Focus concepts

• Access
• Impartiality
• Service
• Clarity

Big ideas

• For an election to be free and fair for all people, voters need to be informed with details that enable them every opportunity to participate in the election.

Know already

1. what/who are you going to elect? or what are you going to decide?
2. who has the right to vote in your election?
3. which electoral system will you use?
4. who will run the election and how will it be run fairly?
5. how will the electoral roll be created?

Background

There are a number of things that voters need to know about Election Day.   The people running the election want voters to be sure of where, when and how they can vote on Election Day, or in special circumstances such as being sick or unable to vote on the day for other reasons.   As well as information about the running of the election, voters need information that will help them cast a vote that is both valid (it can be counted) and effective (the voters selections are the best ones possible to contribute to the election result they want to see).

Meanwhile, election administrators also want to make sure parties are clear on what they can and can’t do on the day - which is basically no campaigning except for the display of party colours and rosettes.   The law wants voters to be able to vote without pressure from candidates or parties on the day.   The administrators also have to make sure there are systems to communicate election night and final counts to the public and news media.

What you do

The electoral administrators need to develop and communicate the rules for election day and voting.   The development of a more sophisticated campaign could be a role for a dedicated team of electoral administrators which could include students and/or teachers.

Related activities

• Survey adults on their understanding of how MMP works.
• Create a poster that explains the process at the polling place entirely with pictures.
• Consider how the rights of disabled voters to a secret ballot can be met at the polling place.

Check for…

• Discussion and debate of the election day conditions and voter information needed to help ensure a free and fair election.
• Voter knowledge about the voting process and environment of election day.   This could be measured formally (i.e. through the percentage of ballot papers that can be counted), evaluations or informally by debriefs and discussions.