Election integrity depends on
a fair, impartial and transparent process for registering parties. There must
be reasonable eligibility criteria, consistent procedures and workable
deadlines. A party should be notified in writing whether its application for
registration has been accepted or rejected and the notification should give
the reasons for a rejection, as well as information on how to appeal the
decision.
Most electoral systems require
that political parties seeking to register provide information on their
activities, membership and funding sources. This helps ensure the integrity of
the process by making it transparent. However, if there are doubts about what
information is needed or why, the requirement may raise integrity as well as
privacy issues. The task of preparing complex reports and lengthy lists of
members may be burdensome, deterring some parties from registering.
Eligibility
Requirements
Most electoral systems have
established eligibility criteria for party registration. These usually require
a party to have enrolled a minimum number of voters as members, or even a
minimum number of dues-paying members. If the minimum number is set too high,
it can exclude smaller or newer parties from the process. If set too low, it may
allow registration by parties with limited support, putting an unnecessary
burden on the electoral system.
Typically, the charters of
organizations applying for political party status are required to indicate
their politically-related objectives and purposes, as in Canada where the party leader is required to submit a declaration,
stating that the party’s main goal is to participate in and contribute to the
public affairs of the country. Often the
applicant organization is required to disclose any profit-making activities,
the extent of which would commonly be defined and limited by law.
In addition to the party’s
Charter or declaration of principles, political party registration usually
includes submission of the by-laws of the organization. The by-laws describe the operations of the
party, in terms of its general meetings (typically at least once a year), local
chapters, and method of decision-making (viz.,
what decisions can be made at the national executive level, by chapters, or
only at annual general meetings [AGM]).
To ensure that political parties are not unduly centralized and that
their actions reflect the sentiment of their membership, their internal
procedures – including for nomination of candidates and adoption of the party’s
program (or “platform”) should be internally democratic.
Other criteria applicable to
political parties may include such items as a party’s obligation to field a
stipulated proportion of women candidates (as in Nepal, where the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, CPA, directed the
parties to nominate more women in elections for the Constituent Assembly -- but
implementation of this factor was not as such within the purview of the
election commission).
Registration applications for
participation in an election usually are accepted only within a specified
period of time. Some registration rules require a financial deposit; but sometimes
this is refundable if the party receives a minimum percentage of the vote or
achieves election of a certain number of candidates in the election. The
deposit is required chiefly to ensure that parties applying for registration
are serious, but if the amount is set too high it could bar smaller or less
affluent parties from participating in an election.
Protecting
Personal Information
To register, parties must sometimes
submit a list of their members’ names. The list may be checked by officials to ensure
that the listed persons exist, are eligible and have consented to become
members, or are dues-paying members. In post-conflict or transition countries,
supporters—especially of opposition parties—may fear being publicly identified
with a particular party for security or other reasons. (Members may also not
want to be publicly identified for economic, social or other reasons.)
But many people around the
world might prefer to keep their political party affiliation a private
affair. In New Zealand,
for example, privacy issues are taken very seriously by the Electoral
Commission. A party may request the Commission to keep membership information
confidential. In general, the Commission does not release this information
unless it judges doing so to be in the public interest, balanced against its
responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the registration process.[1]
Categorizing
Political Parties
Some countries categorize
political parties when they register or later, when they register for an
election or apply for public funding. Parties may be categorized by membership
size, past electoral success or extent of geographic representation. To
maintain integrity, such a categorization should be for valid reasons, such as
for the purpose of determining each party’s share of free broadcast time or
public funds for campaigning. In some
countries, such as Croatia, only parliamentary parties are
eligible for representation on the election commission.
In India,
for instance, the Election Commission categorizes each party by how long it has
been active and how successful it has been in past elections. The
classification determines whether a party is entitled to certain privileges,
such as access to electoral lists and free airtime on government-run media
outlets, as well as a party symbol. Symbols enable illiterate voters to
identify candidates of the party they wish to vote for.
Registering
Political Party Symbols
Electoral authorities may
register party symbols (or “logos”), which are used for party identification
and printed on the ballot in some countries, especially where there is an
illiteracy problem. There are rules as well for registering logos; usually a
party must submit its application before a set deadline and meet format
requirements (e.g. concerning colour or size).
Party logos are often regulated in other ways, such as prohibitions on
the use of nationalistic symbols or ones that might be offensive to certain
groups in society. Typically, a symbol
will not be registered if it too similar to that of another party.
Logos are important in
countries with low literacy rates because they enable voters to identify their
candidate or party. For integrity purposes, standards for logos are usually
included in the registration guidelines. The standards are intended to prevent
discrimination against any party. As with party registration, the electoral
authorities must give written notification of rejection of a logo, clearly
stating the reasons for the rejection and explaining how to file an appeal.
Sometimes – as in Solomon
Islands (which has a majoritarian election system) – logos are assigned
arbitrarily, from a list contained in the electoral law itself or maintained by
the election commission. These symbols
are not submitted by election participants, but merely a convenience for
voters, especially those who are illiterate, helping the voter to select the
right candidate or party on the ballot-paper.
While such logos are not intended to influence voters, it is nonetheless
advisable that some open and random means (such as a lottery) is used to assign
them.
[1] Elections New Zealand, Guide to the Registration of
Political Parties and Party Logos, Wellington,
1997, p 7
