Chapter 1: International Standards which the electoral law grants the regular court system jurisdiction over election complaints but remains silent on procedure. In this case, the judges should be involved in drafting the procedural rules for election complaints.  Judges are generally experts in court procedure, and are the most qualified stakeholders who can determine what system will work best for elections, without departing radically from the country’s normal process.  For instance, the general appellate procedure might create delays that are acceptable in contract or tort actions, but inappropriate for the time-sensitive nature of election complaints.  In general, adjudicative bodies should be allowed to decide on their own procedural rules unless they request that they be set in the law.  An exercise of power by the judges would also serve to make them appear more independent in the eyes of the public. Following the 2009 Afghan elections, the Electoral Complaints Commission, which is empowered to adopt its own rules of procedure,59 implemented the “clear and convincing” standard of evidence but did not clarify the exact meaning of the requirements for meeting the standard. Moreover, regarding its audit and recount process, the ECC ordered the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to invalidate a certain percentage of each candidate’s votes in six separate categories. The statistical audit methodology was to undertake an audit and recount of all polling stations meeting two criteria: where the numbers of ballots cast in a polling station were 600 or greater or where any one candidate received more than 95 percent of the vote in polling stations where 100 ballots or more were cast. The ECC and the IEC determined the size of the sample and the margin of error that were deemed sufficient to accurately reflect the behavior of the larger ballot boxes. However, this sampling statistical method did not state how the results of the sampling would turn into an adjudicative answer and it would probably have required more time and evaluation to be an efficient audit methodology. In this particular example of massive fraud in Afghanistan, the ECC implemented this sampling method as a practical solution in response to an unprecedented and complex situation. In less exceptional circumstances, it is essential that the conditions necessary for a recount of the votes, a runoff elec59 Electoral Law, art. 56 (2005) (Afg.) (“The Commission may issue Regulations, Procedures, and separate GuIdelines to better implement the provisions of this Law.”). 27