Specific Information and Education Functions
Election officials will appoint staff to manage and conduct voter education and information programmes on behalf of the election authority. The organisation of these offices will likely depend on the nature of the election authority, ie. is it a permanent or temporary body, the extent of election authoriy's legal mandate to conduct voter education and/or the parameters of a given programme. The staff organisation will also be determined by whether or not the programme is being developed for a specific election or as part of an on-going voter and/or civic education programme and whether or not it is directed only at eligible voters or also includes outreach to children.
Whatever the case, there will be staff tasked with the specific function of voter information and education. There will also be staff, however, who are responsibile for media relations, election official and poll worker training, and handle human relations management. Finally, there will be the commissioners and executive officers of the authority who will also have a public communications role.
Coordination of communications and the development of an education programme will be an important task within such an election authority. Educators should have a role in this and not be seen as merely functionaries. Everything that the election authority communicates has an impact on the perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge of voters. Close management of this enables the authority to limit duplication of effort and waste of resources.
Of course, the national election authority is only one part of the election administrative hierarchy. Depending upon how well developed and resourced the hierarcy is, there may be educators, public relations officials, and trainers at lower level election commissions. Managing their interaction and communication will also be important.
Impact of Organisational and Public Behaviour
The education programme, however, has to be considered within a larger context. Every official associated with the election authority has a role to play in educating the public. In fact, they do this whether or not they intend to. Their behaviour in dealing with the public during voter registration, handling of complaints, and managing of polling sites can be educational or can undermine voters' motivations. It will be necessary for election authorities to ensure that their behaviour is at all times nonpartisan and professional and conforms with the public messages being communicated about the elections and about the election authority itself.
Apart from this general proviso--what one might consider the hidden curriculum of the election authority--there is also an important educational function in which all officials can participate. And they need to receive sufficient training and information in order to adequately fulfill this role. For this to be effective, training and information needs to be prepared in a timely fashion.
In addition to timely information, the early appointment of poll workers, in particular, and presiding officers will ensure that there are people in local communities who are identified with the election process and are therefore able to serve as a resource for the voters who live near them.
Election Officials as Educators
There are always two ways in which officials can treat clients. They can behave as though the client must know or find out the information they need in order to obtain the service. Or they can provide them, either verbally or through good information and signage, with the knowledge their clients require.
It is possible that this can be done at any stage in the election process, even down to interactions with voters in the polling station. Certainly, if officials are not only trained to do there job but are also provided and familiarized with voter education packages or a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs), they can greatly assist the voter education programme.
