A person found guilty of an offence must be punished in accordance with the law. To be fair, the ruling must fit the seriousness of the offence. Penalties are applied by law enforcement agencies, which often are 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 minor under electoral law. The following penalties are typical of those that may be applied for minor offences:
- a warning;
- a prohibition order;
- disqualification of a candidate;
- cancellation of a party’s registration;
- a fine;
- performance of community service;
- performance of the obligation concerned in the offence.
Serious crimes may be punished by imprisonment. Depending on the offence, the convicted felon is generally kept in custody for a set time. Electoral crimes may be punished by the loss of voting rights for a specified time.
