Planning
In planning the delivery of materials and equipment to voting stations, the following issues need to be a carefully considered:
- the most appropriate method of transport--widely varying methods will be appropriate for different environments, often within the same region and in different seasonal conditions;
- scheduling of delivery routes that make cost-effective use of the available appropriate transportation;
- planning deliveries so that all material is at all voting stations by the day before voting day, without making deliveries so early that there is a risk of the integrity and security of supplies being breached;
- the efficiencies of making one delivery only to each voting station (using standard materials packs for voting station supplies will facilitate this);
- an audit trail of all materials shipped to and arriving at voting stations;
- any special packaging or transportation needs for fragile equipment;
- development of contingency plans for transportation in case of bad weather, accident, or loss of materials during shipment.
The delivery plan should be prepared as soon as voting locations are known. It is vital that it is finalised before materials packaging commences. Different transportation methods, from dinghy to airfreight, may require different packaging.
Liaison with Other Areas
Liaison must be maintained with:
- packaging staff on expected packaging completion dates for different regions or electoral districts and any changes resulting from delayed deliveries of materials;
- voting station managers on the day and time that they will need to be at the voting station for receipt of materials;
- senior electoral managers on progress of deliveries to voting stations.
Materials should not be left unattended at voting stations. Voting station managers' contracts should require their attendance for receipt of materials.
(For information on the implementation of deliveries to voting stations, see
Distribution and Receipt of Voting Materials.)
