Summary
Electors and candidates may both be given standing in appeals of election results.
Obligations
Election Parts
Quotes
- Standing in such appeals must be granted as widely as possible. It must be open to every elector in the constituency and to every candidate standing for election there to lodge an appeal. A reasonable quorum may, however, be imposed for appeals by voters on the results of elections.
- If the electoral law provisions are to be more than just words on a page, failure to comply with the electoral law must be open to challenge before an appeal body. This applies in particular to the election results: individual citizens may challenge them on the grounds of irregularities in the voting procedures. It also applies to decisions taken before the elections, especially in connection with the right to vote, electoral registers and standing for election, the validity of candidatures, compliance with the rules governing the electoral campaign and access to the media or to party funding.
- The legal framework should stipulate that every voter, candidate and political party has the right to lodge a complaint with the competent authority when an infringement of electoral rights has occurred. Care must be taken when drafting such provisions to ensure that the right to seek protection of electoral rights is not unduly restricted to a limited number of groups, such as political parties or candidates.
- At a minimum, natural and legal persons whose rights are affected by administrative decisions, actions or inactions should be entitled to seek court review of these decisions. Given the public nature of the election process, consideration should also be given to allowing complaints in the public interest by essentially permitting stakeholders to challenge any unlawful action or omission in the election process.
- Good electoral practice suggests that the right to bring forward such challenges [appeals of election results] should be granted to all candidates and voters in the respective constituency, although a reasonable quorum may be imposed for appeals against election results filed by voters.
- A good practice for any EJS or EDRS is to establish the right of any natural or legal person to bring a challenge before an administrative or judicial body against any electoral act or decision that it considers prejudicial.