Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating, and Resolving Disputes in Elections made a good faith effort to respond to this issue and has since taken into account the importance of avoiding undue delays in electoral complaint adjudication. Specifically, the ECP held an electoral reform workshop in June 2008 to address, among other problems, the issue of exceeding the statutory period for resolving petitions by the electoral tribunals.149 IFES legal experts made similar observations regarding the delays in hearing complaints from the 2004 elections in the Philippines. The IFES assessment report states that the complaints and adjudication process contained “substantial due process safeguards,” but was “complex, extremely slow, and plagued by frivolous complaints.”150 The report listed different factors that explain delays in electoral contests, such as the caseload or ignorance of legislative deadlines. Because of the mistrust that is endemic among election stakeholders, many complaints are insincere and intend only to bother the other candidate.151 Moreover, there is no mechanism to avoid frivolous claims or to prioritize the most important claims.152 These elements are among the factors that can encourage lengthy proceedings in electoral cases. The overwhelming number of claims and the lack of resources with which to adjudicate or dismiss them are obvious causes of the delayed resolution of electoral complaints as well. The Supreme Court in Ghana has also stressed the necessity of setting clear time guidelines for judges and the public. Lady Justice Georgina T. Wood, Chief Justice of the Ghana Supreme Court, stated in July 2008 that she “appreciate[d] the sobering fact that an important safeguard of election integrity lies in an effective resolution of complaints and appeals with minimum delay,”153 and explained that the “judiciary is well positioned and equipped to deal competently, expeditiously and efficiently with all election disputes within reasonable time lines.”154 Moreover, the Supreme IFES and Pakistan Election Commission Host National Electoral Reform Workshop, Aceproject.org, http://aceproject.org/today/feature-articles/ifes-and-pakistan-election-commissionhost (last visited Jan. 8, 2011). 150 Peter Erben et al., IFES, CEPPS Philippines Election Observation Program: Strengthening the Electoral Process, Final Report 1, 26-29 (2004), available at http://www.ifes.org/publicati on/899bba68af1bc80415544d96cce580a9/Philippines_2004_ElectionReport.pdf. 151 Id. at 27. 152 Id. at 27-29. 153 Foreword to Ghana Manual, supra note 7. 154 Id. 149 54