Basic Issues
Once the locations of voting sites have been officially approved, maps should be prepared showing the location of voting stations and relevant electoral district and voting subdivisions boundaries. The timing of production of these maps is important; it is one of the first actions that should be undertaken as soon as voting station locations are determined.
Use of Maps
Maps will be necessary tools in planning functions required to be implemented well before voting day, important amongst which are:
- planning by the electoral management body of effective logistics routes for delivery and return of materials (see Logistics) and for allocation and transport of polling officials;
- developing security plans, including the need for any security escorted transport of materials, polling officials, and voters to and from voting stations, and devising optimal locations for voting security forces and emergency response units (see Security);
- public information campaign purposes, in advising voters of the voting station or stations at which they should vote (see Information on Voting Locations and Hours).
Maps will also be of significant use at voting stations in redirecting voters who have attended an incorrect voting station (see Information at Voting Locations) and in voting operations centres (see Operations and Security Centres).
Map Production
The manner in which the maps are developed, and the quality required, will vary according to the sophistication and reliability of mapping systems available and their cost-effectiveness, as well as the purpose for which they are being used. Potential methods of production could include:
Use of sophisticated automated geographic information systems (GIS) to plot voting station locations. Where electoral GIS systems exist for voter registration or boundary delimitation purposes, plotting of voting station locations and production of the relevant maps could be undertaken through that system. In most circumstances, such sophisticated map production would have to be contracted out, often to state land management agencies or even to the military. Given the critical importance of correct maps, such sophisticated systems should not generally be used unless they have a proven track record of accurate, timely preparation for electoral purposes. In less developed societies particularly, reliance on lower technology mapping methods are generally a more effective and safer alternative.
Hand plotting of voting subdivision boundaries and voting station locations on existing maps. These could be maps prepared for electoral district boundary delimitation purposes or other generally available maps that clearly show roads, other transport, and topographic features. For logistics, operations centre, and particularly security planning purposes, considerable detail will be required. Developing maps with transparent overlays showing the various components of logistics/security planning, administrative and security areas of responsibility, materials transport routes, and likely voter routes to voting stations can be a useful tool for integrating the large amounts of information required to be shown.
Preparation by the electoral management body staff of hand-drawn maps showing voting station locations and electoral district/voting subdivision boundaries in relation to major topographic features and road/transport infrastructure. These can be perfectly adequate for public information distribution, such as in pamphlets advising voters of their correct voting station.
Scale of Maps
It is important that the scale of the maps produced suits their purpose. Local administrators will require detailed maps of their administrative area and possibly less detailed maps of surrounding regions. Logistics and security planners will need detailed local area maps of voting locations for the whole area in which elections are being conducted, with larger scale summary maps.
Voting stations can usefully be supplied with a detailed map of the electoral district/voting subdivision(s) which the voting station serves, and a larger scale map showing this in relation to surrounding electoral districts/voting subdivisions. Quantities of different types of maps produced will need to be carefully related to the needs--in voting stations, by electoral administrators, for public distribution and voter information, and to external bodies such as security forces, observers and political participants.
