Electoral law and the electoral process usually consist of sets of rules and procedures that govern all aspects of voting: when elections are held, who is allowed to vote, who can run as a candidate, how ballots are filled out, how they are counted (election method), campaign spending limits and other factors that may affect the outcome. Political electoral systems are determined by constitutions and relevant legislation, and are implemented, as a rule, by election commissions. The electoral system, suffrage, the electoral process are inextricably linked concepts.
General concept
Some electoral systems assume one winner for a unique position, such as a prime minister, president or governor, while others elect several winners, such as members of parliament or the board of directors. The principles of suffrage and the process involve a large number of variations, but the most common systems are voting for first place, a two-way (stock) system, proportional representation and rating or preferential voting. Some electoral systems, such as mixed ones, try to combine the advantages of disproportionate and proportional systems.
Scientific aspect
The study of formally defined electoral methods is called the theory of social choice or the theory of voting, and similar studies can be applied in the field of political science, economics, or sociology. The impossibility of evidence, for example, Arrow’s theory of impossibility, demonstrates this way: when voters have three or more alternatives, it is impossible to create a rating voting system that reflects the preferences of people in the global sense of the word, and in this way most democratic electoral systems are only compromise models requiring further improvement.
Fundamentals of suffrage and the electoral process
The suffrage, as a rule, considers the following issues, which are fundamental for it:
- What kind of people are eligible to vote in elections (for example, age, place of residence or literacy requirements), and the procedures by which such persons must register to vote.
- What kind of people are entitled to occupy positions (for example, age, place of residence, requirements for place of birth or citizenship), as well as the candidates who will be listed on the ballot, and the rules governing the registration process of candidates must be initially indicated and approved.
- The list of issues that can be submitted through direct popular vote by referendum or plebiscite, as well as the rules that must be followed by government agencies or groups of citizens who have the right to post relevant issues on the bulletins for public discussion.
- The framework by which political parties can organize their internal government and how they select candidates to participate in political activities (for example, primary elections).
- Election financing (e.g., contribution limits, rules on public financing of elections, public openness of contributions).
- Requirements for organizing districts that elect representatives to the local legislative assembly (examples include regional parliaments, congresses, or congressional chambers within a municipality).
- What restrictions apply to campaign propaganda (for example, the rules of anonymous or false advertising).
- How votes are cast in elections - through the ballot or electronically.
- How votes are counted during elections and recounts.
- Definition of electoral fraud and other crimes against the electoral system.
- Sources of electoral law and the electoral process (for example, constitutions, national statutes, state statutes or judicial decisions) and the interaction between them.
Constitutional Law and Elections
The French Electoral Code affects most of the elections. The constitution, however, fixes some general provisions regarding presidential, deputy and senatorial elections. Thus, one of the subjects of studying constitutional law is the electoral process, but only to the extent that it is regulated by the Constitution. The Constitutional Council is responsible for the most important elections: presidential and senatorial, as well as referenda.
Falsifications
In decisions on electoral matters, the law takes into account the results: if the basic principle of the electoral process is violated, then the elections are canceled, but if the fraud is “classic” (filling out ballots, inability to register as voters, voting on behalf of the deceased), and the elections were won with large or very large result, cancel them and carry out again, as a rule, it makes no sense.
If election fraud has been proven by a judge, then their result is canceled only if it is proved that without fraud the outcome would be different.
Russian suffrage and process
Russia in this sense is not too different from Western countries. In addition to the specific method for selecting candidates, the electoral law and the electoral process in the Russian Federation are also characterized by broad rules and regulations that are established in the country's constitution. In Russia, as in Europe, the rules of participation determine the identity of the candidate and voter registration with reference to the location of the polling stations, as well as the availability of online, postal and absentee voting. Other rules include the choice of voting devices, such as paper ballots, computers, or open voting systems. Electoral law and the electoral process in the Russian Federation also determine the rules and the process of registering candidates, which must be approved by the Central Election Commission.
Age
Most modern electoral systems in the world are characterized by universal suffrage, but there are differences in the age at which people are allowed to vote. As a rule, the minimum age for participation in this procedure is 16 years old, and the maximum is 21. However, only people who have reached 25 can vote in senatorial elections in Italy. Russian suffrage and the process of registering candidates in this sense are no different from most democratic countries - unlike Italy, everyone who has reached 18 years of age can vote here.
Denial of voting rights
People can be deprived of their electoral rights for a number of reasons - for example, due to serving a prison term, bankruptcy, military service, etc. Similar restrictions apply to a candidate participating in elections (what is called passive suffrage), and in many cases, the age limit for candidates is higher than the allowable age of voters.
Geography intervention
In systems that use constituencies, a special allocation method determines the area covered by each constituency. In cases where constituency boundaries are created, this has a strong influence on the likely outcome of elections in a constituency due to the geographical distribution of voters. Political parties may seek to gain an advantage during redistribution by ensuring that their electoral base expands as much as possible. Historically disadvantaged and poorly populated districts constitute constituencies with the smallest population, and they are often counted on during election campaigns in countries with an indirect voting system, such as the United States.
Turnout
In some countries, minimum voter turnout requirements must be respected, otherwise the result will be invalidated. In Serbia, this rule has caused multiple repetitions of the presidential election. Elections in this country, held in 1997, were later held again due to low turnout, and with the 2002 elections, such an incident repeated three (!) Times in a row. The turnout requirement was still canceled after a fourth repeat vote in 2004. Similar problems in Belarus led to the fact that the 1995 parliamentary elections ended only in the fourth round of voting.
Places for minorities
Reserved seats in parliament are used in many countries to ensure representation of ethnic minorities, women, youth or persons with disabilities. These places are separate from the general ones and can be selected separately. For example, in Morocco, where the election of 60 seats reserved for women and 30 seats reserved for youth in the House of Representatives, separate votes are used. In Jordan, reserved seats for women are held by female candidates who failed to win the general election but received the most votes among female candidates, while in Kenya Senate seats for women, young people and people with disabilities are allocated by the parties. based on how many seats they won in the general vote. Some countries provide minority representation by other means, including quotas — requirements for nominating a certain fixed number of female candidates. In Poland, Romania, and Serbia, ethnic minority candidates are exempted from the electoral threshold. Although voting citizens are the main subjects of suffrage / process, they often do not have the right to decide whether women or minorities will sit in parliament with popularly elected representatives.
History
Voting was used as the main instrument of democracy from the 6th century BC, when it was introduced by Athens. However, in Athenian democracy, voting was considered the least democratic among the methods used to select government officials, and was rarely used because only wealthy and well-known male and middle-aged citizens had the right to participate.
More democratic were assemblies open to all citizens, with elections by lot. One example of the earliest elections in Athens was a vote during which voters elected the citizen whom they most wanted to expel from the city for ten years. This ritual was called ostracism. Most of the elections in the early history of democracy were held using a vote in favor of a decision on an important issue for the country (referendum), but as an exception, the state of Venice in the 13th century legally approved the vote, allowing the election of the Great Council. So the first parliamentary democracy appeared in continental Europe, and with it the elections, suffrage, the electoral process and other integral attributes of modern political life.
Outside State Institutions
But peculiar variants of the electoral law and the electoral process may exist outside government structures. For example, Jean-Charles de Borda in 1770 proposed the introduction of voting as a method for the election of new members to the French Academy of Sciences. His method was counteracted by the Marquis de Condorcet, who instead proposed introducing the pairwise comparison method, which he personally developed. Since then, it is known as the Condorcet method. He also wrote about the Condor Paradox, a phenomenon characterized by the intransigence of most preferences. However, recent studies have shown that the philosopher Ramon Loyle developed both the Borda score and the paired method that meets the Condorcet criterion back in the 13th century. The manuscripts in which he described these methods were lost for history until they were again found in 2001.
Proportional and semi-proportional methods
The Single Transmitted Voice (STV) method, also known as proportional, was developed by Carl Andre in Denmark in 1855 and in the United Kingdom by Thomas Hare in 1857. STV elections were first held in Denmark in 1856, and in Tasmania in 1896. The proportional representation of party lists began to be used to elect European legislatures at the beginning of the 20th century, and Belgium was the first to carry it out for its 1900 general election. Since then, proportional and semi-proportional methods have been used in almost all democratic countries, with the exception of the former British colonies. Electoral law and the process in the Russian Federation also allow the use of such methods.
Ranked Method
Ranked voting systems ultimately received enough support to be used as an election tool around the world. In Australia, they were first adopted in 1893 and continue to be used in combination with proportional methods to this day. In the United States, in the era of the progressive era of the early 20th century, some municipalities began using this form of voting, but it was later canceled, and in Minnesota it was even declared illegal.
Science Intervention
No matter how humanitarian in nature election law is, the stages of the election process have long been determined using complex mathematical models, as well as forecasting election results. Using game theory to analyze electoral systems has led to a better understanding of the impact that various electoral methods have on voting results. Early developments, such as Arrow's impossibility theorem, had already shown problems with rating voting systems. Political scientists of the 20th century have published many studies on the impact of electoral systems on voter choice, parties and political stability. Several scientists also found out what factors at one time or another prompted the country to switch to a certain form of suffrage and the electoral process. One of the prominent modern voting theorists is Nikolaus Tideman, who formalized concepts such as “strategic nomination” and “spoiler effect”. In addition to Tideman, the topic of suffrage and the electoral process occupied the minds of many serious researchers.