In some situations, voter education may be launched in a legislative vacuum. Legislative vacuum's can affect voter education in a couple of ways. First of all, the election law may be silent on the role of election authorities and other entities in conducting voter education activities. This may be the result of an oversight or an intentional effort to limit the franchise or keep the electorate in a state of ignorance. If the electoral system is being reformed, there is also the possibility that legislation fails to acknowledge the voter education needs that are emerging.
The absence of election law provisions that adequately provide for voter education will likely exacerbate general uncertainty about the electoral process. Educators within election authorities often face inertia if there is no legal mandate for voter education. And, there may be political or financial ramifications if they opt to proceed with voter education absent a legal mandate. Other organisations may be unwilling to commit resources for voter education programmes that may be rendered obsolete by unforseen discrepancies between the projections of educators and the intentions of legislators.
Secondly, there may be gaps in legislation with respect to fundamental aspects of the election process that need to be communicated to voters. Does the law adequately and clearly address, for example, such issues as: voter registration procedures; necessary forms of identification on Election Day; the process and deadlines for filing complaints; opportunities to vote early, via mobile ballot box, or by absentee ballot; the proper method for marking the ballot; and polling place procedures on Election Day? If not, it will be very difficult for educators to address voters' questions about the process.
While legislative vacuums are not desirable, they do occur. Waiting for them to be filled may be impossible. Education planning takes time and organisation. And the less time that is allowed for this, the higher the costs may be, not to mention the risks for wasting resources and adding to public confusion.
Overcoming Legislative Vacuums
In the event there is no legislation, or at least legal provisions, pertaining to voter education, measures can be taken to ensure programmes do not dissolve into platitudes, unhelpful generalities, or inaccurate and misleading statements.
First, educators should be clear in their own understanding of their mission, declare it often, and maintain allegiance to it.
It may also be useful to consider the context in which legislation was adopted or amended. Under what kind of time constraints and political pressures was the legislature operating. What was the rationale behind various provisions as well as options that ultimately were not adopted. Will there be opportunities for further reforms in the future? What obstacles might prevent reform? Undertaking such an assessment can help educators better understand what may be possible at a given point in time and to better plan for the future.
While educators may not be able to clarify every single issue in a given election, it will still be possible to communicate important principles and information. It may not be possible, for example, to say whether voters will have to produce identity documents, voting cards, or have their fingers marked with indelible ink. But it is possible to communicate why there should be no duplication of votes and the various ways to prevent this.
Empower and encourage participants early in the programme to seek information for themselves. Contact lists, basic source documents, and networks are all useful resources for this. The uninitiated may also be taught to read and understand basic legislation in order to track it when it becomes available or throughout an amendment process.
There is also an education and advocacy role that can be played by educators, whether in election authorities or in civil society organizations, relative to public policy makers and legislators. Sometimes, it is useful to explain or reinforce how both gaps in legislation and an ill-informed or confused electorate can impact the effeciency, uniformity, and legitimacy of the electoral process. Illustrate how past problems might have been avoided through better legislation combined with adequate voter education.
The Importance of Transparency
The ability of educators, among others, to follow the adoption of new legislation, track the amendment of existing legislation, or to have input to the electoral reform process will depend, in large measure, on their ability to access information and decision-makers. If parliamentary hearings and debates on electoral reform are not open to the public, if there is no public notification and discussion period, if drafts or even final versions of the law are not made widely available, it will be difficult to conduct voter education in an informed and timely manner. In some transitional and post-conflict settings, where there are '11th hour' changes to election laws, where there are limited resources and networks for printing and distribution, and where there is neither a legal foundation or a political tradition of disclosure, it is not uncommon to find both administrators and educators working without the latest version of the law. Promoting transparency needs to be an integral part of the electoral reform process as countries move toward more democratic systems of governance.
