Restrictive and discriminatory nomination rules can impact the civil rights of candidates, political parties, and voters.
In some jurisdictions a candidate or party must not only be nominated but also has to pass separate rules in order to be listed on the ballot paper.
Canadian citizens have a constitutional right to stand for election to the House of Commons of Canada and to the provincial legislative assemblies.
EU member states may set their own rules on ballot access in elections to the European Parliament.
In Denmark, Germany, Greece, Estonia, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the Czech Republic, candidates must be nominated by political parties.
[7] In the Republic of Ireland, candidates may be nominated either by a registered political party or by 60 members of the relevant electorate.
[9] Candidates for the office of President of the Republic require 500 signatures of elected individuals (mayors, MPs, regional councillors).
Forming a party or running in the election is thus comparatively easy, and there have been occasions where a single individual has put up dozens of different ballots with various more or less frivolous names and himself as the only candidate.
The Elections Authority makes sure, however, that there are blank ballots where voters can write in the name of the party they want to vote for.
7393, stipulates that in order to participate in elections: political parties must have established an organization in at least half of Turkey’s provinces, must have held their grand congresses at least six months before the voting day, and must have held their district, provincial and grand congresses twice in a row.
A candidate for election to the United Kingdom Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Senedd or Northern Ireland Assembly requires the signed assent of ten registered electors, plus an election deposit of £500, which is forfeited if the candidate wins less than 5% of the vote.