A complaint procedure must be easily accessible if it is to meet two of the ethical principles
outlined in Guiding Principles, namely:
- election administration must be transparent
- election administration must be designed to serve the voters
Any complaint procedure must be designed to ensure that it is accessible to all electors in the
same way that the electoral process itself should be accessible. All segments of the community
should be considered, including those who are blind, physically handicapped, illiterate, living in
remote areas or speaking in a local dialect. This may require special arrangements such as
involvement of an ombudsman's office for the determination of complaints. Each country will
have special considerations.
An essential element of accessibility is the way in which the documentation relating to the
complaints procedure is designed. In English-speaking countries, there is an organisation called
the 'Plain English Campaign' that seeks to ensure that jargon and badly-worded forms and
leaflets are replaced by easily-understood versions. The principles on which the campaign is
based are transferable across all languages.
An important issue in terms of accessibility is the potential cost of complaining. Complaints
will range, for example, from the relatively simple, affecting one individual's registration, to the
complicated, that could affect the outcome of an election. Ability to finance a court case should
not be a determining factor in whether or not someone is able to pursue a complaint. Wherever
possible, the complaints procedure should be accessible without charge to the complainant.
Where costs are involved, these should be kept to a minimum so as not to act as a deterrent to
the bringing of a genuine complaint. If lawyers or other technical experts are required, these
should be provided pro bono or with public funds if the complainant is unable to afford them.
Against this principle of accessibility is the need to balance the possibility of frivolous
complainers who, if no deterrent were in place, would have the opportunity to bring a number of
complaints and possibly bring the process into disrepute. In the U.K., an election may only be
contested in the courts, and a person or people petitioning for an election to be challenged are
required to deposit with the court a sum of money to act as security. This sum is returnable at
the discretion of the court, depending on the outcome of the case. In a challenge to a
parliamentary election, a sum of up to ú5,000 is required. For a challenge to a local government
election, a sum of up to ú1,500 is required.
