642 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "An electoral commission’s role lies at the heart of the concept of transparency in election organization. It is this body which often has the responsibility for the organization, superintendence and control of elections. It is thus uniquely placed to develop through its practices and procedures a culture of openness, transparency and consultation that can—and should—infuse the whole electoral process. All aspects of the electoral commission’ establishment, composition, status and functions are relevant to the matter of the transparency of the election processes."
- "The basic consideration is to cloth the administration in a high degree of functional autonomy and operational independence."
- "Principles guiding the work of electoral authorities can be summarized as…transparency at all the stages of the electoral process."
- "Principles guiding the work of electoral authorities can be summarized as…accountability before the legislature and the public."
- "The overall credibility of an electoral process is substantially dependent on all relevant groups, from government to civil society, participating in the formation and functioning of electoral structures and processes. In this respect, the value of constant consultation, communication and co-operation among the electoral administration, the political parties and the institutions of society cannot be over emphasized. In the formulation of the legislative framework of an electoral administration, this aspect should receive particular attention."
- "A national election administration, such as a central election commission or equivalent body, is usually responsible for administering an election. Occasionally, the judiciary may oversee the election process. Whichever body is constituted to administer a particular election, its work should be…transparent."
- "All electoral activities, including the decision-making process, the legal process and the organization of events, should be conducted in a wholly transparent manner."
- "Administrative mechanisms are particularly required to give effect to the general obligations to investigate allegations of violations promptly, thoroughly and effectively through independent and impartial bodies."
- "A failure by a State Party to investigate allegations of violations could in and of itself give rise to a separate breach of the Covenant. Cessation of an ongoing violation is an essential element of the right to an effective remedy."
- "However the positive obligations on States Parties to ensure Covenant rights will only be fully discharged if individuals are protected by the State, not just against violations of Covenant rights by its agents, but also against acts committed by private persons or entities that would impair the enjoyment of Covenant rights in so far as they are amenable to application between private persons or entities. There may be circumstances in which a failure to ensure Covenant rights as required by article 2 would give rise to violations by States Parties of those rights, as a result of States Parties' permitting or failing to take appropriate measures or to exercise due diligence to prevent, punish, investigate or redress the harm caused by such acts by private persons or entities."
- "The Committee attaches importance to States Parties' establishing appropriate judicial and administrative mechanisms for addressing claims of rights violations under domestic law. The Committee notes that the enjoyment of the rights recognized under the Covenant can be effectively assured by the judiciary in many different ways, including direct applicability of the Covenant, application of comparable constitutional or other provisions of law, or the interpretive effect of the Covenant in the application of national law."
- "It is the duty of each Member State to provide adequate resources to enable the judiciary to properly perform its functions."
- "States shall ensure that domestic law is consistent with international legal obligations by: ...(b) Adopting appropriate and effective judicial and administrative procedures and other appropriate measures that provide fair, effective and prompt access to justice."
- "The States party to the Convention commit themselves to: j) to ensure establishment of independent, impartial electoral bodies to organise the conduct of democratic free and fair, authentic and periodical elections in accordance with the national legislation of the country and in line with international commitments of the state."
- "Establish and strengthen independent and impartial national electoral bodies responsible for the management of elections."
- "Democratic elections should be conducted: e) by impartial…electoral institutions."
- "Strengthen and where necessary establish an appropriate electoral administration and oversight bodies, in our respective countries and provide the necessary resources and capacity to conduct elections which are free fair and credible."
- "The officials are acting independently."
- "The EMB should work transparently, efficiently and professionally and will be expected to administer the electoral process so that it is conducted fairly, impartially and in accordance with national laws and international standards for elections."
- "An independent electoral authority should be in place mandated to supervise the electoral process and to ensure that it is conducted in accordance with the established laws which are compatible with international human rights law. Whichever body is constituted or assigned to administer the elections, its work should be independent, impartial, and transparent. The administering body should be independent from political motivated manipulation."
- "The independence of the election administration body is further guaranteed by a transparent, sufficient and independent budget provided from government resources."
- "The overall credibility of an electoral process is substantially dependent on all relevant groups (including political parties, government, civil society and the media) being aware of and participating in the debate surrounding the formation of the electoral structure and processes. An informed debate in these groups should also take place regarding the functioning of the EMBs. In this respect the value of constant consultation, communication and cooperation among EMBs, the political parties and the institutions of society cannot be over-emphasized"
- "An electoral body must...act with impartiality and a maximum of transparency, consulting in a meaningful way with interested parties, before decisions are taken on important matters and being prepared to give reasons for such decisions."
- "The EMB must be impartial and competent, and it must be perceived to be both by the electoral contestants and the public."
- "Impartial election administration is critical for democratic elections. Further, impartiality in election administration must be accompanied by the appearance of fairness. Regardless of how an election administration is structured, it is important that it not only function in an impartial manner but also be perceived by the electorate as doing so."
- "Political parties must be equally represented on electoral commissions or must be able to observe the work of the impartial body. Equality may be construed strictly or on a proportional basis (see point I.2.3.b). "
- "The central election commission must be permanent in nature."
- "Where there is no longstanding tradition of administrative authorities' independence from those holding political power, independent, impartial electoral commissions must be set up at all levels, from the national level to the polling station level."
- "All EMB personnel should be provided with instructions and/or training on their role and responsibilities, including their duty to act in a fair and impartial manner."
- "The state has the responsibility to promote and facilitate the teaching of human rights and fundamental freedoms at all levels of education and to ensure that all those responsible for training lawyers, law enforcement officers, the personnel of the armed forces and public officials include appropriate elements of human rights teaching in their training programme."
- "Members of electoral commissions must receive standard training."
- "Ensure the availability of adequate logistics and resources for carrying out democratic elections."
- "The way an electoral commission is funded may…affect its independent status. Where funds are provided through any special or block vote in the Ministry responsible for electoral matters, valuable time may have to be spent negotiating the budget with that Ministry, or the Ministry of Finance, as the case may be. It is believed that the budget for an electoral commission should be voted directly by Parliament."
- "The availability of resources is an important consideration in any scheme for election administration."
- "Indeed, the lack of adequate resources to run an election could severely hamper the goal of delivering free and fair election services."
- "Government must adequately fund the EMB in order for it to deliver a credible and legitimate election."
- "Election administrators should be free from interference by government or parties, and should be provided with sufficient funds to allow them to fulfil their responsibilities."
- "For any EMB to be credible and effective, sufficient and timely funds must be made available to it..."
- "The legal framework should require that all levels of electoral bodies be established in a timely manner before an election and be adequately funded. It is crucial that the legal framework contains provisions as to how funding for the ongoing operations of the EMB will be made available. Some of the major methods of funding election operations are: The budget is allocated to an EMB through a department of the government (though in many emerging democracies this arrangement has not worked very satisfactorily); The budget is directly voted by parliament without the intervention of a department, sometimes through the medium of a standing all-party parliamentary committee; A lump sum advance allocation, with some guiding principles, is provided for. Once the EMB has conducted the electoral operation and exhausted that amount, the necessary audited sums are approved by the legislature; The EMB has direct and uncontrolled access to the State treasury for funding elections and reports to parliament only after an election."
- "The election administration should be provided with a transparent, sufficient, and independent budget."
- "Whatever the particular characteristics of the respective national system for funding various election processes, the election administration should be provided, in a transparent manner, with funds from the state or municipal budget sufficient to meet its responsibilities. The independence of the election administration can be enhanced if it has its own public budget, at established levels, rather than allocated through an ad hoc budgetary process."
- "To further enhance the independence and impartiality of the Electoral Commission it should have its own budget directly voted for by Parliament and not gets its allocation form a Ministry or a Government Department."
- "States parties shall strive to institutionalize good political governance through: 1. Accountable, efficient and effective public administration."
- "This includes, inter alia, the right, individually and in association with others, to submit to governmental bodies and agencies and organizations concerned with public affairs criticism and proposals for improving their functioning and to draw attention to any aspect of their work that may hinder or impede the promotion, protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms."
- "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to the lawful exercise of his or her occupation or profession. Everyone who, as a result of his or her profession, can affect the human dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of others should respect those rights and freedoms and comply with relevant national and international standards of occupational and professional conduct or ethics."
- "Practical organization and information of the electorate: ...to liaise closely with the officials who are running the election in order to be satisfied that all stages of the election campaign, the poll and the count are conducted in accordance with the election law."
- "An election administration should…(i) Comply with the laws of the country. (ii) Ensure, within the legal framework of the country, that the laws relating to elections are fully implemented in an impartial and equitable fashion. (iii) Ensure, within the legal framework of the country, that every party, candidates, voter and other participant in the election process is treated in a way that is fair and just, considering all the circumstances."
- "People must know their rights to use them; hence sufficient civic and voter education is a prerequisite for the facts of universality and equality."
- "...States should: Establish an effective, impartial and non-discriminatory procedure for the registration of voters; Establish clear criteria for the registration of voters, such as age, citizenship and residence, and ensure that such provisions are applies without distinction of any kind."
- "The cumulative effect of all voter education in an election should be evaluated by the degree to which pertinent information is reasonably available to all eligible voters in a form that they can comprehend, and in a timely fashion (i.e.. allowing a reasonable time for the audience to make use of the information."