EMBs or adjudicating
bodies should ensure that female contestants understand the electoral dispute
resolution mechanisms, through voter education campaigns or awareness sessions,
and ensure women’s access to complaints and appeals, including informal or alternative
justice mechanisms. Women should also be involved in the dispute resolution
mechanism and gender discrimination should be avoided.[1]
Furthermore, in some
countries the judiciary plays an important role in the oversight of the
electoral process, as a guarantee that EMBs and other relevant stakeholders
respect constitutional and legal provisions. This can have concrete
implications in terms of gender equality and women’s participation, as shown in
the case of Kenya.
Example: The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) establishes
Conflict Management Committees to address electoral complaints and issues. Both
at the national and district levels, Conflict Management Committees organize
forums to hear complaints by women candidates and voters. They can impose
penalties in case of violation of electoral rules.[2]
Example: In Kenya, the 2010 Constitution recognized a 30 percent
gender quota, giving the parliament until August 2015 to enact the necessary
legislation to make this measure effective, a deadline that was extended by a
year without any legislation being passed. In March 2017, the Supreme Court of
Kenya ruled on the quota implementation, giving the parliament 60 days to pass
a law guaranteeing the application of the constitutional provision, or face
dissolution. This ruling was issued as a response to the petition of human
rights groups to compel parliament to enact the law before a general election
on August of the same year, arguing that the lack of compliance with the
constitutional requirement of gender quota would entail a constitutional
crisis. No law was passed after this ruling and some parliamentarians denounced
the ruling as an attack to the independence of the parliament.[3]
[1] IFES (2014): “Gender
Equality and Election Management Bodies: A Best Practices Guide”. Authors: Sarah Bibler, Vasu Mohan and Katie
Ryan.
[2] UNDP and UN Women
(2016): op. cit., p. 85.
