gious minorities are, however, often subject to discrimination. In some participating States, they have been effectively barred from standing as candidates, from exercising their right to vote or from participating in the administration of elections. In a few cases, ethnicitybased parties representing minorities who reside only in one part of a State’s territory cannot compete for elected office in other parts of the country. Elsewhere, minority communities may find themselves without citizenship rights, thus barring them from voting, thereby creating a democratic deficit. In such cases, a fair, open and accessible naturalization process must be available, and voting rights at the municipal level may be considered for resident non-citizens. Positive steps to facilitate participation and authentic representation of minorities, and the commensurate political will to support such steps, are appropriate. In addition to the possibility of promoting representation of minority candidates through the respective party lists of established parties in proportional systems, this can be accomplished through various other active measures, such as developing election systems that enhance the potential for minorities to gain office, for an example by using an allocation formula that is favourable to smaller parties. In addition, participation can be facilitated through the provision of voter education and all written materials concerning candidate nominations, voter registration, the location of polling stations, ballots and/or other election materials in both the official language(s) and the language(s) of minorities. If adequate representation for national minorities cannot be obtained through elements of the electoral system or in similar ways, minority representation can be enhanced directly through special voting arrangements, such as a minimum number of reserved mandates for a national minority.30 Positive measures are considered not to violate the principle of equal suffrage if they are adopted for a legitimate purpose or in order to enhance the participation of minorities in political life; however, they should not contravene efforts to assure equal representation. 40. Honest counting and tabulation of votes Paragraph 7.4 of the Copenhagen Document not only requires States to “ensure that votes are cast by secret ballot or by equivalent free voting procedure” but also “that they are counted and reported honestly with the official results made public”. The ODIHR observation experience indicates that in some participating States fraud takes place during the counting of votes and the tabulation of results. In some cases, publication of results is unjustifiably prolonged, contributing to a lack of confidence of the electorate in the results. The national election authority should announce preliminary results as soon as possible after the close of polling. This should also include the public posting of protocols (including on the Internet), and their distribution to party agents and observers at polling-station and intermediate levels. It should also be required to publish, in a timely manner, detailed official results that can be appealed. Subsequent to required adjustments and the exhaustion of appeals, a final publication may also be desirable. 30  See, generally, European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, CDL-EL (2002) 5, 9 October 2002. Common Responsibility: Commitments and Implementation 15