Elections on Trial: The Effective Management of Election Disputes and Violations
delay, [and by] which we enhance the purposes of courts.”28 Case management of electoral disputes is
an important tool by which principles of procedural justice can be put into practice to enhance public
confidence in judicial outcomes and safeguard procedural justice.
Case Management Systems and Platforms
The adoption of an election case management system can streamline the implementation of rules of
procedure, ensuring these rules are effective in practice and not just in law. In turn, this can enhance the
efficiency, accountability, and transparency of the complaints resolution process (outlined in figure 1
below). The Judicial Conference of the U.S. has asserted that “[m]anaged cases will settle earlier and
more efficiently, and will provide a greater sense of justice to all participants.”29 In practical terms, a
case management platform can help adjudicators: manage their process to meet deadlines; schedule
hearings; ensure adequate notice; track who is investigating, collecting or corroborating evidence, and
deciding each case; and how different types of cases are resolved, the remedies that were chosen and
why. A case management process also supports effective triage of complaints and summary dismissal
procedures, which can be critical when dealing with a large number of complaints in a compressed
timeframe as is often the case in the elections context.
To establish a case management platform, the EDR body would need to consider: the volume of election
complaints and objections; information that will be tracked; data that will be published or kept
confidential; existing methods of information sharing; human resources available (personnel and hours
needed to design, test, manage, and maintain a database); hardware and software development costs
(which can vary greatly depending on the level of sophistication required or desired); and data security.
Responsibilities of personnel, polling staff, election committees, monitoring teams or other bodies
should be determined to ensure efficient and smooth flow of information for each part of a case
management process. Standardized forms can be developed to better collect and track information
relating to complaints.
28
Videotape: The Delay Problem and the Purposes of Courts in National Center for State Courts (Ernest C. Friesen
1991) (Institute for Court Management, Caseflow Management Principles and Practices: How to Succeed in
Justice).
29
Judicial Conference of the U.S., The Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990: Final Report 10 (1997).
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