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International IDEA Global Database on Elections and Democracy Abdurashid Solijonov Brussels, 30-31 March, 2015 Electoral Processes Content of the database • • • • • • • • • Voter turnout Gender quotas Political finance Electoral system design Electoral management design Direct democracy Electoral justice Voting from abroad ICT in elections Electoral Processes Content of the database Number of variables • • • • • • • • • Voter turnout Gender quotas Political finance Electoral system design Electoral management design Direct democracy Electoral justice Voting from abroad ICT in elections 33 29 43 6 7 48 105 4 19 Total = 294 variables Electoral Processes Why EJ database? Electoral Processes Electoral Processes Real life example of electoral disputes Afghanistan • In the beginning of 2014, Afghans set to elect a new president. The complex power struggles that surrounded the elections (both in the first round in February and the second round in June) led to reported fraud which was not resolved until mid-September, mainly due to the lack of an efficient EDR mechanism. • After continuous negotiations between two main candidates, Abdulla Abdulla and Ashraf Ghani, and the involvement of the UN in the vote scrutiny, the election commission ultimately decided to declare the winner, but without announcing the final voting results. Electoral Processes Real life example of electoral disputes Malawi • During the candidate registration process, the MEC rejected nominations of one presidential candidate and 14 parliamentary candidates. Five of the rejected candidates appealed to the High Court and in all the cases the Court ruled that the candidates were eligible to be nominated. • President Joyce Banda called for the annulment of elections due to alleged massive irregularities. However, the MEC together with the Malawi Law Society initiated a judicial review and were granted a court order preventing the execution of the President’s decision. After several other judicial procedures involving the High Court, the MEC subsequently announced the presidential election results. Electoral Processes What? Electoral Processes International IDEA has conducted global comparative research of electoral dispute resolution systems 176 countries have been covered. Findings have been made public in online Electoral Justice database http://www.idea.int/elections/ej/ Electoral Processes The Electoral Justice database consists of four parts covering challenged related to: Presidential / Legislative Presidential / Legislative Presidential / Legislative Common for Pres/Leg Electoral Processes Electoral Processes Electoral dispute resolution process to challenge elections results Electoral Processes Summaries of some data Electoral Processes Summaries of some data Electoral Processes Regional comparison Can citizens appeal against nominated candidates? Latin America and Caribbean Europe Africa Electoral Processes Regional comparison Can citizens challenge election results? Latin America and Caribbean Europe Africa Electoral Processes Is it possible to appeal the decision of the first instance body? Related to disputes targeting legislative election resultsElectoral Processes Summaries of some data Electoral Processes What penalties are envisioned for offences related to incentive driven voter coercion? Summaries of some data Electoral Processes What penalties are envisioned for offences related to threat driven voter coercion? Summaries of some data Electoral Processes What institution(s) has the power to impose administrative sanctions for campaign finance infractions? Summaries of some data Data for 170 countries Electoral Processes What institution(s) has the power to impose administrative sanctions for campaign finance infractions? Summaries of some data Data for 170 countries What types of sanctions can be imposed for campaign finance infractions? Electoral Processes What types of sanctions can be imposed for campaign finance infractions? Comments Additional information in the database Electoral Processes What types of sanctions can be imposed for campaign finance infractions? Electoral Processes THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION! www.idea.int/elections/ej Electoral Processes