Nominations and the Campaign Calendar
The period allowed for receipt of nominations and the relationship between the final date for nominations and the date of voting day (and the date of the formal announcement of the election date, in systems where elections are not at fixed intervals) should be determined by legislation or regulation. Further discussion of the legal frameworks for nomination is at Candidates Registration. The final date for nomination is one of the most important legislatively defined dates in the election calendar. It would generally be regarded as marking the beginning of the official campaign period.
In legislatively defining the time period required between final date for nominations and voting day, consideration must be given to:
- equity considerations, in providing a sufficiently lengthy campaign period to allow equitable opportunity for nominated candidates to get their messages across to the voting public;
- administrative effectiveness, in allowing sufficient time for election administrators to prepare and distribute material, such as ballots, that is dependent on determination of the candidates or parties that will be running in the election.
There will be additional considerations of administrative capacities where there are legislative provisions for early voting within specified periods prior to voting day.
In most environments it would be unlikely that a period of less than three weeks between finalisation of nominations and voting day would meet either of these criteria. However, the time frame required will be influenced very much by whether the election system requires elections at fixed, regular terms, or allows a government to call an election at any time. In the latter case a reasonable minimum time period between close of nominations and voting day is particularly necessary to ensure the fairness of the election.
Period for Receipt of Nominations
With regard to the period defined for receipt of nominations, an appropriate, equitable time frame will be influenced by:
- the 'openness' of the electoral system in relation to encouragement of widespread candidacy;
- the forewarning of an imminent election and how far in advance of the actual nomination period nomination forms are available to candidates--where elections are at fixed intervals, a short period for receipt of nominations may still maintain equity.
Ensuring that only valid nominations are accepted is one of the foundation blocks of an effective election. For administrative effectiveness, and to guard against the risk of errors that may compromise election results, it is important that the nominations period be sufficient for electoral administrators to fully check all relevant nomination requirements for each nominated party, group, and candidate (see Responsibilities for Verification of Nomination Data).
Where there are requirements for substantial numbers of qualified nominators to support a nomination (e.g., where a defined percentage of registered voters in an electoral district are required as nominators), this can be a lengthy process, both for candidates to document sufficient nominators, and for administrative checking. Similarly, if administrators are required to conduct detailed checks of other qualifications required by candidates, the nominations timetable must allow for this.
Nominations Timetables
There are different approaches to how long the period for receipt of nominations should be, and how it is structured, specific to particular election environments. From the time at which a formal request for nominations is proclaimed (see Request for and Receipt of Nominations), systems would more usually define a general period during which:
- nominations for candidacy must be provided to the relevant authority;
- nominations are checked for validity by election officials.
At the hour of the deadline for close of nominations, or within a defined period after this time, accepted nominations would then be formally announced.
The period for receipt of nominations under such systems varies widely, from less than a week to around twenty-eight days in some systems. Any time period less than a week could be perceived as discouraging participation in the election. As a more reasonable variant on this method, in some jurisdictions there is an additional period, generally twenty-four hours, following the deadline for receipt of nominations before the official announcement of accepted nominations is made. This allows election officials time to check the validity of those nominations received near to the deadline for close of nominations.
Particularly in environments without a democratic history, or where inexperienced political participants are involved, nominations can be most consistently and effectively handled by dividing the nomination period timetable into several formal segments (based either on legislation or administrative directions) to provide a more accountable framework for this process:
- period for receipt of nomination papers;
- period for checking nomination papers and advising applicants of any defects;
- period for applicants to provide corrections of defects;
- period for checking amended nomination papers;
- date for announcement of accepted nominations.
For an example of such a timetable for receipt of nominations, see Nominations Timeframes, South Africa 1996.
However, this will generally result in a longer nominations period. The practicality of adopting this method will be dependent on sufficient time overall being available within the legislative time frames for an extended nominations period, and the ability to still allow sufficient time for campaigning between close of nominations and voting day. In systems where elections are not held at fixed intervals, and governments control the timing of elections, there may be political unwillingness to accept the extended election time frames this method would require.
A different approach may be required, either as an additional service, or as the sole method, in dealing with environments where:
- there is no electoral management body local presence in each electoral district at the time nominations are to be provided;
- legal frameworks require candidates to attend in person to be nominated;
- transportation and communication systems are poor.
Methods of using travelling election officials to receive nominations--stopping at pre-arranged points for short lengths of time and checking nomination validity on the spot--can be effective in such situations. Additional action by the electoral management body, such as intensive publicity or education and prior provision of nomination forms to such areas, would need to be undertaken to counterbalance the short time available in each area for receipt of nominations. While in some ways restrictive where this is the sole method for receipt of nominations, this may be the most practicable means in remote, poorly-serviced electoral districts.
