Voter educators make use of certain standard messages. Standardisation implies two things.
- Certain key elements of a message must be conveyed.
- A message document can be reproduced as is or be recast for further distribution.
There are four general messages that all voter education programmes will communicate. This will require that educators work with content specialists to ensure that the messages are discussed in ways that have meaning for the particular country in which democracy is being developed. Each country has its own history, and this history provides organising themes and democratic myths as well as procedural and principled nuances that will require a different treatment from that prepared even in a neighbouring country. It is possible, however, to outline the concerns that are likely to be addressed in each area.
- Elections and democracy. It is impossible to conceive of democracy in a modern and complex organisation or society being possible without a system of establishing the choices of large bodies of citizens through voting procedures. Elections are one of the defining events of modern democracies, and with periodic and fair elections come the additional prerequisites that citizens will have choices between individuals, parties, and policy options. They will also have the freedom to make these choices without undue intimidation, and will have the right to put themselves or others forward as candidates for office. Finally, they will have the necessary freedoms to discuss policy options and to form associations that will either compete in elections, endorse certain candidates or parties, and/or provide them with the information and discussion they need to make their election choices at the ballot box. They will also have the freedom of movement to campaign on behalf of their cause or candidate throughout the country.
Developing these arguments is essential, as it is possible that there will be those who may think that elections could be conducted without such conditions being in place. In India, the election authority must determine whether such conditions are present before allowing an election to proceed. But there have been other times, in other places, when elections have been used to develop credibility and apparent legitimacy for a government that has no intention of ensuring that the necessary democratic rights are present during an election period.
- The role, responsibility and rights of the voter. The second message area provides motivation for participation in elections by citizens. They learn how individual participation in elections establishes representative government and ensures accountability by those who are elected.
It is not enough, however, merely to concentrate on roles and responsibilities. Educators must also consider the rights to a free and fair election. Helping voters understand these rights facilitates election monitoring by all citizens and not just specialised groups. It ensures oversight of both candidates and the election administration.
- Your vote counts. While all systems present the principle that every vote counts, there are some
nuances in message depending upon whether first past the post or proportional representation systems are used. In first
past the post systems, electoral success or failure may be determined by a small number of votes where there will be a
marginal winner and loser. In systems that use proportionality, every vote counts toward building up the proportional
representation of the voter's preferred candidate.
Apart from the numbers game, voters need to be made aware that each individual vote has weight in determining the rights that they have over the elected party or representative once the election has been won or lost. If a representative relationship cannot be formed between citizens and elected officials, citizens may begin to feel that their vote does not, in fact, count for much.
- Your vote is secret. There are many circumstances where it is essential that voters be protected from intimidation and fear of subsequent political and personal consequences. In such circumstances, the message that a vote is secret has to be conveyed and, to the extent that it is possible, proved. Secrecy has both positive and negative connotations, and in societies that value community, secrecy may be suspect. Or there may be societies that consider secrecy to be impossible, whether as a result of dysfunctional administration or prevailing belief structures.
In these circumstances, examples of matters that are secret, or that cannot be found out, provide educators with potential metaphors for the voting process. And there may be alternative approaches. Perhaps the most powerful is when elections are repeated and no dire consequences befall voters. But election legislation will have to back up the message by considering carefully the manner in which counting of votes takes place and results are announced. An individual vote may be secret, but a community preference may not, and this can have equally important consequences.
Other Messages
Each election will also have an additional set of standard messages appropriate for the particular election. In many cases, these messages will embrace a catch phrase that can be used for shorter communications such as stickers, posters and clothing. These messages need to be prepared by educators in a form that can be widely used. They may even form part of a fax data bank so that educators with access to the correct telephone and fax facilities can dial in and
obtain copies of the messages for further use and distribution. Those countries with e-mail and Internet access can provide distribution through these means.
In addition to these standard messages, there is an additional standard message tool that has obtained wide currency and may even be the most important and widely distributed document prepared by an education programme. This is the Frequently Asked Questions document.
Frequently Asked Questions
From the very beginning of an election, educators will start collecting lists of questions being asked in workshops, in telephone calls, and by election staff as they are recruited and trained. These questions should be catalogued and categorised. When there is an initial list of about ten questions, succinct answers should be prepared and the document containing the question
followed by the answer made available in as many ways as possible.
This frequently asked questions (FAQs) list may be altered many times during the course of an election. Additional questions will be added, and additional information will be available that might change existing answers or add to them. Someone should be given the task of keeping the list up to date and distributing it.
Because it will change often, and may be sent out by fax or e-mail, or even distributed at training workshops, it is
essential that every version be numbered, dated, and in the last days before an election even timed. If the FAQs are
being prepared by an organisation or by the electoral authority, it should have a cover that gives all the details of the
organisation that prepared and distributed it, together with ways of making direct contact for further information.
There may be separate FAQs for election administration staff and for educators. It is important to understand that different people have different questions. Whatever the case, this summary of all the concerns that people have about the election and the short and authoritative answers will be a tool that can have an impact that will more than justify its preparation costs.
