94 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "Voting procedures should ensure that all ballots and voting materials are adequately safeguarded before, during, and after voting."
- "Voting provisions should require that all ballots and voting materials be adequately safeguarded before, during and after voting."
- "Ballots and other sensitive election material should be properly supervised and secured at all times."
- "51. A remote e-voting system shall not enable the voter to be in possession of a proof of the content of the vote cast. 52. In a supervised environment, the information on the vote shall disappear from the visual, audio or tactile display used by the voter to cast the vote as soon as it has been cast. There a paper proof of the electronic vote is provided to the voter at a polling station, the voter shall not be able to show it to any other person, or take this proof outside of the polling station."
- "In some SADC countries, polling stations are in private houses, shops and stores. This compromises the integrity of the voting process and the secrecy of the ballot. Polling stations should be public places, such as schools, tents, mobile vehicles that are neutral."
- "In such cases where voting is permitted in military barracks, prisons and hospitals, the process can be open to abuse; potentially undermining the principles of secrecy and freedom of choice"
- "Sensitive election materials such as ballot boxes and ballot papers should be stored and delivered under strict security in order to prevent electoral fraud."
- "The system must be sufficiently secured against fraud. This is done by the representation in all bodies that handles votes by well respected, neutral authorities or by multi-party representation, by secure control systems for voters, by secure storing and transportation of ballots, and by results being published at all relevant levels."
- "Multiple voting should be prevented effectively without, however, violating the principle of the secrecy of the vote. "
- "[States should foster citizen participation in the electoral process by]enabling all citizens to exercise their right to vote through proxy voting, postal voting or e-voting, on the condition that the secrecy and the security of the vote are guaranteed. "
- " [Member states should] ensure that women and men can exercise their individual voting rights and, to this end, take all the necessary measures to eliminate the practice of family voting. "
- "States should foster citizen participation in the electoral process by] safeguarding the right to vote of vulnerable groups (people with disabilities, people who are illiterate, etc.) by adapting polling stations and voting material to their needs. "
- "[Member states should] ensure that women and men can exercise their individual voting rights and, to this end, take all the necessary measures to eliminate the practice of family voting. "
- "The right and opportunity to vote and to be elected embodied in Article 23(1)(b) of the American Convention is exercised regularly in genuine periodic elections by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot that guarantees the free expression of the will of the voters. Over and above these characteristics of the electoral process (genuine periodic elections) and of the principles of the suffrage (universal, equal, secret, that reflect the free expression of the will of the people), the American Convention does not establish a specific mechanism or a particular electoral system by which the right to vote and to be elected must be exercised (infra para. 197). The Convention merely establishes certain standards within which the States legitimately may and must regulate political rights, provided that these regulations comply with the requirements of legality, are designed to fulfill a legitimate purpose, and are necessary and proportionate; that is, they are reasonable according to the principles of representative democracy. "
- "Regarding whether the measure was adapted to achieving the legitimate objective sought, based on the above the Court finds that, in the instant case, the exclusivity of nomination by political parties to elected office at the federal level is an appropriate measure to produce the legitimate result sought of organizing the electoral processes efficiently in order to hold genuine periodic elections, by universal and equal suffrage and by secret vote that guarantee the free expression of the will of the voters, as established by the American Convention. "
- "Democratic elections require that ballots be completed by the voters in secret. The secrecy of the vote is not only a fundamental right, but also an obligation. Thus, any voting outside the voting booths is usually forbidden. In practice, however, there are a number of examples in which open voting has been tolerated by electoral officials. "
- "In order to secure the voter’s secrecy, the voter should generally be alone in the voting booth. Only in special cases, e.g. blind voters, are exceptions to be allowed. The conditions for giving assistance to voters should, if necessary, be formalised in the electoral law or electoral commission instructions. In any case, it is unacceptable that “interpreters” accompany voters to the voting booth and indicate the name of the candidate for whom the voter wants to vote. "
- "Obviously, family and group voting is by no means acceptable. It tends to deprive women, and sometimes young people, of their individual voting rights and as such amounts to a form electoral fraud (see for example CG/BUR (11) 95). The Congress Recommendation 111 (2002) emphasised the paramount importance of women’s right to an individual, free, and secret vote and underlined that the problem of family voting is unacceptable from the standpoint of women’s fundamental rights (CG/BUR (11) 122 rev). It should be clear, however, that preventing effectively family and group voting requires a radical change of attitudes, which must be actively promoted by the authorities (CDLAD(2002)023rev, para. 30). "
- "Absentee voting procedures require additional, and in many cases improved, efforts to prevent fraud, special voter education programmes, and extra training for members of election commissions. Special attention should be paid to guaranteeing the secrecy of the vote when introducing new voting technologies. "
- "For the voter, secrecy of voting is not only a right but also a duty, non-compliance with which must be punishable by disqualification of any ballot paper whose content is disclosed. "
- "Voting must be individual. Family voting and any other form of control by one voter over the vote of another must be prohibited. "
- "The list of persons actually voting should not be published. "
- "There should be sanctions against the violation of secret sufrage. "
- "Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the ECHR states that “(t)he High Contracting Parties undertake to hold free elections at reasonable intervals by secret ballot, under conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature”. It does not deal with the vote of citizens abroad in particular. "
- "As regards, in particular, the choice of electoral system, the Court reiterates that the Contracting States enjoy a wide margin of appreciation in this sphere. In that regard, Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 goes no further than prescribing “free” elections held at “reasonable intervals”, “by secret ballot” and “under conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people”. Subject to that reservation, it does not create any “obligation to introduce a specific system” such as proportional representation or majority voting with one or two ballots (see Mathieu-Mohin and Clerfayt, cited above, § 54). "
- "The violation of secret suffrage should be sanctioned. "
- "The signing and stamping of ballot papers should not take place at the point when the paper is presented to the voter, because the signatory or the person affixing the stamp might mark the paper so that the voter could be identified when it came to counting the votes, which would violate the secrecy of the ballot. "
- " The voter should collect his or her ballot paper and no one else should touch it from that point on. "
- "Secrecy of the ballot is one aspect of voter freedom, its purpose being to shield voters from pressures they might face if others learned how they had voted. Secrecy must apply to the entire procedure – and particularly the casting and counting of votes. Voters are entitled to it, but must also respect it themselves, and non-compliance must be punished by disqualifying any ballot paper whose content has been disclosed."
- "Voting must be individual. Family voting, whereby one member of a given family can supervise the votes cast by the other members, infringes the secrecy of the ballot; it is a common violation of the electoral law. All other forms of control by one voter over the vote of another must also be prohibited. Proxy voting, which is subject to strict conditions, is a separate issue. "
- "...since abstention may indicate a political choice, lists of persons voting should not be published. "
- "Violation of the secrecy of the ballot must be punished, just like violations of other aspects of voter freedom. "
- "[Consider] signing and ratifying or acceding to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other core international human rights treaties. "
- "Tak[e] all necessary measures to eliminate laws, regulations and practices that discriminate, directly or indirectly, against citizens in their right to participate in public affairs on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, or on the basis of disability. "
- "Tak[e] proactive measures to eliminate all barriers in law and in practice that prevent or hinder citizens, in particular women, persons belonging to marginalized groups or minorities, persons with disabilities and persons in vulnerable situations, from participating fully in effectively in political and public affairs, including, inter alia, reviewing and repealing measures that unreasonably restrict the right to participate in public affairs, and considering adopting, on the basis of reliable data on participation, temporary special measure, including legislative acts, aimed at increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in all aspects of political and public life; "
- "State Parties shall take all appropriate policy, legislative and other measures to ensure this right (to participate in political and public life), on the basis of equality, including through: (…) c) Putting in place reasonable accommodations and other support measures consistent with the secrecy of the ballot, including as appropriate, accessibility of polling stations and facilitating assisted voting, for persons with disabilities to enable their effective participation in political and public life in accordance with national laws. "
- "In the light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member and observer States, and States whose parliaments enjoy observer or partner for democracy status with the Parliamentary Assembly to: (...) 7.4. with regard to accessibility of polling stations, information and procedures, including electoral campaigns: (...) 7.4.2. ensure the provision of information about electoral processes, voting procedures and political programmes in accessible formats, including in easy-to-read and easy-to-understand versions, with sign interpretation when required, subtitles for videos and Braille versions; 7.4.3. provide ballot papers in accessible formats and tactile voting devices for blind people in at least one polling station in every election district."
- "State Parties shall take all appropriate policy, legislative and other measures to ensure this right (to participate in political and public life), on the basis of equality, including through: (…) c) Putting in place reasonable accommodations and other support measures consistent with the secrecy of the ballot, including as appropriate, accessibility of polling stations and facilitating assisted voting, for persons with disabilities to enable their effective participation in political and public life in accordance with national laws. "
- "In the light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member and observer States, and States whose parliaments enjoy observer or partner for democracy status with the Parliamentary Assembly to: (...) 7.4. with regard to accessibility of polling stations, information and procedures, including electoral campaigns: (...) 7.4.2. ensure the provision of information about electoral processes, voting procedures and political programmes in accessible formats, including in easy-to-read and easy-to-understand versions, with sign interpretation when required, subtitles for videos and Braille versions; 7.4.3. provide ballot papers in accessible formats and tactile voting devices for blind people in at least one polling station in every election district."
- "There must be the possibility for meaningful verification of ballots cast electronically, such as that provided by a manual recount or end-to-end verifiability. (...) The verification mechanism must also fully guarantee the integrity of the results without compromising the secrecy of the vote. "
- "NVT systems are intended to fulfil the same functions as paper-based or mechanical systems and must, therefore, meet the same standards that apply to these systems."
- "Secrecy of the vote means that it should not be possible to associate a vote with a specific voter. This secrecy permits the voter to exercise her or his choice freely, without the potential for coercion, intimidation or vote-buying. NVT systems must be consistent with this requirement."
- "It is difficult to justify the use of proxy voting, particularly where postal, early or mobile voting is available. Should a legal framework provide for proxy voting, then the reviewer of the legislation should point out the concerns this raises with regard to the principle of secrecy of the ballot and the potential it creates for abuse."
- "The Committee recalls that, under article 29 of the Convention, the State party is required to adapt its voting procedures, by ensuring that they are “appropriate, accessible and easy to understand and use”, and, where necessary, allowing persons with disabilities, upon their request, assistance in voting. It is by so doing that the State party will ensure that persons with intellectual disabilities cast a competent vote, on an equal basis with others, while guaranteeing voting secrecy."