Global study sought lessons, not a single model for voter registration: Karnataka CEO

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V. Anbu Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka | Photo Credit: File photo

Technology can help improve the quality and credibility of electoral rolls, but there is no single voter registration model that can be uniformly adopted across countries, Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka V. Anbu Kumar said on June 10.

Addressing an international workshop on ‘Technology-Driven Voter Registration (TDVR) - Stakeholder Validation Workshop’ in Bengaluru, Mr. Anbu Kumar said a global comparative study undertaken when India chaired the International IDEA was intended to promote learning and knowledge-sharing rather than advocate a particular system.

“The objective is not to recommend any one voter registration model, but to identify good practices, validate findings, and develop internationally relevant standards for accurate, inclusive, secure and trusted voter registration systems,” he said.

The study examined voter registration systems followed by 87 Election Management Bodies (EMBs) across North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania, making it one of the most extensive international reviews of technology-driven voter registration systems.

According to Mr. Anbu Kumar, the study sought to understand how different countries have leveraged technology to improve electoral roll management while responding to their own legal, administrative and social realities.

The study identified five dominant voter registration models worldwide — Population Register-Based Automatic Registration (PRA), Biometric Voter Registration (BIO), Digital Identity-Enabled Registration (DID), Hybrid Digital-Assisted Registration (HYB), and Permanent Computerised Voter Registration (PCVR).

He noted that no single model could be considered universally applicable, as countries have adopted different approaches depending on governance structures, institutional capacities, and technological ecosystems.

The draft report was prepared through a structured methodology involving e