219 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "Decisions on requests should be made expeditiously, within a time period specifically stated by the law."
- "All complaints relating to voter registration should be resolved within a reasonable timeframe prior to election day."
- "The timeframes should provide a suitable balance between the time pressures of an election process, and ensuring that there is sufficient time to allow a complaint/appeal to be lodged and heard fairly. There should also be sufficient time to allow for any remedy to be meaningful. This is particularly important for complaints that relate to voter or candidate registration, as remedies should be enforceable before election day."
- "Everyone who offers proof of identity has the right to know whether information concerning him is being processed and to obtain it in an intelligible form, without undue delay or expense, and to have appropriate rectifications or erasures made in the case of unlawful, unnecessary or inaccurate entries, and when it is being communicated, addresses. Provision should be made for a remedy, if need be with the supervisory authority specified in principle 8 below. The cost of any rectification shall be borne by the person responsible for the file. It is desirable that the provisions of this principle should apply to everyone, irrespective of nationality or place of residence."
- "Requests for changes, entries, and deletions in the voter registers should not be limited to a time period just before a given election, except where necessary to finalize registers prior to an election."
- "The law should not permit the accuracy of the voter register to be challenged right up to the eve of an election. This would ensure that electoral bodies and the judiciary are not diverted from urgent complaints and appeals related to voting and counting process and drawn into resolving disputes that could have been addressed earlier."
- "There should be effective administrative or judicial procedures that provide stakeholders with the opportunity to challenge irregularities in the voter register, including the exclusion of eligible electors, to correct errors in the register or to seek the removal of any ineligible persons."
- "Voter registration requires remedies that correct disenfranchisement or that prevent voting by ineligible people."
- "The legal framework should clearly specify the method of establishing voter eligibility, including what documentation is required, so that the process is fully transparent, not subject to arbitrary decision, and can be publicly monitored in an objective manner."
- "The electoral law should set out an exclusive venue for filing complaints and appeals regarding the accuracy of the voter register or, where applicable, the electoral cards. The complaints procedure should be designed so that courts are not unnecessarily burdened with minor disputes."
- "...A voter registration exercise should provide procedures for people to challenge mistakes in the voters lists: Claims – People who believe that they are eligible to vote, but whose names do not appear accurately on the voters list should have the opportunity to have corrections made; and Objections – People should be allowed to question the eligibility of individuals whose names appear on the voters list, but who are believed to be ineligible."
- "Procedures for counting should be known to those election officials, party agents, observers and any other authorized persons who are permitted to be present during the count."
- "The counting process shall accurately count the votes. The counting of votes shall be reproducible."
- "There shall be the possibility for a recount. Other features of the e-voting system that may influence the correctness of the result shall be verifiable."
- "There should be opportunities to seek a remedy in the event of objections against decisions or activities of the counting staff."
- "Candidates and political parties have the right to challenge the validity of election results."
- "The legal framework should ensure, among other things, that: ...Ballots are opened in a manner that permits verification of their validity or ruling about invalidity."
- "In assessing the counting processes...evaluation should be based upon the degree to which: (2) ballots that are ruled invalid (spoiled, void or null) or irregular (sometimes called challenged or tendered) are properly identified and, ideally, preserved for review."
- "The reliability of the count, double counting and storing of ballots for later verification are to be observed."
- "Voted ballots and counting sheets (protocols) should be stored in a secure place, at least for a period of time sufficient for the final resolution of all election appeals."
- "The legal framework should provide, in clear and objective language, the procedures for transferring the protocol results of counting, ballots, and election materials from lower election commissions to intermediate and higher election commissions for tabulation and safekeeping."
- "The tabulation of results should be verifiable and transparent at all levels of the election administration."
- "Counting should be open to official observation by concerned parties. All issued, unissued and damaged ballot papers must be systematically accounted for. The processes for counting votes, verification, reporting of results and retention of official materials must be secure and fair. Re-count procedures should be available in case of questionable results. Finally, alternative, independent verification procedures, such as parallel vote tabulation, can be a valuable measure contributing to public confidence in, and acceptance of, the outcome of polling."
- "SADC Member States shall adhere to the following principles in the conduct of democratic elections: Challenge of the election results as provided for in the law of the land."
- "107. The audit system shall provide the ability to cross-check and verify the correct operation of the e-voting system and the accuracy of the result, to detect fraud and to prove that all counted votes are authentic and that all votes have been counted. 108. The audit system shall provide the ability to verify that an e-election or e-referendum has complied with the applicable legal provisions, the aim being to verify that the results are an accurate representation of the authentic votes."
- "The audit system shall be designed and implemented as part of the e-voting system. Audit facilities shall be present on different levels of the system: logical, technical and application."
- "There should be independent scrutiny of the voting and counting process and access to judicial review or other equivalent process so that electors have confidence in the security of the ballot and the counting of the votes."
- "The electoral law should provide a mechanism for the invalidation of election results. In both parliamentary and presidential elections, the decision to partially or fully invalidate election results should be assigned to the highest electoral body. This decision should be reviewable by the highest body of the judiciary or the Constitutional Court. "
- "The e-voting system shall not prevent the partial or complete re-run of an election or a referendum."
- "At the count observers should pay particular attention to the following points:...the existence of a right to demand a recount."
- "Many electoral legislative schemes permit a recount at the request of a candidate or party agent who is present at the counting proceedings."
- "40. The electoral law should lay down the grounds upon which complaints and appeals are admissible. Any complainant should be duly notified in writing of the decision as to whether his/her petition was considered admissible or not, with reasons given. 41. Grounds for appeal should be strictly defined in the law, preferably for each phase involving an election dispute mechanism, so that courts and electoral bodies are not burdened with irrelevant or frivolous challenges. 42. The parties authorized to bring election-related complaints or appeals before a court or an electoral body should be strictly identified by the electoral law. 43. Time-limits and procedures governing the admissibility of complaints and appeals should be designed so as to preserve the right of aggrieved parties to seek redress."
- "With these broad principles in mind, the Special Rapporteur wishes to emphasize that in pre-election periods…(c) The media are exempt from legal liability for provocative statements by candidates or party representatives; the right of reply is provided, as well as correction or retraction in cases where defamation is alleged; the manner and extent of remedy is determined by an independent body."
- "1. Anyone injured by inaccurate or offensive statements or ideas disseminated to the public in general by a legally regulated medium of communication has the right to replay or to make a correction using the same communications outlet, under such conditions as the law may establish. 2. The correction or reply shall not in any case remit other legal liabilities that may have been incurred."
- "Each transmitting Party [State] shall ensure that every natural or legal person, regardless of nationality or place of residence, shall have the opportunity to exercise a right of reply or to seek other comparable legal or administrative remedies relating to programmes transmitted by a broadcaster within its jurisdiction, within the meaning of Article 5 [defining jurisdiction]. In particular, it shall ensure that timing and other arrangements for the exercise of this right or other comparable legal or administrative remedies shall be ensured both as regards the timing and the modalities."
- "Every person has the right to access information about himself or herself or his/her assets expeditiously and not onerously, whether it be contained in databases or public or private registries, and if necessary to update it, correct it, and/or amend it."
- "In order to respect freedom of opinion, expression and information and in order that information may reflect all points of view, it is important that the points of view presented by those who consider that the information published or disseminated about them has seriously prejudiced their effort to strengthen peace and international understanding, to promote human right or to counter racialism, apartheid and incitement to war be disseminated."
- "The practice of journalism in a genuine democracy has a number of implications. These implications, which are already reflected in many professional codes of conduct, include: d) rectifying any published or broadcast information which subsequently proves to be grossly inaccurate."
- "1. Any natural or legal person, irrespective of nationality or residence, should be given the right of reply or an equivalent remedy offering a possibility to react to any information in the media presenting inaccurate facts about him or her and which affect his/her personal rights. 2. The request for a reply should be addressed to the medium concerned within a reasonably short time from the public action of the contested information. The medium in question should make the reply public without undue delay. 3. The reply should be given, as far as possible, the same prominence as was given to the contested information in order for it to reach the same public and with the same impact. 4. The reply should be made public free of charge for the person concerned."
- "Given the short duration of an election campaign, any candidate or political party which is entitled to a right of reply under national law or systems should be able to exercise this right during the campaign period."
- "The media have a duty to offer a right of reply to statements that are inaccurate or offensive, and they must be able to exercise this right of reply during the campaign period. As a matter of fact, this obligation is particularly important during the election campaign as all views should be put across and reported correctly to the voters in order to allow them to make an informed choice."
- "Any regulatory body established to hear complaints about media content, including media councils, shall be protected against political, economic or any other undue interferences."
- "A public complaints system for print or broadcasting should be available in accordance with the following principles: Complaints shall be determined in accordance with established rules and codes of conduct agreed upon by all stakeholders; and the complaints system shall be widely accessible."
- "[The regulatory body] should also investigate alleged violations and impose effective remedies when violations have occurred. There should be an efficient complaints procedure that provides corrective measures of both a self regulatory and statutory nature."
- "Every woman has the right to the recognition, enjoyment, exercise and protection of all human rights and freedoms embodied in regional and international human rights instruments. These rights include, among others: ...g. The right to simple and prompt recourse to a competent court for protection against acts that violate her rights. "
- "The States Parties undertake to ensure that the victims of discrimination and intolerance receive equitable and non-discriminatory treatment, equal access to the justice system, expeditious and effective proceedings, and fair compensation in the civil or criminal sphere, as applicable. "
- ""[States should] strengthen supervision by ensuring an effective, transparent and accessible complaints and appeals system in order to put an end to the culture of impunity for election-related offences and enhance public confidence in the electoral process." "
- "[States should] ensure transparency of the electoral process, particularly in: 8.2.3. the conduct of the ballot: it is advisable to ensure that polling stations are appropriately designed, that transparent ballot boxes are used, that voting booths are available, that counting takes place in public and that distance voting is well regulated. "
- "[States should foster citizen participation in the electoral process by] ensuring the design of the electoral system and the delimitation of constituencies [should] facilitate the effective participation of minorities in the election process and thus promote minority representation as a factor guaranteeing interethnic peace and stability. "
- "Every person has the right to an effective and enforceable remedy, to be determined by a court or other competent authorities, for acts violating the rights granted to that person by the constitution or by law. "