Synopsis

The Council for Democratic Elections of the Council of Europe organised, in co-operation with the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Lithuania, the 20th European Conference of Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 15-16 April 2025.

The topic of the Conference was “Stability of electoral law - Practical aspects”. The participants discussed more specifically, after an introductory session on the Venice Commission’s and Council of Europe’s acquis and experienced gathered, challenges posed by legal reforms in the following areas:

• Rules that determine the right to vote and stand for election, including voter and candidate registration; the drawing of constituencies and polling district boundaries; out-of-country voting;
• Rules applying to the voting and counting process (including the transmission of results), in particular the introduction of new voting modalities and digital technologies;
• Rules on election dispute resolution, including by the cancellation of election results;
• Extension of the powers of EMBs (e.g. to media or financial issues);
• Capacity-building of electoral stakeholders regarding changes to the electoral law, and voter education.

Raimondas Šukys, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania; Stewart Dickson, President of the Council for Democratic Elections, Spokesperson of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities for local and regional elections; Martin Kuijer, Vice-President and Member of the Venice Commission in respect of the Netherlands; and Lord David Blencathra, Chair of the Parliamentary Alliance for Free and Fair Elections and Member of the British Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, opened the Conference.

Around 130 participants, mainly representatives of national EMBs, took part in the Conference.

The Council for Democratic Elections is the only tripartite body of the Council of Europe, comprising members of the Venice Commission, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. Other governmental and non-governmental organisations with observer status to the Council for Democratic Elections also took part in the Conference, including the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), IFES and International IDEA.

Conclusions

The 20th edition of the European Conference of Electoral Management Bodies is the continuation of a successful series of international conferences in the electoral field. This edition was held in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 15-16 April 2025 and was dedicated to “Stability of electoral law - Practical aspects”, which has been a challenging subject for electoral management bodies and other relevant bodies involved in elections all over the world.

The stability principle is one of the most important principles of the 2002 Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, the Council of Europe’s main reference document in the electoral field. The importance of the stability of electoral law is illustrated by the fact that the principle has found its way into the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

As appears in election observation reports of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities as well as in legal opinions of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the practice of national lawmakers often does not respect the principle, thus challenging those who are to apply the law, including in particular EMBs.

The stability principle is an election-specific modality of the broader Rule of Law principle of legal certainty. It is not so much changing the rules which should be avoided – they can always be changed for the better – as changing them frequently or changing fundamental elements of electoral law just before elections. The stability principle aims to:

1. prevent political manipulation and the perception of such manipulation: instability of electoral law may undermine the public trust in elections by conveying an impression that electoral rules are dictated by immediate party-political interests;
2. ensure that the rules of the game are accessible and foreseeable for the voters, the candidates, and the EMBs.

The first of these aspects was not subject of the present conference. It has been addressed in depth by the 4th Scientific Electoral Experts Debates on the topic of “The stability of electoral law” co-organised by the Venice Commission and the University of Barcelona in November 2023, based on which the Venice Commission in December 2024 adopted a Revised Interpretative Declaration on the Stability of Electoral Law.

The second aspect has been addressed, in principle, by the following feasibility clause of the Revised Interpretative Declaration: “any reform of electoral legislation to be applied during an election should occur early enough to allow candidates and voters to understand the changes and the electoral management bodies to understand and apply them.”

Electoral reforms raise important practical issues for EMBs, that have been discussed during the Conference, for example when the right to vote (in or out of the country) or their powers, including in the field of campaign financing or of electoral disputes, are extended. Amendments to electoral rules shortly before an election can be particularly challenging to implement properly. It is therefore important that EMBs are provided with the financial and human resources necessary to implement new electoral rules at short notice.

Electoral law should envisage in advance emergency situations to minimise the need for late amendments and to facilitate the adoption of urgent measures.

Rapid technological advances in the digital sphere, which may require more frequent adaptation of the legal framework for elections, are a main incentive to legislative amendment. Digital tools can improve election management and accessibility to information for voters and candidates. Yet new digital technologies can also facilitate election fraud, amplify disinformation, and undermine campaign finance rules. Fast evolving technological developments put pressure on EMBs and legislators to keep regulations relevant and effective by more frequent amendments. As a consequence, careful legislative strategy is required to maintain the necessary stability of electoral law in times of technological change. Training in IT pilot cases is crucial and should be embedded in a comprehensive programme ensuring that officials fully understand both the technical systems and their procedural responsibilities.

When planning legislative amendments, it is important to keep in mind that amendments that affect lower-level electoral bodies may require additional time to implement since they require training and re-training of a large number of people. Compulsory, standardised training should be provided to all electoral officials, including those nominated by political parties.

Early reforms, long before elections, can also reduce the number of electoral disputes, as they give time for thorough training of and discussions among EMB officials and judges on the interpretation of electoral law, and thus promote a coherent practice; they also help to avoid disputes on the constitutionality of electoral law during elections.

For national legislators and EMBs, the principle of stability can create a dilemma if the time between two elections is short: How to timely improve the law and practice without delay on the basis of experiences from the previous election and recommendations from electoral observers? The reply should ensure as much as possible respect for the international standards; a balance has to be struck between the need for reform and the principle of stability.

For EMBs in particular, long-term strategic planning through a cyclical and systematic process remains the primary tool for identifying weaknesses and gaps in electoral legislation, so that amendments can be proposed to the legislator in time before the next election.

Institutional cooperation is an important element in successful and timely electoral reform. Since new rules should not only be adopted, but also implemented well in advance of elections, all institutions involved in conducting and overseeing the elections should work together to identify flaws in the legal framework, suggest amendments and estimate the resources required. If amendments must be made shortly before an election, it is even more important that the rules are of high quality and detail to make them easier to implement. Given their expertise and specific responsibility for elections, EMBs should therefore play a key role in the reform process.

EMBs can play this role only if they are provided strong safeguards of impartiality, sufficient human, financial and logistical resources, as well as adequate competences. Institutional cooperation should be addressed in EMBs’ post-election planning. In addition, Council of Europe electoral co-operation programmes involving EMBs, parliaments, the Venice Commission, PACE, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and domestic electoral stakeholders as well as PACE Parliamentary Alliance for Free and Fair Elections should further contribute to the stability of electoral law by promoting Council of Europe standards, institutional co-operation and capacity building and timely implementation of election observation recommendations.

For elections to be genuinely free and fair at all levels, administrators must be well-prepared and both candidates and voters should be well-informed. As far as possible, last-minute changes to the primary and secondary legislation should therefore be avoided. The preceding recommendations can help achieve this goal. Ideally, changes to electoral law should be considered in the post-electoral phase.