A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO INCREASING WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ELECTORAL JUSTICE Finding 5: Political parties often act as barriers for women accessing electoral justice. Political parties can play important roles in promoting women’s participation in elections, but they can also create additional barriers for women in the electoral process. Parties can feel particularly threatened when women bring forward cases or complaints that might do damage to a party’s reputation or legal standing. Political parties often do not address women’s cases and complaints seriously and equally, particularly with respect to electoral law or violations of party regulation that occur during the candidate nomination process (highlighted by the examples below). In many countries, depending on the electoral system, party leadership selects candidates who will either be nominated on party lists or who will be supported (financially or otherwise) in certain primary races. Party leadership tends to be dominated by men, and party leaders often make these decisions in non-transparent, closed-door sessions where women are often not invited or permitted.103 If potential women candidates have issues with how certain candidates were selected, the options for recourse are either non-existent or processes exist but are conducted in a way that is unfair and biased towards the wants and needs of male party leadership. In Mexico, IFES research found that parties historically identified “ways to comply with the letter of the law while betraying its spirit, including techniques such as nominating and electing a woman candidate, forcing her to resign, and then putting a man in her place.” 104 A 2018 IFES Electoral Integrity Assessment in Kenya found that, even though party primaries occur, “many candidate positions are ‘pre-negotiated’ by party leaders, elders, ethnic leaders, and wealthy aspirants.”105 The assessment also found that, while more parties had established internal EDR procedures than in previous elections, the procedures and structures “were all centralized with core party leadership,” who tend to be men.106 When this assessment was conducted in 2018, parties were required to conduct their own internal dispute resolution procedures before bringing cases to the election commission. Now, however, party members are required only to attempt to use their own intraparty mechanisms before bringing cases forward to the PPDT, an institution that can be used to settle intraparty disputes. Because party members only need to attempt to use the internal party system, this new regulation may allow greater access to the PPDT for those with less power in the party, such as women party members. Finding 6: Women do not have equal access to information about how to pursue electoral complaints and about what is needed to bring forward a successful case. Women around the world often have different needs for accessing civic education and voter information. While general voter education campaigns are helpful, it is essential to design campaigns in a way that targets women voters specifically and that shares messages about the importance of their participation and rights.107 Lack of targeted voter information often disproportionately affects women from other marginalized groups, such as older women, women from rural areas, or women with low or no literacy. Information on EDR is no exception to this problem; women often do not know how to file and pursue electoral complaints, and they may not know what evidence or resources are needed to bring forward a successful case. In Malawi’s 2019 elections, evidence showed that “most women [had] no access to legal information which would help them know a legal matter and pursue such matters in court.” 108 103 Hubbard and Grieg (2020). Waugh, 2021. 105 Ellena, K., Vickery, C., and Reppell, C. (2018, May). Elections on Trial: The Effective Management of Election Disputes and Violations. IFES | International Foundation for Electoral Systems. 106 Ibid. 107 Ballington, J., et al. (2012.) Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties. National Democratic Institute. Www.ndi.org. 108 Malunga, n.d. 104 41