Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating, and Resolving Disputes in Elections circumstances where the safety of witnesses could be jeopardized. A balance should be struck between seeking a solid factual record without being overly burdensome and unfair to the complainant. A fair opportunity should be provided for a complainant to revise and supplement their assertions if found to be inadequate initially by the complaints authority. Also, the object of the complaint (often called a “respondent”) must be afforded a reasonable opportunity to provide a response to the allegations of the complaint. The holding of hearings may be desirable in some cases, but should not be viewed as an absolute right or necessity for processing all complaints. The law should be clear about who can bring complaints and who is entitled to seek administrative or judicial remedy (for more information on the issue of standing to bring a complaint, see section 1.D of Chapter 1: International Standards). That may include specifying that only parties or candidates are entitled to bring complaints regarding some issues, or that complainants must have personal knowledge of the facts and/or a personal stake in the outcome (such as a citizen who is denied a rightful place on the voter registry or personally knows of someone who should not be on the list). Transparency in the process by which complaints are accepted and resolved should be encouraged. The need for confidentiality during the course of investigations and internal decision-making by an adjudicative body is understandable. However, the adjudicative process should be open, to the extent basic information about the nature and progress of cases can be revealed as they are pending to permit political participants and the public to monitor them, and to avoid the spread of false rumors and conspiracy theories. Most importantly, the process should provide full transparency after final adjudication as to the reasons for decisions and the supporting evidence. Decisions of adjudicative bodies and their basis for decision-making should be explained, published and made available on the internet. Civic education can play an important role in improving the complaint process and encouraging citizens, civil society and electoral participants to do a better job of focusing their complaints and stating allegations. Public un- 102