The electoral campaign is characterised as being a relatively short, designated period of time that should, in all respects, terminate by the day of the elections. This means that any legal dispute that emerges among the contenders has to be solved swiftly and conclusively, otherwise it may compromise the voting process.
This is the basis on which broad powers of control are granted to all electoral organisations throughout the world and accelerated decision-making procedures are established. However, the ultimate control of their decisions poses a new problem: preventing their judicial review from disrupting the traditional scheme of judicial control, characteristic of democracies and even of the very conception of the separation of powers. But to be effective, appeals have to be solved in the briefest amount of time, in order to prevent discord in the actual election.
This in turn implies the necessity to frame specialities in the application of specific general procedures, above all regarding judicial control. A delayed solution would be tantamount to not solving it, insofar as it will not have prevented it from being reflected in the distortion of the will of the people expressed on the day of the elections. In fact, the procedures that regulate electoral campaigns have to reflect the reality that in this field a delay in solving any abuse means that this has become enfolded in terms of freedom in the expression of the vote.
Over and above areas related to the right to active and passive suffrage, several material fields require specific provisions for the security during the electoral processes and, consequently, have to be taken into account by electoral regulations. Among these, the following can be enumerated:
- the right to hold meetings and demonstrations, infringements of which by the public authorities to be solved judicially in the briefest time possible, because their denial implies an objective reduction of the campaign for the candidate affected
- the right to rectification, because of the evident repercussions that the dissemination of misleading or incorrect information has on the contenders in the campaign
- the regulation of electoral surveys, in an effort to prevent the electorate from being influenced by misleading or manipulated surveys
To the last point, electoral regulations that impose specific technical guidelines on surveys and even a complete prohibition on their publication on days immediately prior to the elections are common. In the event of an erroneous survey having been published, then, there will be sufficient time for rectification.
