568 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "The process of identification of electoral districts and boundaries should respect the international norm of equal suffrage. Such delimitation should not be designed to dilute or discount the votes of any particular groups or areas."
- "...[T]he number of representatives for each district should be proportional to the size of the electorate."
- "Deviation from uniform populations in electoral units should be kept to a minimum;"
- "The delimitation process should: be conducted on the basis of clearly identified criteria such as population distribution, community of interest, convenience, geographical features and other natural or administrative boundaries."
- "The drawing of boundaries…may include the use of criteria such as population size and geographical or administrative boundaries."
- "States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country and, in particular, shall ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the right: (b) To participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof and to hold public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government."
- "In compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in article 2 of this Convention, States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights: (c) Political rights, in particular the right to participate in elections-to vote and to stand for election-on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, to take part in the Government as well as in the conduct of public affairs at any level and to have equal access to public service."
- "Every citizen shall enjoy the following rights and opportunities: a. to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives."
- "The Parties shall create the conditions necessary for the effective participation of persons belonging to national minorities in cultural, social and economic life and in public affairs, in particular those affecting them."
- "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to have effective access, on a non-discriminatory basis, to participation in the government of his or her country and in the conduct of public affairs."
- "The following shall be declared as constitutional principles shared by all Member States: (d) Popular participation in decision-making, strict adherence to democratic principles and decentralization of power at all levels of governance."
- "It is the right and responsibility of all citizens to participate in decisions relating to their own development. This is also a necessary condition for the full and effective exercise of democracy. Promoting and fostering diverse forms of participation strengthens democracy."
- "SADC Member States shall adhere to the following principles in the conduct of democratic elections: Full participation of the citizens in the political process."
- "All persons have a right to participate in public affairs, including in civil society activities and, through their right to freedom of association, to form and join civil society organisations."
- "States Parties shall take specific positive action to promote participative governance and the equal participation of women in the political life of their countries through affirmative action, enabling national legislation and other measures to ensure that: a) women participate without any discrimination in all elections;b) women are represented equally at all levels with men in all electoral processes;c) women are equal partners with men at all levels of development and implementation of State policies and development programmes."
- "State Parties shall create the necessary conditions for full and active participation of women in the decision-making processes and structures at all levels as a fundamental element in the promotion and exercise of a democratic culture."
- "States shall promote the full and equal participation of women in the political structures of their countries as a fundamental element in the promotion and exercise of a democratic culture."
- "The legal framework regulating drawing boundaries for electoral units should state: The frequency of such determination; the criteria for such determination; the degree of public participation in the process; the respective roles of the legislature, judiciary and executive in the process; The ultimate authority for the final determination of the electoral units."
- "there should be a high degree of public participation in the process of drawing boundaries."
- "When constituency boundaries are redefined – which they must be in a single member system – it must be done: - impartially; - without detriment to national minorities; - taking account of the opinion of a committee, the majority of whose members are independent; this committee should preferably include a geographer, a sociologist and a balanced representation of the parties and, if necessary, representatives of national minorities."
- "Traditionally, legal frameworks have allowed their representatives into election facilities including polling sites and counting centers, to witness voting, ballot counting and vote tabulation processes. Legal frameworks also recognize the right for such representatives to monitor many other processes, including, for example, drawing election districts, voter registration processes, as well as ballot production and distribution."
- "Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process by facilitating the deployment of representatives of political parties and individual candidates at polling and counting stations and by accrediting national and/other observers/monitors."
- "The drawing of electoral boundaries and the method of allocating votes should not distort the distribution of voters or discriminate against any group, and should not exclude or restrict unreasonably the right of citizens to choose their representatives freely."
- "Equal suffrage also requires that every citizen's vote should have equal weight irrespective of distinctions such as race, color, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property birth or other status. Demarcation of election district boundaries therefore may not be drawn in ways that divide minority communities and thus reduce their voting power."
- "The basic principle in relation to delimitation of electoral districts is that it should be done fairly and should not have the effect of prejudicing the representation of any party or minority grouping."
- "In addition, electoral units must not be drawn on a discriminatory basis that dilutes the voting power of ethnic, national, racial, religious, or other groups."
- "Constituency delimitation…designed to dilute or discount the votes of particular individuals, groups or geographic areas are unacceptable in the light of the international norm of equality of suffrage."
- "The delimitation process should: be devoid of manipulation of electoral boundaries to favour particular groups or political interests."
- "The geographic boundaries of electoral districts should facilitate the equitable representation of national minorities."
- "in some cases, electoral districts may be purposely designed and drawn to ensure that minority groupings are represented."
- "[Participating States] will... affirm that it is their goal to achieve not only de jure but de facto equality of opportunity between men and women and to promote effective measures to that end."
- "While removal of de jure barriers is necessary, it is not sufficient...The formal removal of barriers and the introduction of temporary special measures to encourage the equal participation of both men and women in the public life of their societies are essential prerequisites to true equality in political life...States parties have an obligation to ensure that temporary special measures are clearly designed to support the principle of equality and therefore comply with constitutional principles which guarantee equality to all citizens."
- "States parties are under an obligation to take all appropriate measures, including the enactment of appropriate legislation that complies with their Constitution, to ensure that organizations such as political parties and trade unions, which may not be subject directly to obligations under the Convention, do not discriminate against women and respect the principles contained in articles 7 and 8."
- "Where countries have developed effective temporary strategies in an attempt to achieve equality of participation, a wide range of measures has been implemented, including recruiting, financially assisting and training women candidates, amending electoral procedures, developing campaigns directed at equal participation, setting numerical goals and quotas and targeting women for appointment to public positions such as the judiciary or other professional groups that play an essential part in the everyday life of all societies."
- "Measures that have been adopted by some political parties include setting aside for women a certain minimum number or percentage of positions on their executive bodies, ensuring that there is a balance between the number of male and female candidates nominated for election, and ensuring that women are not consistently assigned to less favourable constituencies or to the least advantageous positions on a party list. States parties should ensure that such temporary special measures are specifically permitted under anti-discrimination legislation or other constitutional guarantees of equality."
- "Ensure that effective remedies as well as full information about them are available to those who claim that their human rights and fundamental freedoms have been violated; they will, inter alia, effectively apply the following remedies."
- "Delimitation of election districts requires remedies that equalize sufficiently the variance among rations of population to representative in various election districts and/or move boundary lines so as not to disempower minorities or constituencies that support a particular political opinion."
- "The delimitation process should: be managed by an independent and impartial body that is representative of the society, comprising persons with the appropriate skills…conducted by one body...include all spheres of government, both national and local."
- "It is a trend in developing countries, as well as in certain established democracies for the demarcation body to be independent from government and to be representative and legitimate in composition and structure."
- "In the interest of promoting plural, multi-party democracy and enhancing integrity of the electoral process, the independence and impartiality of the Boundary Delimitation Commission in drawing up constituency boundaries should be reaffirmed in the constitutions of SADC countries. The tenure of office of the Commissioners should be guaranteed in the Constitution. The drawing up of constituency boundaries should be left to the technical competence of the Boundary Delimitation Commission without political interference. The Commission should consult stakeholders in this process."
- "Although the Covenant does not impose any particular electoral system, any system operating in a State party must be compatible with the rights protected by article 25 and must guarantee and give effect to the free expression of the will of the electors. The principle of one person, one vote, must apply, and within the framework of each State’s electoral system, the vote of one elector should be equal to the vote of another."
- "Regional jurisprudence and recent United Nations General Assembly resolutions recognize ‘that there is no single political system or electoral method that is equally suited to all nations and their people and that the efforts of the international community to enhance the effectiveness of the principle of periodic and genuine elections should not call into question each State’s sovereign right, in accordance with the will of its people, freely to choose and develop its political, social, economic and cultural systems, whether or not they conform to the preferences of other States. Moreover, ‘political systems and electoral processes are subject to historical, political, cultural and religious factors’. Whether a State adopts a majoritarian voting system or one other system of proportional representation is thus a class issue falling with the reserved domain of domestic jurisdiction."
- "Periodic and genuine elections conducted on the basis of equal suffrage also means ‘equality of voting power’; in principle, no vote should carry disproportionately more weight than any other, but that does not necessarily require a system of proportional representation. On a complaint by a minority party member in the United Kingdom, the European Commission of Human Rights interpreted Protocol 1, article 3, to mean that different political parties must be given a reasonable opportunity to present their candidates for election, but did not require an electoral system which guaranteed that the total number of votes cast for each candidate or party be reflected in the composition of the legislature."
- "The general and distant objective set by international law—genuine periodic elections guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors, which shall be the basis of the authority of the government—allows considerable room for variation. Whether an electoral system departs from the permissible range is most likely to be answered by reference to other peremptory international law principles, such as non-discrimination. Does the ‘variation’ have the intent or effect of disenfranchising or devaluing the voting power of particular sections of the population for reasons that ought to be irrelevant to the exercise of political rights, such as race, religion, national or social origin, sex, language, political or other opinion, association with a national minority, birth or other status? If so, then to that extent the electoral system is potentially in breach of international law."
- "Each SADC State should adopt an electoral system in accordance with its own political dispensation, history and party system. The electoral system should be entrenched in the Constitution. The Electoral Act should clearly set out the form, content and operation of the electoral system adopted. All stakeholders, particularly the electorate, should understand the type of electoral system in use; how the state determines the allocation of legislative seats; the nature of representation and the political consequences of the chosen system. Electoral systems should promote and protect fundamental human rights as well as the secrecy of the ballot. The following principles must lie at the heart of the electoral system: broad representation of diverse political interests and population groups; inclusiveness and the political participation of key actors; political accountability of Members of Parliament to the voters; a transparent and legitimate election process and outcome."
- "The constitutional and legal framework should: provide a clear statement on the type of electoral system;"
- "The legal framework should reflect universal and regional standards for a democratic and meaningful election process…. The choice of an election system is of course one of the most fundamental decisions for any democracy."
- "The IPU has noted the need, among others, to strike a balance between two essential considerations: that a legislative election above all must make it possible to designate a cohesive government responsible for conducting a national policy; and that the election primarily must guarantee representation at the national level of the country’s political forces, and reproduce in Parliament as faithful an image as possible of their relative strength. The IPU has also stressed the importance of a reasonable link between the electors and the elected, reflecting those elements of proportionality which also characterize the governing principles of international law."
- "State practice confirms the variety of available choices, and no system can be considered, from an international law perspective, to be more valid than any other, provided it bears a reasonable relationship, in law and in practice, to the internationally prescribed objective."
- "The principle of equal suffrage nevertheless applies also to ‘threshold’ requirements, which can be and are used to deny representation to parties that fail to secure a prescribed percentage of the overall vote. Such criteria are commonly used to reduce the numbers of small or sectional interests in the legislature and to enhance the prospects for the formation of a viable government. Unless compensatory steps are taken, however, this technique can effectively disenfranchise substantial minorities. International standards nevertheless constrain and structure the choices available to States. The underlying obligation of result, combined with principles of equality, reasonableness and proportionality, can be used to mediate between the objective and the means chosen, and to show whether the system and its implementation in practice conform to what is required by international law. In short, the State is not free to use the ‘valid’ electoral technique of the threshold requirement in order to bar particular groups from representation in Parliament."