Electoral Laws and Acts
Electoral law is the legal instrument used to develop the majority of electoral topics that are relevant for a nation (especially in the case of those nations following the so-called civil law tradition). Electoral laws are enacted by ordinary legislators (legislative branches of government, chambers, congresses, assemblies, parliaments) in order to develop the general principles established by the Constitution.
Usually, since electoral systems have to be legitimate, strong, and permanent, electoral laws have to be enacted by at least a two-thirds majority of congressional members.
There is neither a model to follow in order to enact electoral laws, nor a recipe to follow regarding their contents and structure. In some countries, for instance, electoral laws are contained in a single piece of legislation (code or statute), while in others, many codes or statutes contain electoral rules in a specific way (in such cases, there are specific codes to regulate electoral authorities, political parties, systems of appeals, an so on).
Under the Constitution, electoral laws can regulate electoral topics as follows:
- Integration of representative offices;
- Individual rights to vote, to be voted, to associate freely with others and to affiliate to political parties;
- Characteristics of the voting system;
- Conditions that must be addressed by candidates to be elected;
- Legal requirements for political parties (such as the requirements that they have to fulfill to be registered, members’ rights and duties, funding, coalitions, and so on);
- Electoral authorities’ main features (such as their structure, organization and powers);
- Geography and elections;
- Registry of voters;
- Training for voters;
- Electoral process (campaigning, election day, counting, and electoral results);
- Electoral planning;
- Elections and the media;
- Electoral integrity;
- Disciplinary measures; system of appeals;
- Electoral courts.
Countries that have constitutional tribunals can also authorize electoral laws to be challenged on constitutional grounds. The highest court of the nation will be empowered to decide on such disputes.
Usually, major changes to electoral laws cannot be undertaken if the electoral process is about to begin. Such a prohibition aims at preserving political stability and legal certainty.
Electoral laws cannot be enacted to detail electoral regulation related to specific, concrete, administrative or internal issues of electoral authorities. Such regulation must be contained in other normative devices such as executive orders.
