tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/electoral-roll-6968/articlesElectoral roll – The Conversation2019-11-08T15:39:54Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1265732019-11-08T15:39:54Z2019-11-08T15:39:54ZUK election 2019: hundreds of thousands of people could be in the wrong place when it’s time to vote<p>The UK general election called for <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/uk-election-2019-75714">December 12 2019</a> raises important issues regarding who is entitled to vote, who will be able to vote – and where they will vote. </p>
<p>The electoral roll, which lists everyone eligible to vote in the nation, is re-compiled every autumn. Households are approached in late summer to indicate which of their members are entitled to vote. If they are already enrolled to vote there they remain registered. If they were not previously on the roll at that address, they are contacted individually to confirm their wish to do so.</p>
<p>The final roll is then compiled in December and comes into effect in the following February. If the individuals contacted have not responded, they are not registered. Until then, the electoral roll compiled in the previous year remains in force. People can of course apply to be registered in the intervening months if they are not on the roll for any reason, such as because they’ve moved – but they are not prompted to do so. </p>
<p>Those who reach the age of majority (18) during the period when the roll is operating are registered in the preceding autumn and gain the right to vote on their birthday.</p>
<p>So, for the December 2019 election, the electoral roll will have been compiled more than a year previously – in December 2018. The roll now being compiled will not yet be in force.</p>
<p>This lengthy time period means many people will be in the wrong place. A significant percentage of the UK’s adult population moves each year (some <a href="https://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/number-people-moving-house-uk-rose-2017-falling-2016/">370,000 people</a>) – often into a different constituency. Few inform the electoral registration officers of their moves so are not registered to vote at their new address. </p>
<p>Unless they quickly get themselves re-registered at their new address they will only be able to vote if either they go back to where they formerly lived – which may not be possible – or get a postal vote there. Time is against them.</p>
<h2>Students away from home</h2>
<p>One group many of people who are highly likely to be in the wrong place for this election are students. The great majority of those who reached the age of 18 during 2019 were almost certainly registered at their parents’ home address, but they may now be at university – many of them some distance from that address, and living in a different constituency. </p>
<p>They might have now been registered there, but that will not entitle them to vote there until February 2020. Unless they are prepared to travel to vote on December 12 (universities other than Oxford and Cambridge will still be in term time then), or can get a postal vote there, they will effectively be disenfranchised.</p>
<p>The same might be true of other students who have moved address since autumn 2018 – either within the city where they are studying or because they have migrated after graduation. Many of them may have registered at their new address but many more probably haven’t. And those who haven’t will again have to vote from their old address, or get a postal vote.</p>
<p>Of course, it is not too late. You can register to vote from your current address up to 12 working days before an election – so in this case up to November 26. And if you are on an electoral roll, but not for the constituency where you currently live, you could apply for a postal vote until up to 11 working days before the election (12 days if you also need to register).</p>
<p>Many hundreds of thousands of voters may be, in effect, disenfranchised by the timing of this general election unless they are able either to get themselves registered in the next few weeks, therefore, or can opt for a postal vote (and in so doing, potentially accepting that they will have to vote in a constituency where they think their vote will carry less weight than where they now live). </p>
<p>Many of them will be young people, among whom the parties – <a href="https://theconversation.com/youthquake-was-real-heres-how-we-know-it-was-more-than-a-myth-90970">especially perhaps the opposition parties</a> – will be seeking to mobilise support.</p>
<p>It all raises the question: how representative of the UK population will the December 12 2019 election really be?</p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/todd-k-hartman-157990">Todd Hartman</a> and David Rossiter also contributed to this article.</em></p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300096/original/file-20191104-88414-1yh2yvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKGE2019&utm_content=GEBannerB">Click here to subscribe to our newsletter if you believe this election should be all about the facts.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126573/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many people move house every year – and few of them inform the electoral register.Ron Johnston, Professor of Geography, University of BristolCharles Pattie, Professor of Electoral Geography, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1217062019-08-14T09:57:41Z2019-08-14T09:57:41ZIs the UK ready for an election? Inside a system straining at the seams<p>Speculation has it that an <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49004486">early general election</a> is around the corner for the UK.</p>
<p>If it does come, it won’t be the country’s first unexpected election this year. The European parliamentary elections were not supposed to happen. But happen they did. And they didn’t go to plan. There were angry scenes at polling stations when many EU citizens were <a href="http://www.democraticaudit.com/2019/05/30/deniedmyvote-why-many-eu-citizens-were-unable-to-vote-in-the-european-parliament-elections/">denied their right to vote</a>. The government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/12/government-taken-to-court-by-eu-citizens-denied-their-right-to-vote">faces a judicial review</a> over these incidents after campaign group the3million claimed EU citizens had been “systematically disenfranchised”.</p>
<p>And these problems were not necessarily a one-off. Electoral officials on the ground have done an outstanding job in recent years at operating under a perfect storm of pressures. But these pressures are gathering pace, putting the functioning of the system under threat. They’ve been able to just about paper over the cracks in a crumbling Victorian system in need of repair. But they may not be able to keep it all together much longer. </p>
<h2>The eight million missing</h2>
<p>The 2019 elections were not the only example of citizens showing up to vote and being turned away. This happens, research suggests, at all electoral events in the UK. In the 2015 general election, two-thirds of polling stations turned away <a href="https://tobysjamesdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/clark-james-poll-workers.pdf">at least one voter</a>. The most recent estimates are that <a href="https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf_file/The-December-2015-electoral-registers-in-Great-Britain-REPORT.pdf">roughly 8m people are not correctly registered</a>. This means that they are missing from the register entirely or registered at an old address.</p>
<p>This problem has been growing over several decades, but was made worse by recent reforms to require everyone to <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Comparative-Electoral-Management-Performance-Networks-and-Instruments/James/p/book/9781138682412">register individually</a>. In the past, one person in a household could register everyone in it. Reforms introduced in 2014 require everyone to add their own name to register.</p>
<p>It is more of a problem for some communities than others. <a href="https://fabians.org.uk/missing-millions/">The register</a> is less complete in urban areas (especially London) and among recent movers and private renters. Commonwealth and EU nationals, non-white ethnicities, lower socioeconomic groups, citizens with mental disabilities and young people are all also more likely to be incorrectly registered or not registered at all.</p>
<h2>Electoral services under financial strain</h2>
<p>Public sector resources have been limited for a sustained period. Cash crises in the NHS and schools have regularly made headlines. But there has been a silent crisis in electoral services departments, too. Funding for elections is provided by central government, but local authorities have to pay for the work needed to compile the electoral register. Recent <a href="https://tobysjamesdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/funding-elections-single-pages.pdf">research</a> has shown that these departments are increasingly underfunded, with more and more electoral services reporting that they were running over budget.</p>
<p>One major contributing factor to this was, again, the move to individual electoral registration. Local authorities had to spend more on stationary and staff to reach voters and process online applications. They received extra cash to ease the transition in the short term, but this funding is due to end. They are therefore about to be left with an electoral registration system that will be more expensive to run, while cuts to local government budgets continue. </p>
<p>Service cutbacks have been silently made for many years. As costs rose and budgets shrank, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09540962.2017.1351834">voter engagement work was jettisoned</a> as a “nice extra” rather than an essential public service to encourage people to have their say at the ballot box. Meanwhile, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0192512119829516">staff workloads and levels of stress</a> have been shown to be excessively high by international standards.</p>
<p>These are the conditions under which we might see <a href="http://www.democraticaudit.com/2018/08/15/audit2018-are-uk-elections-conducted-with-integrity-with-sufficient-turnout/">more people fall off the register</a>, <a href="http://www.democraticaudit.com/2018/08/15/audit2018-are-uk-elections-conducted-with-integrity-with-sufficient-turnout/">the gap between young and old increase</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/voter-id-our-first-results-suggest-local-election-pilot-was-unnecessary-and-ineffective-100859">more people turned away from polling stations</a>. They are the pressured conditions under which errors might occur during the stress of the day if staff have limited time to prepare. They are the conditions where we might see scenes such as voters locked out of polling stations, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/may/07/election-polling-stations-lock-out">they were in 2010</a>.</p>
<h2>Victorian practices</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, elections involve archaic Victorian practices and in many areas lack transparency. If you want to complain, as many citizens did when they were turned away at the European elections, there can be major confusion about who to complain to.</p>
<p>Some write to their MP, some to the Electoral Commission and others (rightly) to their local Returning Officer. But there is no central complaints process – or system for counting how many complaints are received, which could usefully inform policy in the future. The officials who run elections and electoral registration are oddly exempt from Freedom of Information requests and it would be illegal to audit an election.</p>
<p>An overwhelming reason why people are not registered is because they think they already are. They assume that public bodies are coordinated and clever enough to share information. If I pay council tax, why can’t that information be shared with electoral services? The public assumes that this information is passed seamlessly onto the people handing out ballots in polling stations. Such common sense connected thinking doesn’t exist, however. Instead, voters are all asked to register individually – and valuable resources are spent reminding them to do so. Rather than having one single electoral register, the UK has 372. There is a patchwork of local registers held by local registration officers for their respective areas.</p>
<p>In a new report, <a href="https://tobysjamesdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/missing-millions-still-missing-pages.pdf">The Missing Millions, Still Missing</a>, my colleagues and I make recommendations on how elections can be upgraded by 2025 to bring about a modern, inclusive electoral process. They include providing a website so people can check if they are registered, registering young people in schools and universities, providing a centralised complaints system and allowing citizens to vote at any polling station.</p>
<p>Some reforms require some behind the scenes election-gadgetry, such as a single electoral register, digitally connected polling stations and in the long-term automatic registration. Voters will care little about many of these – but they are all central to upgrading British elections. </p>
<p>In preparation for a snap 2019 election, the best that can be done is to give electoral officials as much resource and notice as possible. But strategic planning should begin now to upgrade UK democracy for 2025.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121706/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Toby James has received funding from the AHRC, ERSC, Nuffield Foundation, McDougall Trust, Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.
He is Lead Fellow on Electoral Modernisation for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Democratic Participation.. </span></em></p>Voters complained of being turned away from polling stations in the European elections, and local teams are struggling to keep registers up to date on tight budgets.Toby James, Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of East AngliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/586632016-05-04T09:25:05Z2016-05-04T09:25:05ZBiometric voting in Chad: new technology, same old political tricks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120668/original/image-20160429-10488-940qgy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Voting proceeded peacefully in N’Djaména.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marielle Debos/DR</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The market for biometric identification systems in Africa has been booming since the early 2000s. First developed by multinationals in the defence and security sectors, biometric technology has frequently been proffered as an effective way to avoid disputes over the voters’ roll and to minimise electoral fraud. Applicants for voter registration have their fingerprints recorded and their photographs taken so they can register only once. This technology has become a new standard for voter registration in Africa. </p>
<p>Chad’s first “biometric election”, held over the weekend of April 9 shows, however, that this extremely expensive technology raises hopes but, sadly, does not change the way the political game is played.</p>
<p>The introduction of electoral biometrics had already been put forward in the 2007 <a href="https://sites.tufts.edu/reinventingpeace/2014/07/17/international-interventions-and-the-human-cost-of-a-militarized-political-marketplace-in-chad/">agreement</a> between the government and the main opposition coalition, signed under the authority of the European Union. Eight years later, the €22m contract was awarded to French company <a href="http://www.morpho.com/en">Morpho</a>, a subsidiary of <a href="http://www.safran-group.com/media/20160225_safran-record-results-2015">Safran</a>, after the initial feasibility study was carried out by a French consulting firm. A little over six million voter IDs were produced in France before being <a href="http://www.jeuneafrique.com/mag/315166/politique/tchad-grosse-fatigue-a-veille-de-presidentielle/">sent to Chad</a>. </p>
<p>This technological initiative was not without its share of hold-ups and controversy. Opposition figures <a href="http://www.makaila.fr/2015/12/tchad-saleh-kebzabo-releve-les-rates-du-processus-electoral.html?utm_campaign=_ob_share_auto&utm_medium=_ob_twitter&utm_source=_ob_share">lamented</a> the fact that the biometric system was not “comprehensive”. The ID cards, while carefully packed in alphabetical order, were distributed to voters in a chaotic manner and without the use of biometric identification. Distribution appears to have been largely effective, although it remains possible that some cards did not reach their rightful owners.</p>
<p>And while Chadians were asked to submit to fingerprinting at the time of voter registration, come election day they were simply required to sign the roll. The polling booths were not equipped with the technology to verify voter fingerprints.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120669/original/image-20160429-10503-2o9jbj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The electoral roll was more accurate, but problems arose with the nomad and military votes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marielle Debos/DR</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Biometric voter registration did however lead to a more accurate electoral roll than in previous years, given that each voter was only able to register once. A quick comparison of the 2011 and 2016 electoral rolls reveals a sudden and mysterious population drop in certain regions perceived as presidential strongholds. </p>
<h2>A powerful crony network</h2>
<p>Technology is no guarantee of fair and transparent elections, even with a “comprehensive” biometric system, from voter registration to the polling booths.</p>
<p>Following a nearly two-week wait, election results finally came on April 22. Unsurprisingly, Idriss Déby, who has presided over his country’s destiny for 26 years, <a href="http://www.africanews.com/2016/04/21/idriss-deby-wins-fifth-term-in-office-with-6156-percent-of-votes/">was elected to a fifth term</a> with 61.56% of the votes in the first round.</p>
<p>In contrast to the previous presidential election, held in 2011, which was boycotted by the opposition, 13 candidates (all male) campaigned under tense conditions. During the campaign, <a href="http://reliefweb.int/report/chad/chad-rights-groups-quit-election-commission-days-key-poll">community leaders</a> – human rights activists and trade union members who sought to organise demonstrations against President Déby’s candidacy – were arrested and imprisoned. They were finally released after three weeks of demonstrations, including a widespread strike organised by Chad’s Trade Union Confederation, but four were slapped with <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr20/3848/2016/en/">four-month suspended sentences</a>.</p>
<p>The opposition was up against Déby’s party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement (Mouvement Patriotique du Salut – MPS), a powerful crony network stretching across the entire county. Prior to the election, the streets of N’Djamena were adorned with large posters announcing a “knock-out” victory for Déby, pointing to a defeat for the opposition in the first round of voting. In every neighbourhood, small huts and large estates were turned into Déby “support offices”. </p>
<p>Walls were painted with the MPS’s colors and its <a href="https://mpsfrance.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/1005863_1378672199016312_1776373178_n.jpg">logo</a>: a hoe and a Kalashnikov crossed in front of a flame, a reminder that the incumbent candidate came to power through military force, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13164690">ousting Hissène Habré in 1990</a>.</p>
<h2>Repressive measures</h2>
<p>While the vote was carried out peacefully, it was beset with problems. Most worrying was the military vote, which took place the day before the civilian election. Officers made sure that the troops voted for the “right” candidate. Soldiers thought to be voting for the opposition <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/chad-tense-as-members-of-military-disappear-before-election-results/a-19200668">disappeared</a> and haven’t been heard from. Their families allege forced disappearances, unconvinced by the security minister’s claims that these soldiers left on deployment, without telling their loved ones. </p>
<p>Voting for the nomad populations was highly disorganised, leaving it wide open to fraud. Some polling stations didn’t provide enough ballots; others lacked material to compile the results. Finally, a <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36024501">texting and social media blackout</a>, which prevented the results from getting out and slowed down possible action, did nothing to assuage rumours.</p>
<p>Distinguishing between logistical problems arising and real cases of fraud is not easy. Especially since the <a href="http://www.africanews.com/2016/04/13/african-union-chad-polls-free-and-without-fraud-despite-anomalies/">only international observers</a> were from the African Union, an organisation currently <a href="http://www.au.int/en/pressreleases/19659/president-idriss-deby-itno-chad-has-been-elected-new-chairperson-african-union">headed up by none other than Déby himself</a>. The 30 or so observers deployed across the expansive nation noted some anomalies, but overall decided that the elections were credible and transparent.</p>
<p>Voting was also overseen by national observers from an influential community organisation with close ties to the ruling party, headquartered in one of the capital’s luxury hotels. </p>
<h2>Out of sight</h2>
<p>The MPS is the only party that was able to send representatives to all polling stations, in contrast to the opposition parties which were not represented across the country. In N’Djamena, the vote took place under the watchful eyes of citizens and activists, as was the case in the southern cities. But in regions where it is costly and sometimes dangerous to be associated with the opposition, or even with “civil society”, this kind of mobilisation was impossible.</p>
<p>How can the voting process and results be overseen without representatives from opposition parties? How can you make sure that ballot boxes are not stuffed overnight or that the voting results sent to the capital are accurate? How can local authorities be prevented from putting pressure on voters? Above all, how can the act of voting have meaning when one party, born of an armed movement, has governed for years by co-opting and repressing its opponents?</p>
<p>The introduction of biometric voter registration has not just been a boon for French industry. Déby now has a mandate that is (somewhat) more credible than before, without having to renounce his old tricks to remain in power.</p>
<p><em>Translated from the French by Alice Heathwood for Fast for Word.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58663/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marielle Debos ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Advanced electoral technology could actually work against democracy in the wrong hands.Marielle Debos, Associate professor in Political Science, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre, Institute for Social sciences of Politics (ISP), Université Paris Nanterre – Université Paris LumièresLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/359562015-01-13T19:30:03Z2015-01-13T19:30:03ZQueenslanders now have to prove their identity to vote – but why?<p>In a first for an Australian general election, when Queenslanders head to the polls on January 31 they’ll need more than loose change for the sausage sizzle and cake stalls – they now also need to bring proof of identity.</p>
<p>What passes for the right ID? Almost anything goes. The <a href="http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/2015QLD.aspx?id=11888">official list</a> of acceptable voter ID to show at a polling booth includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>A current driver licence</li>
<li>A current Australian passport</li>
<li>A voter information letter issued by the Electoral Commission</li>
<li>A recent document detailing electoral enrolment</li>
<li>A government entitlement card</li>
<li>A Medicare card, pensioner concession card, or repatriation health card</li>
<li>An adult proof-of-age card</li>
<li>A recent account or notice issued by a local government or public utility provider</li>
<li>Account card</li>
<li>Credit card</li>
<li>A recent telephone bill </li>
<li>Tax assessment notice</li>
</ul>
<p>Whichever one of those you choose, the crucial change since the last state election is that voter ID is now a requirement. Failure to bring documentation <em>could</em> result in your inability to cast a vote, though provisions are being made for those without ID. </p>
<p>To clear up any confusion, it’s worth mentioning that nothing will change for Queenslanders when it comes to federal elections, where officials will continue to just ask the three questions before marking your name off the electoral list:</p>
<ul>
<li>What is your full name?</li>
<li>Where do you live?</li>
<li>Have you voted before in this election?</li>
</ul>
<h2>Why ask for ID?</h2>
<p>Since passing the voter ID rules last year, as part of a suite of <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2014/May/Queenslandelectorallaws">big changes to Queensland electoral laws</a>, the state government has gone quiet on the issue. It has also had <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-09/claims-early-election-will-disenfranchise-voters-off-the-mark/6008360">relatively little coverage</a> in the media, meaning few Queenslanders even realise the rules have changed.</p>
<p>Late last week, an Electoral Commission Queensland spokesperson said that “no-one who turns up to vote without ID will be turned away” and that voter information letters will be posted out this week, ready to scan at polling booths as a fast form of proof of identity. </p>
<p>While Queensland is the only part of Australia to bring in ID rules for voting, the move brings it into line with <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1415/VoterID">many other countries</a>. But in many of those places, it’s a measure that is meeting with growing scepticism.</p>
<p>In Canada, changes to its vouching provision – wherein one voter could “vouch” for another without identification – <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/13/controversial-fair-elections-act-pushed-through-parliament-by-conservative-government/">were controversial</a>. More than 120,000 citizens were deemed likely to be adversely affected.</p>
<p>In the US, many people question the fairness of ID laws, particularly its <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?aid=9122051">effect on voter turnout</a>. Evidence supports the fact that an ID requirement places a <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/election-reform-bill-an-affront-to-democracy-marc-mayrand-says-1.2527635">considerable burden</a> on certain groups of people – the poor, homeless, First Nations citizens and the elderly – with <a href="http://hrlc.org.au/queenslands-voter-id-laws-are-an-unnecessary-experiment/">little to no benefit</a>. </p>
<p>As the ABC’s <a href="http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2014/07/voter-id-laws-pass-their-first-hurdle-in-stafford.html">election analyst Antony Green</a> puts it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Voter ID is an answer trying to find a problem.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Eliminating voter fraud is the supposed problem. Yet in Australia, as well as in the US and Canada, fraud is rare and usually the result of confusion among elderly voters, or, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/13/opinion/the-big-lie-behind-voter-id-laws.html?ref=opinion&_r=0">in the US</a> and more rarely, <a href="http://www.elections.ca/res/cons/comp/crfr/pdf/crfr_e.pdf">corruption among officials</a>.</p>
<p>In any case, voter ID will not diminish the cases of people voting more than once. To eliminate multiple voting, a universal form of ID would need to be introduced and combined with electronic voting with <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/a-fix-for-whats-not-broken-why-australia-doesnt-need-voter-id">e-lists at each polling station</a>. Given the costs involved as well as privacy concerns (remember the Australia Card Bill attempt in the 1980s?) these measures are not likely to occur in the short term at least. </p>
<h2>No ID, no vote? Not quite</h2>
<p>After some prompting by lobby groups, the Queensland government introduced a safeguard for voters who forget their ID in the form of a declaratory vote. This will require voters without ID to cast a vote that will be placed in a sealed, named envelope and put in a separate ballot box. But what happens after that is unclear. </p>
<p>Many electoral commission staff are employed only casually during elections. Will they all have consistent training about the declaratory voting provisions? How will any inconsistency be identified and managed? Will people whose declaratory vote is deemed ineligible be advised of this? </p>
<p>There are other important questions to ask too. Will electoral commission staff be suitably qualified to answer questions from citizens with poor English language skills? Will this new measure increase queues for people waiting to cast a ballot, or lengthen the time of the final count?</p>
<p>Will people without ID – and the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/voter-id-laws-politically-motivated-20131021-2vw6v.html">has said in the past</a> that this could be up to 1.5% of new enrolments – feel stigmatised? </p>
<p>As the AEC <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1415/VoterID#_ftn6">has concluded</a> in the past, adopting voter ID would involve:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… significant start-up and on-going costs; voter inconvenience; possible disenfranchisement of a number of voters; and possible delays in the delivery of election results because of an increase in the level of declaration voting.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In Australia and internationally, the evidence supports the view that voter ID hinders citizen participation. </p>
<p>There is something bizarre in making voting compulsory and fining people who don’t vote, while at the same time making it harder for a citizen to cast a vote.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35956/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tracey Arklay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In a first for an Australian general election, when Queenslanders head to the polls on January 31 they’ll need more than loose change for the sausage sizzle and cake stalls – they now also need to bring…Tracey Arklay, Adjunct Research Fellow, Griffith University, and Research Fellow, Institute for Social Science Research, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/175302013-09-02T20:42:18Z2013-09-02T20:42:18ZElection 2013 Essays: The state of Australian democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30455/original/fz9d7gqp-1378086899.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">All Australians should have a right to fulfill their democratic duty this Saturday, regardless of wealth or status.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dean Lewins</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><strong>Election 2013 Essays:</strong> As the federal election campaign draws to a close, The Conversation asked eminent thinkers to reflect on the state of the nation and the challenges Australia – and whichever party wins government – faces in the future. Today, Marian Sawer writes on what this election campaign reveals about the state of two of Australia’s key democratic processes: the electoral roll and campaign finance.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Given that Australian voters will do their democratic duty by heading to the polls this Saturday, now seems a perfect time to pause and ask: what does the 2013 federal election tell us about the health of Australian democracy?</p>
<p>With politicians increasingly prone to meddle with laws surrounding the electoral roll and the power of money in our political campaigns, the pulse of Australia’s democracy may not be as strong as we had once thought.</p>
<h2>Electoral roll</h2>
<p>At the beginning of the 20th century there was no doubt about Australia’s democratic leadership. In <a href="http://www.aec.gov.au/about_aec/Publications/Fact_Sheets/factsheet3.htm">1903</a>, through a massive nation-wide effort, Australia enrolled more of its population to vote in the forthcoming election than any country had done before. Commonwealth electoral officials estimated that 96% of the adult population, including both women and men, were now on the roll. </p>
<p>The cause was further advanced in 1911 when <a href="http://www.aec.gov.au/about_aec/Publications/voting/files/compulsory-voting.pdf">enrolment was made compulsory</a>, largely at the urging of the Chief Electoral Officer. Australia pioneered the creation of professional electoral administrators with a professional interest in the achievement of an electoral roll that was comprehensive as well as accurate.</p>
<p>How does Australia compare in 2013? Since the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) <a href="http://www.aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/About_Electoral_Roll/Roll_review.htm">ceased door-knocking</a> to register voters (in 1999) we have experienced a “shrinking roll”. At its worst, up to 1.5 million eligible voters were missing from the roll. Reliance on data matching meant the AEC had become very good at removing voters who were no longer at their registered address, but not nearly as good at getting them back onto the roll. There were anachronistic requirements for voters to sign and return paper enrolment forms.</p>
<p>Unlike other democracies, the AEC could not use the data at its disposal simply to enrol eligible voters at the right address. This situation was exacerbated by the amendment of the Electoral Act in 2006 to <a href="http://democratic.audit.anu.edu.au/papers/20060308_sawer_dam_dem.pdf">close the rolls</a> on the day the writs were issued. Many Australians were only prompted to enrol or re-enrol by the announcement of an election and were now disenfranchised. We had fallen well behind other democracies who allowed enrolment up to the day of the election (Canada) or the day before (New Zealand).</p>
<p>Pressure mounted to repair this democratic deficit. One of the <a href="http://www.tda.edu.au/resources/2020_Summit_paper.pdf">top demands</a> of Kevin Rudd’s 2020 Summit in 2008 - and of the Youth Summit that preceded it - was for direct enrolment. But it is difficult to gain bipartisan agreement for any action concerning the roll. Conservative parties tend to argue that making it easier to get onto the roll opens up the possibility of electoral fraud. However, making it more difficult has a disproportionate effect on young people and disadvantaged sections of the community.</p>
<p>Online activist group GetUp! took matters into its own hands with two successful High Court actions in 2010. One <a href="http://www.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/judgment-summaries/2010/rowe-2010-08-06.pdf">overturned</a> the early close of the roll, with a majority finding this was an unreasonable restriction of the universal franchise. The other decision <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/getup-wins-again-in-online-vote-case-20100813-122u5.html">upheld the validity</a> of electronic signatures and hence allowed online enrolment.</p>
<p>Of even greater long-term significance, the Commonwealth Electoral Act was finally <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1112a/12bd118">amended</a> in 2012 to allow the Electoral Commissioner to update details or directly enrol new voters after informing them of his intent.</p>
<p>The combination of direct enrolment, restoration of the week to enrol after the issuing of writs and the possibility of enrolling online contributed to <a href="http://www.aec.gov.au/about_aec/media_releases/2013/e08-16.htm">record enrolment</a> for the 2013 election. In the week after election was called, over 162,000 people were added to the roll and nearly 490,000 updated their enrolment. Over 85% of these enrolments and updates were done online. The shrinking roll was finally being reversed, although the percentage of eligible voters enrolled had still not returned to the 1903 level.</p>
<h2>Campaign finance</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, all these voters restored to the roll were then exposed to an election campaign unlikely to boost their faith in the democratic process. </p>
<p>One of the reasons for this is the huge increase in the role of money in Australian election campaigns since the removal of limits on political expenditure in the early 1980s. There has also been a growing arms race involving television advertising and other new campaign weapons.</p>
<p>A majority of European countries, including the UK, do not allow <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/comment/how-wads-of-cash-are-influencing-our-minds-20130430-2iqw6.html">paid political advertising</a>. They uphold the principle of a level playing field and allocate broadcast time in accordance with a fairness criterion rather than the power of the purse. The problems with allowing such advertising include not only the damage to the equality principle, but also the increased dependence of political parties on wealthy donors.</p>
<p>Public funding was intended to lessen this dependence, but in Australia the major parties simply added corporate funding on top. In the election year 2010-11 the Liberal Party alone <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/05/29/media-the-real-winners-from-a-desperate-secret-donations-deal/?wpmp_switcher=mobile">received income of A$105 million</a>, 80% of which was from corporations or wealthy individuals. Dependence on large donors not only brings suspicion of undue influence but pays for the negative advertising that serves to bring the whole of democratic politics into disrepute.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30473/original/gh2kqtzp-1378094753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30473/original/gh2kqtzp-1378094753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30473/original/gh2kqtzp-1378094753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30473/original/gh2kqtzp-1378094753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30473/original/gh2kqtzp-1378094753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30473/original/gh2kqtzp-1378094753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/30473/original/gh2kqtzp-1378094753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bankrolled by his millions, the arrival of the likes of Clive Palmer into Australian politics is only a recent phenomenon in this country.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dave Hunt</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2013, the major parties <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/parties-poll-funding-bill-dead-abbott-20130530-2nczq.html">reached an agreement</a> behind closed doors that would at least improve the disclosure of political donations. There was a public outcry when it was revealed that substantial “administrative” funding for parties was part of the package to compensate them for the alleged costs of disclosure. The bill was dropped but not before adding to the distrust of political parties.</p>
<p>As this example shows, the loss of trust in parties and politicians is not only about access purchased by corporate donors or unions. It is also about the misuse of public money for party purposes. The spike in government advertising in election years, such as this year’s <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/government-to-spend-30m-advertising-its-png-asylum-policy-20130801-2r18u.html">full page asylum seeker advertisements</a>, is one blatant example.</p>
<p>There is also the use of parliamentary allowances for electioneering purposes, which has become the norm. Even training in the use of party databases has been paid for under the Parliamentary Entitlements Act. It gives an unfair advantage to incumbents, as well as diverting public resources for party benefit. </p>
<p>Political parties now also launch their campaigns in the last couple of weeks of a campaign because of the convention that they can charge electioneering to the public purse until the actual launch. This means people are voting at pre-poll voting centres before political parties have revealed their official campaign policies.</p>
<p>In 1903, money had a much smaller role and there was no scope for billionaires like <a href="https://theconversation.com/mining-magnate-property-tycoon-politician-just-who-is-clive-palmer-6646">Clive Palmer</a>. The Labor Party’s Manifesto proudly promoted the new Electoral Act: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Elaborate precautions exist to prevent wealthy men practically purchasing seats: the expenditure of a senatorial candidate is limited to £250 and of a candidate for the other House to £100. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Full reports of the campaign speeches of party leaders appeared in the newspapers, covering the major issues of free trade and protection, the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill, White Australia and even nationalisation of monopolies. Three parties were treated as serious contenders, unlike the leadership debates of 2013, which have involved only two leaders.</p>
<p>In many ways Australia has lost its vanguard status as a democracy. Our electoral administration continues to be the envy of the world, with its completely professional and non-partisan approach. Unfortunately, our electoral legislation is in the hands of political leaders who again and again place short-term party interests over the longer-term interests of electoral democracy. </p>
<p>It is a sad day when decisions to ensure voting rights have to come from the High Court.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>This is the second article in our Election 2013 Essays series. Stay tuned for the other instalments in the lead-up to Saturday’s election.</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part one:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-2013-essays-australia-and-the-world-17314">Australia and the world</a></p>
<p><strong>Part three:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-2013-essays-its-the-economy-stupid-17470">It’s the economy, stupid</a></p>
<p><strong>Part four:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-2013-essays-what-is-government-for-17266">What is government for?</a></p>
<p><strong>Part five:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-2013-essays-the-philosophy-of-voting-17231">The philosophy of voting</a></p>
<p><strong>Part six:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-2013-essays-australia-for-the-long-term-17268">Australia for the long term</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/17530/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marian Sawer is a Chief Investigator on ARC Linkage Project LP100200304 - Women and Leadership in a Century of Australian Democracy.</span></em></p>Election 2013 Essays: As the federal election campaign draws to a close, The Conversation asked eminent thinkers to reflect on the state of the nation and the challenges Australia – and whichever party…Marian Sawer, Emeritus Professor, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.