present their views to voters. There must also be an effective means of redress against administrative decisions and effective remedies against violations of human rights, including electoral-related rights. These principles establish a strong basis for accountability in the electoral arena, including accountability of election authorities concerning their administrative actions. An additional commitment on accountability could therefore require that election authorities and all other State authorities, bodies and officials must act at all times in a politically impartial manner, and state resources must not be used for the electoral advantage of any political contestant. Another important area of accountability involves the State and public media (State media). State media has the responsibility to provide balanced and impartial information to the electorate, including information on the election process and not just coverage of candidates and political parties. There must be complete neutrality on the part of State media. Although the State media must remain neutral, it must be proactive in providing objective, balanced, and informative material to the public. An additional commitment on accountability could require the State media to be equitable, balanced, objective, impartial, and informative in its overall coverage, including the content, of the election process. Accountability must also address the requirement of providing effective guarantees for candidates and voters. Universal and equal suffrage is a fundamental human right, which can be facilitated and safeguarded through an accountable electoral process. Accountability requires all necessary measures and guarantees for universal and equal suffrage, including accurate voter registration for eligible individuals. However, social, cultural, physical conditions or other circumstances can make it difficult or de facto impossible for some segments of society to meaningfully exercise this basic human right. Thus, it is necessary to take further measures in order for this right to be fully realized in society. It is appropriate to ensure, in a pro-active and non-discriminatory manner, that universal and equal suffrage for eligible individuals includes: women; minorities; disabled persons; internally displaced persons, as well as other citizens that may be temporarily abroad; military personnel including conscripts; and other groups that may be vulnerable to disenfranchisement or coercion. The rights of candidates must also be protected. Participation in elections cannot be limited to the right to vote and must include a meaningful opportunity to be elected to public office. This obviously prohibits legal discrimination. However, often legal provisions that are nondiscriminatory on their face value, result in de facto discrimination in their application. The primary manner in which this may be accomplished is through administrative procedures that are designed or applied in a manner to prevent a candidate’s registration or the registration of a political party. All unnecessary obstacles to registration must be eliminated in order to ensure that candidate and political party rights remain paramount over administrative procedure. The State should be held accountable for protecting the rights of candidates and political parties. Further, any limitation of voting or candidate rights must be proportional to the offence or mental incapacitation as determined by a court. 88 Common Responsibility: Commitments and Implementation