Best practices and experiences around key key principles Voter Registration Best practices and experiences around key key principles

Background and Legality Voter Registration (VR) not just Operational Mechanism -- --- political, administrative and operational components Poor VR can have disruptive impact, whereas ……..Effective VR can contribute towards acceptance of election results VR is crucial for public participation in democratic processes Universal instruments ICCPR Article 25 section a) and b) and Human Rights Charter Article 21 Section 3 Based on principles of Universality and Equal Suffrage

Benefits of Voter Registration VR is directly related to political participation in terms of citizen mobilization and voter turn out VR ensures equality for the exercise of right to vote Clean voters roll contribute towards boundary delimitation and electoral formulae VR plays a major role in voter education VR are also instrumental in organizing voting operations and augments fraudulent attempts to vote All inclusive and clean voters roll is a safeguard to the integrity of the suffrage and an essential condition for legitimacy of democracy

Principles of Voter Registration Credibility & Integrity Privacy and Security Cost Effectiveness Sustainability Voter Ed & Accessibility Inclusiveness Comprehensiveness Accuracy Transparency & Accountability

Transparency and Accountability All processes of voter registration are transparent …. EMB decisions, selection of VR centers, stakeholder consultations for feedback The processes in the registration centers are also transparent and available for scrutiny Observers are allowed to observe the VR processes There is public display of the voters list There is a complaints and objections process and its redressal Provision of voters roll to electoral stakeholders Audits of the voters roll by the EMBs and other entities There are regular briefings conducted by the EMBs

Comprehensive Country Voter Register Population %age reg Median Age Ireland* 3,202,442 4,670,976 68.6% 35.4 United Kingdom* 45,597,461 62,348,447 73.13% 40.5 Kenya 14,362,189 41,609,728 34.5% 18.8 Ghana 14,031,763 24,965,816 56.2% 20.8 Nigeria 67,764,327 162,470,737 41.7% 19.1 Tanzania 19,650,412 48,261,942 42.5% 18.3 South Africa 25,390,159 52,914,243 47.9% 24.7 Cote d’Ivoire 5,780,804 21,058,798 27.45% 19.4 Senegal 5,302,349 12,767,556 41.5% 18.7 * Ireland and UK figures are from 2011

Inclusiveness VR framework and processes should not contain measures that excludes persons from registration All adults citizens having citizenship can register No systematic exclusion of any group, whether women, minorities, poor, homeless or remote residents In India the issue is about registration of homeless people Similarly the challenge is for disabled, women, people in remote areas, displaced persons etc.; Youth -------- are apathetic and its challenging to motivate them

Accuracy Civil and voter Registry ….. Only one register, two registers and an independent voter register Common issues of accuracy of data: Duplicate registrants Dead SOULS Internal migration External migration New voters registration Addresses not updated This requires Removal of dead persons from the list Removing duplicates Data updating and validation

Voter Education and Accessibility Passive vs Active voter registration VR is Physically and geographically accessible (for elderly and disabled, by foot or public transport, not at a place of intimidation, hours of ops) Principle of “where you register is where you vote” Providing voter education …. Who is eligible to register, how, where and when, what rights registration confers Providing reasons for rejecting application Simple process for lodging application for registration or updating details Simple registration forms and processes

Privacy and Security It’s the right of every individual to know about the use of any collected information VR process to clearly indicate the intended use of the collected information In UK the voter list information was shared with companies having business interests Physical security and information security The issue of security is critical because in a number of countries the security was breached Mexico, Philippines and Turkey a just a few examples Unauthorized access, unauthorized alteration

Cost Effectiveness VR system delivers an effective outcome relative to its cost Use the most economical means of meting VR objectives and principles There are the following 3 key areas: Core Costs …. Equipment, training, transportation, staff etc Diffuse costs ….. Civil registry information collection Integrity costs …. Safety, integrity, political neutrality and accessibility to VR

Sustainability Institutional sustainability …. Legal framework is accepted by stakeholders Financial and economic sustainability …. All VR processes in medium and long term don’t reply on external support Human resource sustainability …. Skilled staff and contractors are available to EMBs Technological sustainability …. Adaptable to local conditions Political sustainability ….. VR processes acceptable across political spectrum Environmental sustainability …. Minimize potential damage to environment

Key Lessons Learnt Political reality determines the necessary security features of a system Inclusiveness in planning and evaluation of voter registration Confidence on VR dependent on confidence in impartiality and independent decision making of EMB Transparency of the system through stakeholder participation in crucial Delay in VR can jeopardize the electoral process High tech systems cannot solve political issues or problems of trust in overall process Developing in house technical skills is essential to sustain VR reliability and integrity

Key Lessons Learnt Display of voters roll increases acceptance levels It is difficult to improve an existing fraught voters roll, rather scrap it and start a new one Printing photographs on the voters roll is a high level security feature to prevent impersonation Continuous voter registration is not cost effective if it is not supported by continuous voter education Voter registration processes have been appropriate basis for development o civil registry EMBs cannot base voters roll on civil registration unless citizens notify authorities of any change of address Once a high tech system is in place, it is difficult to revert to simpler system

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