Electoral-Management-Reference-Model-v.1.0

govern the circumstances under which an elector can provide information relating to another
elector. Some provision for this is necessary to ensure that deceased electors are removed from
the register. Agencies often create a policy matrix that shows what type of registration
transaction can be initiated by who and on whose behalf. In B.C., for instance, an elector’s
record can be set to a status of “inactive”, “moved”, or “address unknown”, based on information
supplied by another registered elector who resides at the same address. 8
Data capture of elector-sourced registrations
The elector registration business processes also include the data capture of all elector-sourced
registrations, including those collected in the field by enumerators and in polling places during
elections. In the case of online registration, information is data captured by electors directly;
registration information from all other non-event elector registration channels (e.g., telephone,
fax, mail and in-person) is data captured by agency staff. In the case of telephone registration,
the information may be entered directly into the register, or into a separate electronic file for
subsequent loading into the register through Register Maintenance processes. Due to high
volumes, some electoral agencies contract out the data capture of elector registration information
from Events and some rely on Returning Officer staff for data entry.
Destinations
As illustrated in Figure 8, after data capture, there are two destinations for the outputs of Elector
Registration business processes: Register Maintenance processes and the Electoral Geography
business area. Register Maintenance processes (described in section 4.3.2.3, page 29) integrate
the data-captured registration information into the register of electors. Addresses provided by
electors are sent to the Electoral Geography business area for geo-coding and assignment to an
electoral district and polling division.
4.3.2.2 Secondary Source Registration
Secondary Source Registration involves receiving data from external, secondary sources and
preparing it for integration into the register of electors. These business processes are performed
mainly by electoral agencies that maintain a permanent register, although they may also be used
when data from a secondary source serves as a starting point for enumeration.
Use of secondary sources reduces duplication of effort across jurisdictions and between
government agencies by making effective use of existing information. It also reduces reliance on
electors to maintain their own registration records. Secondary sources are a particularly valuable
source of information for moving electors to the correct address and removing electors who are
deceased.
Figure 9 summarizes the inputs, outputs and the destinations for Secondary Source Registration
business processes.
8 Agencies use different terms to describe an “inactive” status. For instance, Nunavut uses “limbo”.
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April 9, 2010