked with ink when they are issued a ballot, to prevent multiple voting. This is a fairly expensive control to apply, but can be appropriate where there is lack of confidence in the quality of the voters lists, or where voters may vote at more than one voting station.
Inks may be visible and indelible. These have the disadvantage of announcing to all that a person has voted, which may be a personal safety risk in divided communities. More usually they will be invisible (under normal light conditions) indelible inks, that can only be detected under ultra violetlight. Where these are used, ultra violetlamps will need to be supplied to each voting station, with spare bulbs. Battery powered models (with spare batteries also made available) will often be more appropriate to acquire, as they can operate in areas without reliable electricity supply.
If the effort is going to be made to mark voters hands with ink, it is important that:
The ink formula is secret, preferably with a different formulation for each election, so that it is not likely that voters will be able to chemically remove the ink before the end of the voting period. Partially for this reason, it is often determined to obtain inks from suppliers in another country, in which case the acquisition program will need to allow for potential time-lags in foreign supply.
The ink does not provide a permanent stain, but wears off within a defined period. Care must be taken, where voting extends for more than one day, that the life of the detectable ink mark is longer than the period during which voters may vote. Similarly if a two-round voting system is used, either any ink used should be formulated to wear off before the second round of voting or strict instructions to mark different sections of the voter's body at the first and second election rounds be followed.
Sufficient quantities of the ink to mark the number of expected voters will need to be supplied in leak-proof, security-sealed containers to each voting station. Supply from manufacturers in the final containers, rather than later repackaging by the electoral management body, is preferable.
