iii) Actions by other persons or entities
426. The actions of other persons or entities, such as candidates, media outlets,
or non-electoral authorities, may also violate the legal provisions governing
elections and possibly electoral rights. Thus some EDR systems – particularly
those entrusted to the regular courts of the judicial branch – explicitly or
implicitly provide for the possibility of the EDRB hearing direct challenges
against the actions of those other persons or entities. As an example, a
non-electoral authority could be alleged to have become improperly involved
in the electoral process, trying to influence voters on behalf of a particular
political force through institutional campaigns that call on people to vote.
427. Direct challenges of this sort are not common in EDR systems with
a corrective function. Instead, in the case of alleged violations of electoral
legal provisions or electoral rights, recourse is usually made by indirect
means by challenging an action or decision of the EMB or other regulatory
agency which validates or confers efficacy on the action of the other person
or entity. The relevant provisions sometimes make it possible to bring an
administrative case before the EMB or other regulatory agency in order to
investigate whether those actors have committed an electoral administrative
infraction or irregularity. If the provisions allow for this, the EMB or other
agency may grant a legal remedy or punish the transgressor (e.g. someone
who disseminates illegal publicity over the broadcast media, as in paragraph
425), in which case that decision of an administrative authority can usually
be challenged before a judicial EDRB.
Box 7.6. Hungary: resolving disputes relating to the use of the media
in election campaigns
Complaints regarding the role of the media in election campaigns in Hungary (especially
with respect to violating the basic principles of electoral procedures, and the publication
of political advertisements) are dealt with as follows:
a. regarding periodicals distributed locally or local provision of programmes, by the
competent local election committee of the seat or address of the publisher or the
programme provider;
b. regarding regional provision of programmes, by the competent regional election
committee of the seat or address of the programme provider;
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7. Basic elements of EDR systems
prohibited by law. The important thing here is the corrective nature of the
legal remedy granted, to clean up the electoral process in such a way that the
harmful effects of an irregular action do not continue and reach the point
of substantially affecting the results – regardless of any other administrative
sanction imposed on the transgressor.