judges, have ruled on any challenges brought against these results. The constitutional reform of 1994 provides that it is a power of the National Congress (Congreso de la Nación, both chambers) to resolve disputes regarding the direct election of the president and vice-president. As regards the elections of members of the two houses of the National Congress, the power of the Chamber of Deputies (Honorable Cámara de Diputados de la Nación) and the Senate (Honorable Senado de la Nación) to be ‘the judge of the election, rights, and titles of its members in terms of their validity’ is preserved without any express remedy against their decisions, although there are judicial precedents that argue that judicial review is called for with respect to arbitrary decisions of the Chamber of Deputies, or by the National Electoral Chamber, as occurred in the Patti case (Case no. 4207/06 CNE, judgement of 14 September 2006 – see box 5.5). 164. Despite the political nature of the ultimate decision-making body that determines the validity of the elections in these countries, the authorities in charge of EDR systems must carry out their responsibilities and ensure the conduct of free, fair and genuine elections, and not use their position to obtain advantage or engage in political revenge or horse-trading. The incorporation of various means of judicial and/or administrative challenge into these systems, as is mentioned above, has contributed to this end and to making them mixed EDRSs. Box 5.5. The Luis Patti case: Argentina Luis Patti had been a winner in the federal deputy election of 2005, according to the Electoral Board (Junta Electoral Nacional). However, on 23 May 2006 the Chamber of Deputies disqualified him as a deputy and raised obstacles to his joining the legislature, alleging his lack of moral integrity. Patti challenged that decision but his petition was dismissed by a judge. On the appeal, the National Electoral Chamber (Justicia Electoral Nacional) of the Federal Judiciary overruled the judge’s decision and favoured Patti, establishing that the will of the people expressed in the election should be respected and that the Congress was not able to modify it by an arbitrary decision (since this could lead to an elected candidate not being admitted on the grounds that he/she was anarchist or a socialist, or just for religious or gender reasons). In 2008, the Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación) confirmed the National Electoral Chamber’s decision after an extraordinary appeal. Notwithstanding, the Chamber of Deputies insisted on its own power to judge the election of its members and defended its 2006 decision. It is important to mention that by the time the Supreme Court ruled on this case, Luis Patti had been prosecuted for crimes against humanity, his case had been concluded, and there was no decision about his being freed from prison, so that the Supreme Court’s ruling could not be enforced. 67 5. A general classification of EDR systems (cont.)