- Under the European Convention on Human Rights, everyone has the right to elect the government of their country by secret vote. Without this, there can be no free and fair elections.
- The right to free elections is crucial to having an effective and meaningful democracy based on the rule of law.
- Judgments from the European court have obliged states to safeguard people’s free choice of their representatives and to uphold the right to vote and to stand for election.
Examples
End to automatic voting ban for people placed under guardianship
At first, Alajos Kiss did not realise that the situation he was in because of his mental health difficulties meant he had lost the right to vote. The European Court of Human Rights later ruled that Hungary’s blanket voting ban for people placed under partial guardianship was unfair. The Hungarian government responded to the judgment by ending the automatic ban.
Hungary
An election candidate’s unfair disqualification leads to new rules on property declarations
Election authorities prevented Gagik Sarukhanyan from standing for parliament because he had failed to declare property he owned. The European court found that this had violated Gagik’s electoral rights, because he had had good reason to believe his declaration was correct. Armenia responded by removing the requirement for election candidates to declare such information before registration.
Armenia
Turkish Cypriots win the right to vote
The European Court of Human Rights found that Cyprus had prevented Ibrahim Aziz from voting and discriminated against him simply because he was Turkish Cypriot. The court ruled that Cyprus would have to make legal changes to secure Ibrahim’s right to vote, which it did in 2006, giving all Turkish Cypriots the right to vote and to stand in elections.
Cyprus
End to voting ban for certain types of prisoners
A jailed businessman complained that Turkey’s ban on prisoners voting breached his electoral rights. The European court agreed with Ahmet Söyler, finding that the restriction violated the human rights convention because it was applied in an “automatic and indiscriminate” way. This judgment led Turkey to lift the voting ban for certain types of prisoners.
Türkiye
Clearer rules for selecting national minority MPs
The European Court of Human Rights found that Romania’s election authorities had overlooked a representative of the Italian minority for a seat in parliament even though nationwide he was the community’s favourite. The judgment prompted Romania to bring in clearer rules about how parliamentary seats should be allocated to winning organisations representing national minorities.
Romania
Protections against the arbitrary exclusion of voters in elections
The European Court of Human Rights found that Georgia breached a political party’s right to stand for election by disenfranchising 60,000 voters it might have relied upon for support. The court’s judgment in the Georgian Labour Party’s case led Georgia to change its election law, setting out clear criteria which must be met for the electoral authorities to annul results.
Georgia
Constitution changed after ex-president was banned for life from standing for parliament
Former president Rolandas Paksas was barred from running for parliament after the law was changed to stop any official who had been removed from office from standing in elections. The European court ruled that this lifelong ban violated Paksas’s rights. Lithuania responded to the European court’s judgment by changing the constitution to make the ban temporary.
Lithuania
Democracy returns to Mostar after local resident’s historic European court case
For twelve years, Mostar residents like Irma Baralija were unable to vote or stand in local elections because of a legal deadlock. Irma decided to take a case to the European court, which found that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s failure to enable a vote had violated her rights. Bosnia and Herzegovina reacted to the judgment by changing electoral law – bringing democracy back to Mostar.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
USEFUL LINKS
Factsheets on the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights:
Measures adopted and reported by States (Execution of judgments) PDF (721 Ko)
Prisoners’ right to vote PDF (205 Ko)
Right to vote PDF (223 Ko)