Chapter 2: Legal Frameworks for Effective Election Complaints Adjudication Systems courts to handle other types of election-related complaints, such as polling and counting irregularities, violation of campaigning rules by candidates’ supporters, voter registry discrepancies on polling day and allegations of criminal violations of the election law. This void in the law threatens the operations and public perceptions of the entire complaints adjudication process in Palestine, and requires attention by the CEC.12 3. Electoral Tribunals Democracies across the world have shown remarkable ingenuity in devising election complaints adjudication institutions that match their unique cultural, political and legal traditions. As the following examples demonstrate, the development of new institutions, and their implementation practices, has often resulted in a coordinated mix of election administrative and election complaints adjudication duties, including specialized responsibilities. Latin American countries have particularly pioneered a combination of institutional practices that combine election administration responsibilities with acknowledgement of an obligation to provide for election complaints adjudication mechanisms. A. Country Example: Brazil 13 Brazil is viewed as having an effective complaints adjudication system based on strong provisions in its Constitution and electoral laws. The adjudication system utilizes a Superior Electoral Court (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, TSE), a Regional Electoral Court in the capital of each state, plus one in the Federal District. Larger cities have municipal election judges, and smaller towns have local election boards. The Brazilian Constitution details the composition of the Electoral Courts and states that a supplementary law should be adopted to define the “organization and competence of the electoral courts, judges and boards.” Constitutional provisions and Parliamentary acts that establish complaints adjudication institutions help to protect the right to judicial review in electoral matters. IFES, Election Complaint Appeals Process in Palestine: Assessment and Recommendations (April 2010). 13 IFES internal research, June 2010. See: http://www.v-brazil.com/government/laws/titleIVJustice.html. 12 121