Within the region, citizens are entitled to file appeals against any determination aimed at including or excluding them from the voters’ register and the voters list. Such a right can also be brought against a decision refusing the issuing of electoral identification. Some countries entitle political parties, candidates, district attorneys and electoral prosecutors, to appeal any resolution issued with regard to the inclusion or the exclusion of any individual in or from the voters’ register (Argentina, Bolivia and Costa Rica). Mexico entitles political parties to file appeals against the report made by the electoral authority regarding the final observations made by such political parties on publication of the voters’ register. Usually, electoral authorities’ decisions on the approval or denial of registry to a new political can be appealed by other political parties or by citizens.
Appeals against the statuses of political parties can be filed either by their members or by other political parties (when the appeal is filed against a resolution taken by an electoral authority). In Colombia “every citizen will be entitled to file appeals at the National Electoral Council to appeal any statutory provision which is against the Constitution, the law or the National Electoral Council’s resolutions. Such a right will last for twenty days after a decision on the matter has been made.”
Many countries authorize political parties to appeal illegal resolutions issued by the electoral authorities related to them (political associations are also entitled to do so in both Argentina and Mexico). Such countries also authorize political parties to appeal electoral resolutions related to the preparation for election day, to electoral results and to inabilities of elected candidates to undertake their duties.
In Argentina, representatives and elected representatives can file appeals against a representative’s election at the political institution in charge of resolving them. Senators and elected senators have the same right to appeal senatorial elections. Moreover, the Senate can entitle any individual or any institution to file such appeals.
Some countries authorize their qualified institutions to carry out a review on the lawfulness of electoral results. Other countries authorize candidates to do so (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela are among them. In Uruguay candidates are authorized to challenge congressional elections while the appeals of presidential elections are reserved for political parties’ authorities that are registered before the Electoral Court). Some countries provide candidates with an accessory role (Mexico, where they can only file appeals related to candidate’s inabilities, and Paraguay), while others do not authorize candidates to file appeals in an explicit way (Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala and Dominican Republic). In each case, the candidates’ right to file appeals depends on how developed political parties are. It is also related to the evolution and characteristics of the party system and to the possibility of having independent candidates.
Some countries allow collective lawsuits to be filed in order to appeal either electoral results or candidates’ inabilities to perform their duties (Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela. Uruguay allows the existence of such lawsuits to appeal congressional elections). Citizens are also authorized to file appeals against such issues. Such an authorization is fundamental to ensure adequate access to the electoral judicial system for all, even though such openness can result in the filing of too many appeals (even as a political strategy performed either by a small political party or by a political party that is loosing an election). Such openness can also affect not only the preparation stage but also the resolution of electoral appeals, which can then affect the reliability and legitimacy of elections.
Judicial review of electoral issues is free in the majority of Latin American countries. In Mexico, for instance, free access for all to the judicial system is a constitutional right, while Peru taxes the access to judicial review (in Peru it is compulsory to make a deposit to support the appeals filed against a political party’s registration, candidate’s abilities or electoral results. The reimbursement of such deposits will be only derived from successful appeals). Access to a judicial system is related to the common need of making the access to courts even wider as well as to the common need of preventing electoral litigation from becoming an abusive device aimed at affecting the elections’ trustfulness. In some countries, political parties that file completely unsound or malicious appeals have to pay a special tax (Paraguay), while in others, futile appeals produce judicial fines.
Finally, some countries open the appeal processes to others who can be interested in them, such as the electoral prosecutor or the Attorney General who represents public interests (Argentina, El Salvador, Panama and Paraguay).
