A voter invitation card, voter notification card, poll card, or notice of election card, is an informational leaflet, usually of the size of a

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

, which requests voters to attend the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

and which generally contains information regarding elections, place and time of voting, and contact details of the

electoral commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

By country

France

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, the voter invitation card also serves as a certificate that the voter is registered on the

Electoral roll An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is usually broke ...

, and are intended to be kept and used for multiple election cycles. Until 1993, French voter invitation cards were titled as "CARTE D'ÉLECTEUR". Starting with the 1994 European Parliament election in France, voter invitation cards are titled using the gender-neutral "CARTE ÉLECTORALE". This was done in response to the demands of women's movements, which requested titling voter invitation cards separately by the invitee's gender ("CARTE D'ÉLECTEUR" for men and "CARTE D'ÉLECTRICE" for women), despite a recommendation by the Académie française to continue titling all voter invitation cards as "CARTE D'ÉLECTEUR".

USSR

The

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

voter cards are often called "All come to vote" cards (russian: "открытки «Все на выборы»") because during the Soviet Union period they inevitably carried an inscription, a slogan "All come to vote". One side of such voter invitation cards usually was artistically illustrated, while the other (reverse) side contained information. The text on such voter cards during the Soviet time carried invariable components: words "Dear comrade _____________. Please be reminded that on Sunday …"; and an appeal to come and vote for candidates of the electoral bloc of communists and independents. Voter invitation cards were sent on behalf of "trustee persons of the constituency election campaign conference of workers' representatives", campaign team, and were always characterized by electoral campaign propaganda, requesting to vote for the candidates of the electoral bloc of communists and independents.

Russian Federation

In Russia voter invitation cards are no longer electoral campaign propaganda. Their function is only to inform of elections, time of voting and location of the polling station, and more often than not contain only text without any images.

United Kingdom

Poll card from the UK's EU membership referendum, 2016

A poll card is a document which is sent to all registered voters by the

returning officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral ...

shortly before an

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The poll card gives information about the election, such as the date of the election, the location and opening times of the voter's

polling station A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English and British English, although polling place is the building

, and the name, address and electoral number of the voter. It is not necessary to take the card to the polling station to vote. Poll cards were introduced as part of the

Representation of the People Act 1948 The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections. It is noteworthy for abolishing plural voting for parliamentary elections, including ...

, and the first general election in which they were used was that of

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

Tunisia

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

organizes and manages the votes from

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

until 2009 by presenting the voter's card and the national identity card. But following the

Tunisian revolution The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El ...

in 2011, the

Independent High Authority for Elections The Independent High Authority for Elections ( ar, الهيئة العليا المستقلة للانتخابات ', french: Instance supérieure indépendante pour les élections or ISIE ) is a government agency in charge of organizing and super ...

is responsible for the management of

and

referendums A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

, their organization and their supervision in their different phases. From this date, the voter card is no longer used. File:Tunisian voter card after independence front.jpg File:Tunisian voter card after independence (back).jpg

External references

Come One, Come All to Vote...

A. Savelieva. Vote. (Савельева А. А. Отдай голос.)
''in Russian''

''in Russian'' * ttp://www.ecofriendlyparty.com/main/party_landing/2 Invitations for Kids Party

References

{{Reflist Voting