A person found guilty of an
offence must be punished in accordance with the law. The sentence must
befit the seriousness of the offence. Penalties are imposed by law enforcement
bodies, which are often the courts.
Penalties vary greatly from
one electoral system to another. Usually the types of applicable penalties are
based on the nature and seriousness of the offence. Penalties are therefore
more severe for offences defined as criminal under the penal code and less
strict for offences defined as less serious under electoral law. (These could
include fines or other sanctions applicable to non-criminal violations of
electoral law.) In some systems,
electoral administration itself can organize appropriate proceedings and impose
civil penalties. For the most part,
such proceedings are usually organized by another agency (such as the Ministry
of Justice or Interior) or conducted by a court.
The following penalties are
typical of those that may be applied for minor offences:
- a warning;
- a prohibition order;
- disqualification of a candidate;
- cancelation of a party’s
registration;
- a fine;
- performance of community service;
- performance of the
obligation violated by the offence (i.e.,
specific performance of a required act, or appropriate compensation
(reparations).
Serious crimes may be punished
by imprisonment. Depending on the offence, a convicted felon is generally kept
in custody for a prescribed time. Electoral crimes may also be punished by the
loss of electoral rights, potentially including either or both of a passive
(right to be elected) or active (right to vote), for a specified period of time. Corrupt practices by electoral administrators
(including party representatives on electoral commissions) may also be
penalized by preventing further participation by such persons in electoral
commissions (including voting boards) or other election-related operations.
