Articles 65 through 68, which regulate filing of electoral complaints and appeals, do not provide for a uniform process for the expeditious consideration of electoral disputes. As uniformity and consistency in decisions is important, it is recommended that challenges to decisions be filed in only one forum designated by the law – either a court or higher election commission. The option of making challenges in different forums will only lead to “forum shopping” and inconsistency in decisions. It should be recommended that these articles be amended to state a clear and understandable hierarchical complaint process that defines the roles of each level of election commission and each level of courts. It is important that this process be uniform to prevent “forum shopping”.[20] This process should also identify which bodies act as fact finding bodies of first instance and which bodies act as appellate review bodies.
