Since under
international law no one may be compelled to join a political association[i], “Unless the electoral
system is restricted to parties or party lists, individuals should not be
precluded from being nominated as independent or unaffiliated candidates.”[ii]
However, in practical terms the possibility of
independent candidates’ participation in electoral processes is quite limited
in most parliamentary systems. These systems consider that in elections, at
least at the national level, only parties can truly compete. This is often
especially the case where only parties have the right to receive public funding.
Independent candidates and groups of non-affiliated candidates often have so
limited practical and legal possibilities to participate in elections that
their role in modern democracies is marginal. The following restriction can be
identified:
- The nomination of
independent candidates is usually subject to some specific requirements
regarding support by a certain number of signatures;
- Independent
candidates are often obliged to pay a deposit;
- They usually have
limited access to free broadcast
time in public media, and
- They rarely have the
right to receive in advance public contributions to their election
campaigns.
Article 220 (4) of the Spanish electoral law is
illustrative of the requirement of a certain number of signatures. In practice,
the signature requirement is eliminated for political parties given that the 15,000
signatures required for the nomination of candidates can be replaced with the
signatures of 50 elected officials at any level, even municipal. In this case,
groups of non-affiliated candidates that usually do not have the possibility to
be supported by 50 elected officials, must present 15,000 signatures. In
addition, the possibilities for independent candidates to run big electoral
campaigns are generally very limited unless they have their own significant
financial resources (think of the case of Ross Perot, who largely self-financed
two successive U.S. Presidential election campaigns. Indeed, the second time he
obtained a reduced number of votes, partly because he was also excluded from
access to the Presidential media debates).
Elections of a limited scope, such as local elections,
where independent candidates or groups of non-affiliated candidates can compete
with limited means constitute an exception to this rule.
On the contrary, in presidential systems, usually more emphasis is placed on
the personality of the candidate. As a result, the role of political parties in
the nomination of candidates is less important. This is a consequence of the
different distribution of powers between a directly elected president and members
of the Chambers who are affiliated with a party. In these cases, the nomination
by a political party is not always sufficient but there is often a requirement
of a certain number of signatures from citizens.
Another aspect that should be considered when establishing the possibility for
nominations of independent candidates and the accompanying registration
requirements is the principle of equality, and that the registration
requirements must not discourage participation. At the same time, regulation
should generally provide mechanisms that discourage the scattering of votes and
the attendant deterioration of the party system.
[ii] International IDEA, International Electoral Standards, 51.
