53 UNHRC, Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 40 of the Covenant, August 27, 2001, CCPR/CO/72/NET. 54 UNHRC, CCPR General Comment No. 25: Article 25: Participation in Public Affairs and the Right to Vote, July 12, 1996, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.7. (“Citizens also take part in the conduct of public affairs by exerting influence through public debate and dialogue with their representatives ...”). 55 Helena Catt, Et. Al., International IDEA, Electoral Management Design 336 (2006), available at https:// www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/electoral-management-design-revised-edition. 56 Michael Clegg, Et. Al., (2016). 57 Id. 58 Antonio Spinelli, International IDEA, Managing Elections under the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Republic of Korea’s Crucial Test (February 2020), available at https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/ managing-elections-during-pandemic-republic-korea-crucial-test.pdf. 59 Id. 60 Michael Clegg, Et Al., (2016). 61 The International IDEA handbook on external voting succinctly describes these limitations as follows: “Proxy voting may be rather problematic from the perspective of democratic theory because there is no guarantee that the vote cast by the proxy—and thus possibly even the result of the election—reflects the will of the original voter. A proxy could use this procedure to obtain an additional vote and thus infringe the principle of equal suffrage. Voting in diplomatic missions may deny some external electors the right to vote if they cannot travel to the polling stations. Voting by mail may not be as transparent as voting in a diplomatic mission in the presence of state officials—and voting in a diplomatic mission depends on the perceived impartiality and integrity of those state officials.” Dieter Nohlen & Florian Grotz, The Legal Framework and an Overview of Electoral Legislation, in Voting From Abroad: The International IDEA Handbook, International IDEA & Instituto Federal Electoral (2007). 62 Andrew Ellis, The History and Politics of External Voting, in Voting from Abroad: The International IDEA Handbook, International IDEA & Instituto Federal Electoral (2007). 63 See, e.g., Zosia Wanat, Polish government rams through electoral system changes, Politico (April 6, 2020), available at https://www.politico.eu/article/polish-pis-rams-through-electoral-system-changes/ (“The country’s health service is underfunded and there are growing complaints from business about the scale of the government’s economic rescue effort. If the situation deteriorates significantly, Duda could have trouble winning a second five-year term.”). 64 Claudia Ciobanu, Democracy Digest: Ten ways to undermine Polish election, Balkan Insight (May 1, 2020), available at https://balkaninsight.com/2020/05/01/democracy-digest-ten-ways-to-undermine-polishelection/. 65 Opinion on the Draft Act on Special Rules for Conducting the General Election of the President of the Republic of Poland Ordered in 2020 (Senate Paper No. 99), OSCE, Op. No. ELE-POL/373/2020 (April 27, 2020), para. 20. 66 Claudia Ciobanu, (2020). 67 Opinion on the Draft Act on Special Rules for Conducting the General Election of the President of the Republic of Poland Ordered in 2020 (Senate Paper No. 99), OSCE, Op. No. ELE-POL/373/2020 (April 27, 2020), para 12. 68 Claudia Ciobanu, (2020). (explaining that a document filed with the Senate by the Polish Supreme Court stated that electoral law cannot be modified less than six months before an election). 69 Claudia Ciobanu, Poland Postpones Presidential Election, Balkan Insight (May 7, 2020), available at https://balkaninsight.com/2020/05/07/poland-postpones-presidential-election/. 70 ACE: The Electoral Knowledge Network, Introduction: Bugeting Systems, http://aceproject.org/aceen/topics/vo/introduction/vo30/vo33b/default (last visited May 26, 2020). 71 ACE: The Electoral Knowledge Network, Voter Registration: Guiding Principles of Voter Registration, http://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/vr/vr20 (last visited May 26, 2020). -26- International Foundation for Electoral Systems