Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating, and Resolving Disputes in Elections women in society,254 and electoral outreach should reflect that convention and ensure that women have the same rights as men in political life.255  CEDAW encourages the participation of women in public, elected bodies as well as in NGOs and associations dealing with political issues.  Electoral laws may allocate seats by gender or provide for quotas in political party candidate lists, for example.  In 2002, the Congreso de la Unión (Mexican Congress) reformed the electoral law to require that no more than 70 percent of candidates for the posts of Deputies and Senators be of the same gender.256  The goal was to make the position of women in governmental structures better reflect existing gender ratios in the population.257  Today, no more than 60 percent of candidates for the posts of Deputies and Senators should be of the same gender, but neither the Cámara de Senadores, nor the Cámara de Diputados have complied with this requirement yet.  Regardless of whether this particular approach is used, special measures should also be taken regarding the participation of women in political life, and women should be informed of their rights to redress when their electoral rights are infringed.  Female electoral officials should be trained to receive, investigate and adjudicate a claim.  They should be taught how to access the complaint process and how to file a claim.  Several human rights conventions insist on the right of minorities to participate effectively in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life.258  When setting up voter education programs, NGOs, political parties or state agencies should include a special focus on these disadvantaged or underrepresented groups.  For example, in Guatemala, even where some progress has been made, the turnout rate of marginalized indig CEDAW, supra note 12, art. 7; ICCPR, supra note 11, art. 22; UDHR, supra note 10, art. 20. CEDAW, supra note 12, arts. 7, 9. 256 30 Essential Questions, Instituto Federal Electoral, Question 15 (Mexico), http://www.ife. org.mx/portal/site/ifev2/30_essential_questions/ (last visited Jan. 12, 2011) [hereinafter 30 Essential Questions]. 257 CEDAW, supra note 12, art.8; E.U. NEEDS Project, Benchmarks For Electoral Standards: A GuIde For European Union Election Observation Missions 12 (2005), available at http:// www.pedz.uni-mannheim.de/daten/edz-h/az/05/guIde_for_eu_elections_observation_missions.pdf. 258 CERD, supra note 12, art. 5(c); U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, G.A. Res. 47/135, art. 2(2), U.N. Doc. A/ RES/47/135 (Dec. 18, 1992), available at http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/47/a47r135. htm; Venice Commission Code, supra note 44, at 19. 254 255 80