SUBSTANCE Obligation to establish an independent and impartial electoral body There are no precise characteristics of an independent and impartial electoral body. An electoral body may however, be deemed independent if it has administrative and financial autonomy and offers sufficient guarantees of the independence and impartiality of its members (Actions Pour la Protection des Droit de L’homme (APDH) v The Republic of Cote D’Ivoire, application 001/2014, Judgement, 18 November 2016, para 116 – 118). Consequently, where members of an electoral body represents political parties contesting elections, its composition must be balanced (APDH, paras 124-126). An imbalance in the composition of the electoral body is therefore does not comply with the requirements of independence and impartiality contrary to article 17 of the African Charter on Democracy Elections and Governance (APDH, paras 132-133).

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