Regulations are sets of norms, procedures and rules that governmental institutions adopt in accordance with law to implement the responsibilities delegated to them under the legislative framework. Generally, executive agencies or ministries have the power to issue internal rules and procedures without an additional legislative basis.  If agency rules and procedures affect the rights of persons they are referred to more properly as “regulations” and must be based on a specific legislative mandate.

Electoral management bodies are commonly authorized by countries’ constitution and/or electoral laws to issue regulations. This is desirable in terms of allowing the adoption of sub-laws that implement, interpret, clarify and – if necessary – fill in the gaps in electoral legislation.  In some countries, however, electoral commissions are essentially non-executive.  They carry out election operations but do not attempt to regulate election-related conduct by election participants or others.  This is left to standing laws and their implementation by line or special agencies.  This is the case in Austria,[1] and also in Croatia, where a law on the State Election Commission retained the essentially non-executive approach while providing for permanent operation of the commission and enhanced authority over voter lists.[2]

Electoral regulations govern not only the conduct of elections by the authorities, but how electoral participants (such as parties and candidates) should comport themselves. Regulations issued by election-management bodies or other entities also apply to other aspects of an election, such as media coverage and campaign finance.

To be effective, electoral regulations should be clear, fair and equitable, and minimize undue restrictions on the political freedoms of candidates and voters. Good regulations can help ensure a fair process, equality of opportunity and the accountability of all participants. Since regulations are issued by an agency, they are easier to modify and update than legislation; thus they can provide electoral administrators with tools for dealing with electoral integrity issues as they arise.

Regulations are similar to legislation. They provide authority to election officials to act autonomously in performing certain tasks, but they also limit their discretion. To safeguard electoral integrity, compliance with and enforcement of regulations should be continuously monitored.

The penalties for non-compliance by administrators – especially disciplinary and administrative sanctions – are usually set mainly by regulation.  Penalties of violations of the law (and implementing regulations) by electoral participants are normally based on statutes and can comprise civil fines or criminal sanctions.  In some cases, however, the electoral authorities are enabled by law to apply administrative sanctions to electoral participants – such as small fines for procedural violations or suspension of various electoral privileges (such as nominating candidates or participating in certain campaign-related activities).

Decrees

Some legal systems allow the government to issue decrees on various subjects, including electoral matters. Decrees are similar to regulations in that they are executive branch orders having the force of law. In Argentina, for example, a presidential decree in 1997 created a National Office of Public Ethics within the Office of the President. The office was mandated to develop national rules of public ethics and to monitor their enforcement.[3]