Why does every citizen need to vote

Conditions relating to nomination dates, fees or deposits should be reasonable and not discriminatory. If there are reasonable grounds for regarding certain elective offices as incompatible with tenure of specific positions e. The grounds for the removal of elected office holders should be established by laws based on objective and reasonable criteria and incorporating fair procedures. The right of persons to stand for election should not be limited unreasonably by requiring candidates to be members of parties or of specific parties.

If a candidate is required to have a minimum number of supporters for nomination this requirement should be reasonable and not act as a barrier to candidacy. Without prejudice to paragraph 1 of article 5 of the Covenant, political opinion may not be used as a ground to deprive any person of the right to stand for election. State reports should describe the legal provisions which establish the conditions for holding elective public office, and any limitations and qualifications which apply to particular offices.

Reports should describe conditions for nomination, e. State reports should indicate whether there are restrictions which preclude persons in public-service positions including positions in the police or armed services from being elected to particular public offices. The legal grounds and procedures for the removal of elected office holders should be described.

In conformity with paragraph b , elections must be conducted fairly and freely on a periodic basis within a framework of laws guaranteeing the effective exercise of voting rights. Persons entitled to vote must be free to vote for any candidate for election and for or against any proposal submitted to referendum or plebiscite, and free to support or to oppose government, without undue influence or coercion of any kind which may distort or inhibit the free expression of the elector's will.

Voters should be able to form opinions independently, free of violence or threat of violence, compulsion, inducement or manipulative interference of any kind. Reasonable limitations on campaign expenditure may be justified where this is necessary to ensure that the free choice of voters is not undermined or the democratic process distorted by the disproportionate expenditure on behalf of any candidate or party.

The results of genuine elections should be respected and implemented. An independent electoral authority should be established to supervise the electoral process and to ensure that it is conducted fairly, impartially and in accordance with established laws which are compatible with the Covenant. States should take measures to guarantee the requirement of the secrecy of the vote during elections, including absentee voting, where such a system exists.

This implies that voters should be protected from any form of coercion or compulsion to disclose how they intend to vote or how they voted, and from any unlawful or arbitrary interference with the voting process. Waiver of these rights is incompatible with article 25 of the Covenant. The security of ballot boxes must be guaranteed and votes should be counted in the presence of the candidates or their agents.

There should be independent scrutiny of the voting and counting process and access to judicial review or other equivalent process so that electors have confidence in the security of the ballot and the counting of the votes.

Assistance provided to the disabled, blind or illiterate should be independent. Electors should be fully informed of these guarantees. Although the Covenant does not impose any particular electoral system, any system operating in a State party must be compatible with the rights protected by article 25 and must guarantee and give effect to the free expression of the will of the electors. The principle of one person, one vote, must apply, and within the framework of each State's electoral system, the vote of one elector should be equal to the vote of another.

The drawing of electoral boundaries and the method of allocating votes should not distort the distribution of voters or discriminate against any group and should not exclude or restrict unreasonably the right of citizens to choose their representatives freely. State reports should indicate what measures they have adopted to guarantee genuine, free and periodic elections and how their electoral system or systems guarantee and give effect to the free expression of the will of the electors.

Reports should describe the electoral system and explain how the different political views in the community are represented in elected bodies. Reports should also describe the laws and procedures which ensure that the right to vote can in fact be freely exercised by all citizens and indicate how the secrecy, security and validity of the voting process are guaranteed by law.

The practical implementation of these guarantees in the period covered by the report should be explained. Subparagraph c of article 25 deals with the right and the opportunity of citizens to have access on general terms of equality to public service positions. Voluntary for the illiterate, those over 16 and under 18 years of age, and those over 70 years of age.

Although the electoral legislation formally provides for the obligation of suffrage, it is generally understood as a civic duty, without legal sanctions for non-compliance. Voluntary for those between 16 and 18years of age, those over 65 years of age, Ecuadorians who are members of the Armed Forces and National Police, those with disabilities and those who live abroad.

Administrative sanctions, including prohibition to issue a passport, a driving license or an occupational license, were officially lifted in year Voting is not compulsory for those who are over 70 years old, hospitalized citizens, and those residing abroad.

Fee applies only if the voter does not have valid reason for not voting. The non-voter is also disqualified from being a candidate at any subsequent Presidential or Parliamentary election.

Venezuela abandoned compulsory voting in A provision in the Constitution describing voting as a duty remained until Nevertheless, the elimination of legal sanctions in marks that year as the end of compulsory voting Carey and Horiuchi, Compulsory voting was enforced until These are as follows:. The non-voter faces a fine sanction. Possible imprisonment.

The non-voter may face imprisonment as a sanction, however, we do not know of any documented cases. This can also happen in countries such as Australia where a fine sanction is common. In cases where the non-voter does not pay the fine after being reminded or after refusing several times, the courts may impose a prison sentence.

This is usually classified as imprisonment for failure to pay the fine, not imprisonment for failure to vote. Infringements of civil rights or disenfranchisement. It is, for example, possible that the non-voter, after not voting in at least four elections within 15 years will be disenfranchised in Belgium.

In Peru the voter has to carry a stamped voting card for a number of months after the election as proof of having voted. This stamp is required in order to obtain some services and goods from some public offices. For example, in Belgium it might be difficult to get a job within the public sector if you are non-voter. As important as those rights are, they are not, however, absolute.

Since Article 3 P recognises them without setting them forth in express terms, let alone defining them, there is room for ""implied limitations"" see the Mathieu-Mohin and Clerfayt v. Belgium judgment of 2 March , Series A no. In their internal legal orders the Contracting States make the rights to vote and to stand for election subject to conditions which are not in principle precluded under Article 3 P They have a wide margin of appreciation in this sphere, but it is for the Court to determine in the last resort whether the requirements of Protocol No.

The Court has had frequent occasion to highlight the importance of democratic principles underlying the interpretation and application of the Convention see, among other authorities, United Communist Party of Turkey and Others v. Article 3 of Protocol No. However, the Court has established that it guarantees individual rights, including the right to vote and to stand for election see Mathieu-Mohin and Clerfayt v.

The Court has consistently highlighted the importance of the democratic principles underlying the interpretation and application of the Convention and has emphasised that the rights guaranteed under Article 3 of Protocol No. However, having regard to the preparatory work to Article 3 of the Protocol and the interpretation of the provision in the context of the Convention as a whole, the Court has established that it guarantees individual rights, including the right to vote and to stand for election see, among many other authorities, Mathieu-Mohin and Clerfayt v.

Greece, no. As to the nature of the rights thus enshrined in Article 3 P , the view taken by the Commission has evolved. From the idea of an "institutional" right to the holding of free elections decision of 18 September on the admissibility of application no. Belgium, Yearbook of the Convention, vol. Belgium, op. As regards the method of appointing the ""legislature"", Article 3 P provides only for "free" elections "at reasonable intervals", "by secret ballot" and "under conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people".

VII, pp. VIII, p. Here too the Court recognises that the Contracting States have a wide margin of appreciation, given that their legislation on the matter varies from place to place and from time to time. Electoral systems seek to fulfil objectives which are sometimes scarcely compatible with each other: on the one hand, to reflect fairly faithfully the opinions of the people, and on the other, to channel currents of thought so as to promote the emergence of a sufficiently clear and coherent political will.

In these circumstances the phrase "conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature" implies essentially - apart from freedom of expression already protected under Article 10 of the Convention art.

It does not follow, however, that all votes must necessarily have equal weight as regards the outcome of the election or that all candidates must have equal chances of victory. Thus no electoral system can eliminate "wasted votes". For the purposes of Article 3 of Protocol No. The object and purpose of the Convention, which is an instrument for the protection of human rights, requires its provisions to be interpreted and applied in such a way as to make their stipulations not theoretical or illusory but practical and effective see, among many other authorities, United Communist Party of Turkey and Others v.

Consequently, while it is true that States have a wide margin of appreciation when establishing eligibility conditions in the abstract, the principle that rights must be effective requires that the eligibility procedure contain sufficient safeguards to prevent arbitrary decisions see Podkolzina v.

Latvia, no. Although originally stated in connection with the conditions on eligibility to stand for election, the principle requiring prevention of arbitrariness is equally relevant in other situations where the effectiveness of individual electoral rights is at stake see Namat Aliyev v. Consequently, while it is true that States have a wide margin of appreciation when establishing eligibility conditions in the abstract, the principle that rights must be effective requires the finding that this or that candidate has failed to satisfy them to comply with a number of criteria framed to prevent arbitrary decisions.

In particular, such a finding must be reached by a body which can provide a minimum of guarantees of its impartiality. Similarly, the discretion enjoyed by the body concerned must not be exorbitantly wide; it must be circumscribed, with sufficient precision, by the provisions of domestic law. Persons with disabilities have the right to be effectively protected and to positively engage. The law itself shall guarantee the substantive equality of all those within a given jurisdiction. Thus, the recognition that all persons with disabilities are equal under the law means that there should be no laws that allow for specific denial, restriction or limitation of the rights of persons with disabilities, and that disability should be mainstreamed in all legislation and policies.

This decision, based on the constitutional and legal provisions that regulate the matter, issued by the competent administrative authority hat ruled on the legal issue filed before it, with the specific and concrete effect of not allowing the registration of the candidacy, was the act enforcing the law, and was even considered as such by the domestic courts.

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