Summary
States should implement or maintain effective policies that encourage public participation in order to discourage corruption.
Obligations
Issues
Criteria
- The vote-counting process was transparent and observable
- The electoral management body, as an organ of the state, implemented effective policies to discourage acts of corruption
- The electoral management body maintained and implemented policies to prevent, address, and penalize acts of corruption, including during the voting process
- The electoral management body promoted transparency in its decision making and procurement processes, including with regard to voter registration processes
Quotes
- For the purposes set forth in Article II of this Convention, the States Parties agree to consider the applicability of measures within their own institutional systems to create, maintain and strengthen: 11. Mechanisms to encourage participation by civil society and nongovernmental organizations in efforts to prevent corruption.
- 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 and the threat posed by corruption.
- For the purposes set forth in Article 2 of this Protocol, each State Party undertakes to adopt measures, which will create, maintain and strengthen:(i) mechanisms to encourage participation by the media, civil society and non-governmental organizations in efforts to prevent corruption.
- Each State Party shall, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system, develop and implement or maintain effective, coordinated anticorruption policies that promote the participation of society and reflect the principles of the rule of law, proper management of public affairs and public property, integrity, transparency and accountability.
- Urges States parties, in accordance with article 13 of the Convention, to continue promoting the 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 encourages States parties to enhance the capacity of such individuals and groups in this regard.
- Calls upon States parties to enhance dialogue and synergies with other stakeholders outside the public sector in order to promote the involvement and engagement of those groups in the development and implementation of broader national policies and plans for promoting integrity and preventing corruption/
- Reaffirms that States parties should continue to strengthen awareness-raising measures throughout all sectors of society and that special attention should be devoted to work with young people and children as part of a strategy to prevent corruption.
- Calls upon States parties to devote special attention to the creation of opportunities to involve young people as key actors to successfully prevent corruption at the domestic, subregional, regional and international levels, and requests the Secretariat to assist States parties in doing so, upon request and subject to the availability of extrabudgetary resources.
- Also urges States parties, in accordance with article 13 of the Convention, to continue promoting the 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 encourages States parties to enhance their capacity in this regard.
- While formal campaign finance oversight is to be carried out by an official regulator, monitoring of compliance with the regulations can also be undertaken by media, civil society organizations and international observers, which can play an important role in enhancing transparency of campaign finance and create safeguards against potential abuses.
- The “Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters” highlights that the stability of the law is crucial to the credibility of the electoral process (see CDL-AD(2002)023rev, part II.2.d and paras 63-65). Therefore it should be avoided that rules on politically delicate issues – like the composition of election commissions, the electoral system or the drawing of constituency boundaries –, which are regarded as decisive factors in the election results, are changed frequently or just before elections. “In general any reform of electoral legislation to be applied during an election should occur early enough for it to be really applicable to the election” (CDL-AD(2005)043, para. 5).
- In states with little experience of organizing democratic elections, the impartiality of the electoral administration vis-à-vis the executive government can not be taken for granted. This is why the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters makes a strong demand for independent electoral commissions in those countries. In fact autonomous electoral commissions which are independent from other government institutions are increasingly viewed as the basis of impartial electoral management in developing or new democracies throughout the world.
- The meetings of the central electoral commission should be open to everyone, including the media (this is another reason why speaking time should be limited). Any computer rooms, telephone links, faxes, scanners, etc. should be open to inspection.