This has been the topic of discussion and the reason for much debate in the ACE Practitioners´ Network. Several members argue that the publication of whether voters voted or not would undermine the secrecy of the vote and it was suggested that international good practice is to not publish the lists, and that this should therefore be discouraged. Indeed The Council of Europe's Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, section I.4.54, states that: “since abstention may indicate a political choice, lists of persons voting should not be published." It was suggested that in countries with recent dictatorial history, this could be seen as a tool to control or pressure voters and that in counties with recent history of conflict and intimidation of voters, publishing the list of voters would discourage participation. On the other hand, the point was made that a list of persons who voted does not reflect for whom these persons voted and therefore the secrecy of the vote would not be undermined and one respondent was of the view that the publication of this information should consequently not require a court order. Publishing lists could even be a good way of ensuring targeted outreach efforts and voter education campaigns.

So, should lists be made available to the public? Opinions expressed include:

Yes. They should be treated as public documents and anyone should be allowed to access them, or they should even be published online and/or offline. This information is vital to making the electoral process more transparent, minimizing chances of fraud, and better informing voter education strategies.

Sometimes. They should only be available for scrutiny under specific circumstances, such as after serious allegations of fraud. The decision to publish a list should depend on the likelihood of such information improving a country's electoral process.

Never. They should not be made available under any circumstances. Publishing lists of who voted violates the secrecy of the vote.

Access the full discussion here, including country examples from Canada, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States of America, Jamaica, Romania, Switzerland and Burundi.