642 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "The regulatory body must respect human rights, particularly the rights to due process and rights to be found in international and regional humans rights conventions."
- "The regulatory body should provide accessible information, produced in a timely manner and published on the Internet."
- "With regard to the monitoring agency, legislation on political finance should determine: the procedure for appointment of its members, including their term of office and safeguards for their independence."
- "With regard to the monitoring agency, legislation on political finance should determine: the definition of their specific powers and activities, such as the interpretation of relevant laws, the checking and publishing of party accounts, the publication of reports, the investigation of suspected violations of the law or the application of sanctions."
- "With regard to the monitoring agency, legislation on political finance should determine: the types of breaches of the law to be sanctioned and the specific sanctions to be applied for different types of violations."
- "The regulatory body itself should be subject to legal accountability, either through administrative law or by other means."
- "With regard to the monitoring agency, legislation on political finance should determine: the procedures for appeals against decisions of the agency."
- "There should be provisions and practical arrangements for continuous voter registration and an updated voters’ register must be made available to all stakeholders in the elections."
- "There should be sufficient time for eligible voters to register, for public inspection of the voters' roll, for objections and for the adjudication of appeals."
- "The international standard for voter registration is that the register must be comprehensive, inclusive, accurate and up to date, and the process must be fully transparent."
- "The minimum standard for voter registration and maintenance of registers is that there be full and compete transparency in the process."
- "...[C]ommon problems associated with voter registration: [include] (4) failure to assure transparency in the registration process."
- "The voter registration process is administered in such a way so as to ensure that persons belonging to a national minority may register without difficulty or material cost. The following kinds of administrative issues are implicated under this head: – So far as is feasible, the registration forms and any explanatory documentation should be in the language of the national minority."
- "...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."
- "[E]lectoral registers must be published;"
- "Once a preliminary voters list has been generated, an opportunity for public scrutiny should be provided..."
- "Claimants and objectors should be afforded a reasonable opportunity to be heard after the timely publication of the register and there must be adequate safeguards against the forging of the register."
- "Electoral lists should be published promptly, and clear effective means should be available for correcting errors, including omissions and cancellation of those deceased or who have moved on."
- "The voter list should therefore be made available for public inspection well in advance of the election to permit complaints about incorrect inclusion or exclusion."
- "The voters' list should be a public document to permit complaints about illegal inclusion or exclusion."
- "During an election period, citizens, candidates, or political parties may challenge or object to names on the lists. These disputes are usually adjudicated by a voter registration tribunal, election commission, or court."
- "Given the importance of voter registration, questions concerning the accuracy of voter lists can arise from voters, political parties, and election officials."
- "The member state's authorities shall ensure the reliability and security of the e-voting system."
- "Before any e-election or e-referendum takes place, the competent electoral authority shall satisfy itself that the e-voting system is genuine and operates correctly."
- "Before any e-voting system is introduced, and at appropriate intervals thereafter, and in particular after any changes are made to the system, an independent body, appointed by the electoral authorities, shall verify that the e-voting system is working correctly and that all the necessary security measures have been taken."
- "The security of ballot boxes must be guaranteed and votes should be counted in the presence of the candidates or their agents."
- "The audit system shall be open and comprehensive, and actively report on potential issues and threats."
- "Provision must be in place in the legal framework so that independent verification of the accuracy and soundness of hardware and software used for counting ballots can occur."
- "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."
- "The counting process should take place in the polling station immediately after the close of voting."
- "In particular, the EMB should ensure that: the results process is fully accessible to candidates, political parties, their agents, domestic and international observers and the media."
- "The legal framework should ensure, among other things, that: ...Ballots are placed in a manner that allows verification that they are being credited to the proper electoral contestant, including party, candidate, position supporting or opposing a referendum or ballot initiative."
- "The legal framework should ensure, among other things, that: ...Transparency mechanisms allow effective monitoring by electoral contestants, domestic nonpartisan election monitors, news media and international election observers, which includes verifying transmission of results by any medium and accompanying transport of ballots, tally sheets and other sensitive materials to intermediate and/or final results tabulation centers;"
- "The counting and tabulation of votes should be fully transparent and accessible to representatives of election contestants, as well as observers."
- "Illustrative of this minimum standard is Paragraph 7.4 of the OSCE 1990 Copenhagen Document, which requires that votes "are counted and reported honestly with the official results made public." This requires that votes be counted and tabulated in the presence of observers, and that the entire process by which a winner is determined be fully and completely transparent."
- "The counting of votes should be done at the polling station where candidates and/or their election agents are present."
- "Wherever possible, counting should take place at the polling stations and immediately after the conclusion of voting. Different arrangements may however be required if there are serious practical difficulties in ensuring the security of counts conducted at a multi-plicity of polling stations, or if it is thought necessary to combine ballots from different polling stations, before counting, to preserve the secrecy of the ballot or to minimise the risk of intimidation."
- "A counting system in which the ballots are not counted in the polling station but transported to a central counting location produces additional problems of transparency and verification."
- "[Ballots] should not be rejected for a minor breach of the rules for example using a tick or underlining instead of a cross."
- "The regulatory framework should ensure that the method of counting takes full account of the intention of the voter…."
- "The paramount principle should be that if the intention of the voter is clear, the ballot should be counted."
- "The legal framework should ensure, among other things, that: ...Rules for determining ballot validity honor the clear intent of the voter."
- "The procedures for rejecting void votes and invalidating ballots should be closely followed. If the voter’s intention is clear, her/his vote should be allowed"
- "Rules for determining the validity of ballots should not be so stringent as to unreasonably disenfranchise a voter."
- "Calls on member states to: provide the legal, political, financial, technical and other means necessary to ensure genuine editorial independence and institutional autonomy of public service broadcasting organisations, so as to remove any risk of political or economic interference."
- "Any public authority that exercises powers in the areas of broadcast or telecommunications regulation should be independent and adequately protected against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature."
- "Calls on member states to: provide the legal, political, financial, technical and other means necessary to ensure the independent functioning of broadcasting regulatory authorities, so as to remove risks of political or economic interference."
- "All public authorities which exercise formal regulatory powers over the media should be protected against interferences, particularly of a political or economic nature, including by an appointments process for members which is transparent, allows for public input and is not controlled by any particular political party."
- "The Internet, at both the global and national levels, should be overseen only by bodies which are protected against government, political and commercial interference, just as freedom from such interference is already universally acknowledged in the area of the print and broadcast media."
- "Regulation of the media to promote diversity, including governance of public media, is legitimate only if it is undertaken by a body which is protected against political and other forms of unwarranted interference, in accordance with international human rights standards."