Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating, and Resolving Disputes in Elections Readers of this guide should bear in mind two distinctions that affect election complaint adjudication: the nature and the seriousness of the complaint. Whether a complaint relates to large-scale concerns such as election outcomes, an allegation of criminal misconduct, widespread fraud or minor irregularities, or to smaller offenses like campaign rules, candidate certification, voter registration, or the placement of posters, the electoral complaints adjudication process will vary. Specifically, considerations about the nature and seriousness of a claim will affect the degree to which balance is maintained between the need for due process and for a speedy resolution. These distinctions can also require an adjudicatory body to accelerate or prioritize the claim, and they can affect the nature of the body which has jurisdiction to handle it. Not only does an effective complaints adjudication system lend legitimacy and credibility to an election, it also serves as a peaceful alternative to the violent post-election responses all too common in emerging democracies. A strong mechanism proved indispensible in averting political catastrophe in the 2007 elections in Nigeria, as well as in the 2009 elections in Afghanistan.1 Timor-Leste also provides a salient example of how a transparent and effective election complaints system can be used as a means to avoid electoral violence. One year before the national elections, poorly addressed grievances within the country’s national defense forces triggered a crisis that severely shook public confidence in Timor-Leste’s young democracy. Given the tense political atmosphere preceding the 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections, there was a crucial need to address legitimate election grievances and to communicate decisions to complainants.2 Responding to the absence of a formal complaints process, IFES assisted the National Elections Commission (CNE) to design and implement an effective complaints processing system. This effort to strengthen the performance of the complaints process was an important Grant Kippen, Electoral Complaints Adjudication: An Object Lesson from Afghanistan, Monday Developments, Mar. 2010, at 17. The importance of avoIding violence in emerging democracies is also underscored by the situation in Iraq: "‘In the West, when your right is robbed, you go to the courts. But in Iraq, it's different — when your right is robbed, (you) resort to violence.’" Lara Jakes, Iraq’s Sunnis Bracing for Chaos After Election, Associated Press, Mar. 2, 2010 (quoting Anbar Province First Deputy Governor Hikmat Jasim ZaIdan commenting on impending parliamentary elections, scheduled for Mar. 7, 2010), available at http://www.heraldsun.com/printer_friendly/6548536. 2 Mary Lou Schramm et al., IFES, Timor-Leste: Conflict Resolution and Electoral Assistance 11-13 (2008). 1 4