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EOS EOS

Election Obligations & Standards Database

Summary

Fulfillment of secrecy of the ballot is partially dependent on the extent to which voters understand this right.


Obligations

  • Secret Ballot

Election Parts

  • Voter Education

Issues

  • The Content of Voter Education Campaigns

Criteria

  • Voter education efforts included information about all electoral rights, including equal suffrage, the right to vote and be elected, the right to an effective remedy, and the secret ballot

Quotes

  • [C]ivic education should aim to inform voters...what guarantees are in place to protect their right to participate confidentially in the process.
  • The secrecy of the ballot should be…the focus of voter-education efforts, so that the public will be confident in these protections.
  • The matter of the secrecy of the ballot should be carefully explained…so that each voter may be assured that no threats of or actual victimisation would be visited on any voter as a result of how they voted.
  • It will be important to consider what steps have been taken by the host government to explain to the public their right to vote and the fact that they may do so secretly and without fear of reprisal. This will be a vital factor especially in the case of peoples who have never before experienced a democratic election.
  • For the voter, secrecy of voting is not only a right but also a duty, non-compliance with which must be punishable by disqualification of any ballot paper whose content is disclosed.
EOS EOS

Election Obligations & Standards Database

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