3619 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "Reasonable requirements are usually limited to minimum age, nationality ... The work of the Human Rights Committee provides a good deal of guidance on the limits of reasonable restrictions. In the course of their deliberations, as mandated by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, members of the Committee have noted that the following limitations on voting rights are not permissible: economic requirements, based on receipt of public assistance, ownership of property, or income."
- "If residence requirements apply to registration, they must be reasonable, and should not be imposed in such a way as to exclude the homeless from the right to vote."
- "…residence is a common requirement for eligibility to vote in a constituency based electoral system. That requirement may however operate in a discriminatory way in respect of refugees...nomadic peoples, or internally displaced persons."
- "Distinctions between those who are entitled to citizenship by birth and those who acquire it by naturalization may raise questions of compatibility with Article 25 [of the ICCPR]."
- "Reasonable requirements are usually limited to minimum age, nationality ... The work of the Human Rights Committee provides a good deal of guidance on the limits of reasonable restrictions. In the course of their deliberations, as mandated by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, members of the Committee have noted that the following limitations on voting rights are not permissible: (c) restrictions on voting by naturalized citizens."
- "As citizens of the country, IDPs should still retain all of their political rights, including the right to participate in the country’s electoral process. Measures will need to be taken to ensure their enjoyment of these rights. In particular, this will include a continuation of their right to suffrage and their right to cast a vote, which may be affected by their forced change of residence or loss of documentation."
- "Reasonable requirements are usually limited to minimum age, nationality... The work of the Human Rights Committee provides a good deal of guidance on the limits of reasonable restrictions. In the course of their deliberations, as mandated by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, members of the Committee have noted that the following limitations on voting rights are not permissible: (d) language requirements."
- "Unreasonable restriction [on voter registration] include: registration fee."
- "The purpose which a file is to serve and its utilization in terms of that purpose should be specified, legitimate and, when it is established, receive a certain amount of publicity or be brought to the attention of the person concerned, in order to make it possible subsequently to ensure that: (a) All the personal data collected and recorded remain relevant and adequate to the purposes so specified."
- "Subject to cases of exceptions restrictively envisaged under principle 6, data likely to give rise to unlawful or arbitrary discrimination, including information on racial or ethnic origin, colour, sex life, political opinions, religious, philosophical and other beliefs as well as membership of an association or trade union should not be compiled."
- "The voter register does not need to include personal data other than that which is required to identify a voter and establish eligibility."
- "Voters lists should either not include, or should carefully protect, personal data beyond that required to identify a voter and establish his or her eligibility."
- "States parties condemn all propaganda and all organizations which are based on ideas or theories of superiority of one race or group of persons on one color or ethnic origin, or which attempt to justify or promote racial hatred and discrimination in any form, and undertake to adopt immediate and positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement to, or acts of, such discrimination and, to this end, with due regard to the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the rights expressly set forth in article 5 of this Convention, inter alia: (a) Shall declare an offence punishable by law all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, incitement to racial discrimination, as well as all acts of violence or incitement to such acts against any race or group of persons of another color or ethnic origin, and also provision of any assistance to racist activities including the financing thereof."
- "Any propaganda for war and any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitute incitements to lawless violence or to any other similar action against any person or group of persons on any grounds including those of race, colour, religion, language or national origin shall be considered offences punishable by law."
- "All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination."
- "The authorities should ensure that the media have the right to gather and report information freely, without intimidation or obstruction, and that there is no censorship of either the media or candidates."
- "Since women’s names and places of residence often change as a result of marriage, it is important that a system be in place to capture these changes in order not to disenfranchise newly married women. Likewise, since residency records are commonly recorded under the name of the male head of household, it is especially important in countries with passive registration systems that women dependents be included in voter registers drawn from lists of members of households Particularly in the case of affirmative registration systems, a significant issue may relate to the convenience of access to registration offices. Hours of operation, travel time, and distance to appropriate offices can be of particular concern to women, particularly for women caring for small children."
- "Each state party shall take appropriate measures, within its means and in accordance with fundamental principles of its domestic law, to promote the active participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as civil society, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations, in the prevention of and the fight against corruption and to raise public awareness regarding the existence, causes and gravity of the threat posed by corruption. This participation should be strengthened by such measures as: (b) Ensuring that the public has effective access to information; (d) Respecting, promoting and protecting the freedom to seek, receive, publish and disseminate information concerning corruption. That freedom may be subject to certain restriction, but these shall be such as are provided for by law and are necessary."
- "The observance of the principle of universal suffrage means: d) every citizen is guaranteed the right to receive information on their inclusion into the voters’ list, to correct that information in order to assure its completeness and reliability, to appeal by the procedure stipulated by laws against refusal to be included in the voters’ list."
- "Such data must be processed fairly for the specified purposes and on the basis of the consent of the person concerned or some other legitimate basis laid down by law. Everyone has the right of access to data which has been collected concerning him or her and the right to have it rectified."
- "The authorities should ensure that the preliminary and final voter registers are published and that copies are available for public inspection to allow checks for inaccuracies and omissions. Political parties, in particular, should have an opportunity to access the full voter register."
- "Transparency requires that voter registers be public documents that can be monitored and made available for inspection at no cost to the requester. The legal framework should clearly specify who may inspect voter registers, how the inspection will take place, and the period when voter registers are available for public inspection."
- "No matter what system is employed for creating and maintaining a voter list, it is necessary for the system to be transparent and open to verification by voters, political contestants, and election observers."
- "Transparency requires that voter registers must be public documents that are available for inspection, without cost to the requester. The legal framework should clearly specify who may inspect, how the inspection will occur, and during what periods voter registers are available for public inspection."
- "Personal data undergoing automatic processing shall be: a. obtained and processed fairly and lawfully; b. stored for specified and legitimate purposes and not used in a way incompatible with those purposes; c.adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which they are stored; accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; d. preserved in a form which permits identification of the data subjects for no longer than is required for the purpose for which those data are stored."
- "Internally displaced persons, whether or not they are living in camps, shall not be discriminated against as a result of their displacement in the enjoyment of the following rights: (c) The right to associate freely and participate equally in community affairs; (d) The right to vote and to participate in governmental and public affairs, including the right to have access to the means necessary to exercise this right."
- "Internally displaced persons who have returned to their homes or places of habitual residence or who have resettled in another part of the country shall not be discriminated against as a result of their having been displaced. They shall have the right to participate fully and equally in public affairs at all levels and have equal access to public services."
- "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."
- "Any abusive interference with registration or voting as well as intimidation or coercion of voters should be prohibited by penal laws and those laws should be strictly enforced."
- "Any measures such as political violence, kidnapping, murder, threats and sanctions such as denial of development opportunities in opposition controlled areas that prevent eligible individuals to register to vote and to vote in secrecy should be perpetually outlawed by SADC member states."
- "In addition to the subjects mentioned above, voter information programmes should include reference to the procedures for voters to protect their electoral rights, including with respect to their voter registration."
- "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 legislative scheme should provide a clear framework for the treatment of [voter registration] issues"
- "At a practical level, the process of voter registration requires clear eligibility criteria and their consistent application by trained officials."
- "There should be legal provisions governing the method of registration…"
- "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."
- "All citizens should be entitled to file complaints and appeals on the accuracy of the register of voters."
- "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."
- "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."
- "[E]lectoral registers must be published;"