• administrative bodies • judicial bodies • legislative bodies • international bodies • ad hoc bodies 40. Electoral rights are generally vested in the citizen. In some countries there is also a residence requirement, or people must prove that they have a tie to the political-legal community concerned as a condition for exercising electoral rights. Some countries grant electoral rights to resident foreigners. New Zealand does so for all elections. Other countries, for example, Argentina, Canada and Uruguay, do so for local elections, as do the countries of the European Union under the terms of the European Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level of 1992. 41. Several countries have established specific provisions in their constitutions or statute law to promote the right to gender equality in the electoral realm, or even to uphold the electoral rights of women for the purpose of guaranteeing them access to elective office on an equal basis. Several international instruments also protect the electoral rights of women, such as the Convention on the Political Rights of Women of 1952 and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 (see figure 2.2). 42. Generally, all stakeholders who consider that a given electoral action or decision has a detrimental impact on them (e.g. a citizen or political party considers that he, she or it has suffered prejudice) are entitled to lodge a complaint (see chapter 7). Several EDRSs give political parties a predominant role when it comes to defending electoral rights, and in some they are the only legal entities entitled to challenge certain actions or decisions (e.g. election results), in which case the candidate involved does not have the same right to challenge. In some countries candidates are accorded the status of third-party plaintiffs at best, and are therefore subject to the decisions of their political party. 43. A good practice for any EJS or EDRS is to establish the right of any natural or legal person to bring a challenge before an administrative or judicial body against any electoral act or decision that it considers prejudicial. This requires an effective remedy before a previously established impartial tribunal, which protects or restores in timely fashion the exercise or enjoyment of the electoral right violated (see for example the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the 1969 American Convention on Human Rights and the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights). In any event, if an EDRS 17 2. Electoral justice and other related concepts Box 2.2. Types of bodies in charge of protecting electoral rights