Electoral registers

Fulfilment of the following criteria is essential if electoral registers are to be reliable:

a. electoral registers must be permanent or refer to a register that is constantly updated (population register or register of births, marriages and deaths);

b. there must be regular updates; which have to guarantee that the voters’ register is accurate before each referendum. Where voters are not registered automatically, registration must be possible over a relatively long period of time;

c. electoral registers must be public;

d. there should be an administrative procedure – subject to judicial control – or a judicial procedure, allowing for the registration of a voter who was not registered; the registration should not take place as a result of a decision taken by the polling station on election day;

e. a similar procedure should allow voters to have incorrect inscriptions amended within a reasonable time;

f. provision may be made for a supplementary register as a means of giving the vote to persons who have moved or reached statutory voting age since the final publication of the register.