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:
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.
