3619 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "The legal framework should ensure that all political parties are able to compete with each other on the basis of equal treatment before the law."
- "In summary, the commitments require states to: respect the right to establish political parties, and ensure that the parties can compete on the basis of equal treatment before the law and the authorities."
- "All candidates, parties and political organizations that wish to run for office should be able to do and to compete on the basis of equal treatment under the law and by the authorities."
- "All contestants should have an equal period of time in which to campaign."
- "All political forces and movements should be able to nominate and field candidates freely and on equal terms. Any arbitrary or discriminatory practices, for the purpose of disqualifying or undermining certain candidates or political forces contravene OSCE commitments."
- "In order to give effect to the right to be elected, the procedures for registration of candidacies must be nondiscriminatory and should also be straightforward. The grounds for rejection of a registration application should be based on objective criteria clearly stated in law."
- "The legal framework must provide clear guidance for qualifying parties, candidates, referenda and other initiatives for the ballot. The provisions may not be discriminatory, overly burdensome or unduly restrictive, though they should ensure that only qualified parties, candidates and appropriately worded referenda and initiatives appear on the ballot."
- "The effective implementation of the right and the opportunity to stand for elective office ensures that persons entitled to vote have a free choice of candidates. Any restrictions on the right to stand for election, such as minimum age, must be justifiable on objective and reasonable criteria. Persons who are otherwise eligible to stand for election should not be excluded by unreasonable or discriminatory requirements such as education, residence or descent, or by reason of political affiliation. No person should suffer discrimination or disadvantage of any kind because of that person's candidacy. States parties should indicate and explain the legislative provisions which exclude any group or category of persons from elective office."
- "In this sense, it would not be reasonable to have different rules (deadlines, definition of irregularities, procedures, sanctions…) for partisan or non partisan actors, as they may exist for presenting partisan or non-partisan lists, for taking part in election management bodies, for having access to public media and for being able to benefit from public funding. For that reason, the final questions, especially those related to the procedures for complaining and lodging appeals (competent bodies and/or courts, legal framework, sanctions, etc.) possibly do not admit many differences depending on partisan organisation."
- "This freedom may also be undermined by the practice of refusing political parties or other associations representing national minorities permission to use available public facilities such as town halls."
- "Political parties must embrace the principles of equal opportunity and democracy and endeavour to balance the number of male and female candidates."
- "Governments should encourage political parties to examine the extent to which women are full and equal participants in their activities and, where this is not the case, should identify the reasons for this. Political parties should be encouraged to adopt effective measures, including the provision of information, financial and other resources, to overcome obstacles to women's full participation and representation and ensure that women have an equal opportunity in practice to serve as party officials and to be nominated as candidates for election."
- "Provisions concerning candidate qualifications must be clear and must not discriminate against women or particular racial and ethnic groups. Disqualification should be subject to independent review."
- "Unreasonable restrictions [on voter registration] include: race."
- "The provisions for registration of political parties must not be designed to exclude political competitors, or make it difficult for minorities to organize and nominate their preferred candidates."
- "It is however required that that citizenship be defined in law respecting the right to non-discrimination; that is no distinctions based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."
- "The individual rights to participate in public life should be extended to all persons regardless of ethnic or national origin, language or religion."
- "There should be no restrictions on candidates for reasons such as race, sex, religion, political affiliation, ethnic origin, or economic status."
- "Unreasonable restrictions include those based on race, sex, religion, ethnic origin, past political affiliations, language, literacy, property, or ability to pay a registration fee."
- "Racial restrictions on access to public service are prohibited by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (art. 5 (c)) and by the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (art. II (c))."
- "The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination prohibits any racial discrimination affecting the right to vote or to stand for election, and expressly calls for universal and equal suffrage."
- "Parties representing national minorities must be permitted."
- "Neither candidates nor voters must find themselves obliged to reveal their membership of a national minority."
- "The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be guaranteed without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property or official capacity, place of birth or other status."
- "Unreasonable restrictions [on voter registration] include: gender."
- "Consensus exists that certain criteria to limit who has the right to vote are unacceptable. Based on Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other international human rights instruments, the following criteria cannot be employed to restrict who in a society has the right to vote: Race, Color, Sex, Language, Religion, Political or Other Opinion, National or social origin, or Ownership of property. Similarly, there is agreement that the right to vote cannot be refused to an individual because he or she is illiterate or lacks financial resources. In addition, based on international standards and practices the right to vote should not be denied based on a person's physical disabilities or sexual orientation."
- "In addition, almost all OSCE participating States have ratified international treaties or other documents promoting equality between men and women, including in particular the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)."
- "Three other instruments prohibit discrimination against women, or their exclusion from the political process. These are the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (art. 7) and the Convention on the Political Rights of Women (arts. I- III). Finally, as regards fair and equal access to participation, the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid prohibits legislative and other measures calculated to percent a racial group or groups from participation in the political life of the country (art. II (c))."
- "Gender discrimination in this regard is prohibited by the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (art. 4 (a) and (c)), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (art. 7 (a) and (b)) and the Convention on the Political Rights of Women (arts. II and III). The combined application of the above provisions establishes the broadest reasonable pool of candidates for election, thereby yielding assurances of genuine choice for voters and of the individual rights of candidates to stand for election and to enter public service."
- "Unreasonable restrictions [on voter registration] include: religion."
- "...[S]ignificant segments of the population [should not be] disenfranchised (prevented from voting) by: (1) unreasonable criteria restricting eligibility, such as the use of distinctions based on race, color, gender, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, social group, past political affiliations, literacy, property ownership and ability to pay."
- "Unreasonable restrictions [on voter registration] include: ethnic origin."
- "Unreasonable restrictions [on voter registration] include: political affiliation (past and present)."
- "Unreasonable restrictions [on voter registration] include: language."
- "While language regulations may be established for the proceedings of public institutions, including parliamentary institutions, the exclusion on linguistic grounds of anyone to stand for office is in violation of Article 25 of the ICCPR and, more simply, interferes with the freedom of the electorate to choose their representatives."
- "Fluency in an official language is a requirement that may discriminate against a national minority that does not speak the language…. States should not prescribe or proscribe the use of any language in electoral campaigns."
- "Language proficiency should not be used for eligibility to register as a voter or to stand for public office."
- "Ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in political and public life on an equal basis with others, directly or through freely chosen representatives, including the right and opportunity for persons with disabilities to vote and be elected, inter alia, by: i. Ensuring that voting procedures, facilities and materials are appropriate, accessible and easy to understand and use; ii. Protecting the right of persons with disabilities to vote by secret ballot in elections and public referendums without intimidation, and to stand for elections, to effectively hold office and perform all public functions at all levels of government, facilitating the use of assistive and new technologies where appropriate."
- "An effort should be made to design election materials that are accessible to disadvantaged voters such as the blind and the deaf. In the absence of these materials, assistance should be provided to enable such voters to vote."
- "Polling stations should be situated in venues that are accessible to all voters, especially the elderly and the people with disabilities."
- "There should be clear procedures for the provision of necessary assistance to disabled, illiterate and elderly voters that protect, as far as possible, their right to vote secretly."
- "Election laws may contain special provisions to facilitate voting by persons who are physically disabled, those in hospital or in prisons, those who are out of the country or who cannot come to the polling station for other valid reasons."
- "Handicapped or severely ill people must also have a chance to vote."
- "Voters with special needs, including the disabled, the elderly, students, conscripts, workers (including migrant workers out of the country), foreign service personnel and prisoners who have retained voting rights, should be accommodated."
- "The right of persons to stand for election should not be limited unreasonably by requiring candidates to be members of parties or of specific parties."
- "Electoral laws and procedures should guard against unfair advantage being bestowed upon Government-supported candidates."
- "No person should suffer discrimination or disadvantage of any kind because of that person's candidacy."
- "In compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in article 2 of this Convention, States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights: (d) Other civil rights include: (viii) the right to freedom of opinion and expression."
- "1. The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to speak, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice. 2. The exercise of this right may be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary: (a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others; or (b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals."
- "States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice, as defined in article 2 of the present Convention,"