Continuous Updating
One of the obvious advantages of the civil registry and the continuous list of voters over the
periodic list is the increased opportunities they present for voters to ensure they are included on the
register. Because citizen registration occurs throughout the period between elections and because
data from the civil registry are used for a variety of purposes, there are far fewer reasons to be
missed, passed over, or inadvertently excluded from the register using the civil register.
Although the population register is developed through continuous processing, it is important that
before an election a cut-off date is established for altering the civil registry for election purposes.
This allows time for the final voters list to be printed and distributed to political parties and
candidates, and delivered to voting stations. Because of the lengthy period used for accepting
citizen registration information, there is a less compelling case for election authorities to adopt
extraordinary means of registration after the cut-off date. It is much more common with the civil
registry system to use a firm cut-off date, and not to allow any changes for election purposes
thereafter for a particular election.
