41 153. Article 23 of the American Convention must be interpreted as a whole and harmoniously, so that it is not possible to disregard paragraph 1 of this Article and interpret paragraph 2 in isolation, nor is it possible to disregard the other provisions of the Convention or the basic principles that inspire it to interpret Article 23 as a whole. 154. As has already been indicated, paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 23 refer to the rights of citizens and recognize rights that are exercised by each specific individual. Paragraph 1 recognizes the rights: (a) to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives; (b) to vote and to be elected in genuine periodic elections, which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot that guarantees the free expression of the will of the voters; and (c) to have access, under general conditions of equality, to the public service of his country (supra paras. 144 to 150). 155. Article 23(2) of the American Convention establishes that the law may regulate the exercise and opportunities of such rights only on the basis of “age, nationality, residence, language, education, civil and mental capacity, or sentencing by a competent court in criminal proceedings.” The provision that limits the reasons for which it is possible to restrict the use of the rights of paragraph 1 has only one purpose – in light of the Convention as a whole and of its essential principles – to avoid the possibility of discrimination against individuals in the exercise of their political rights. It is evident that the inclusion of these reasons refers to the enabling conditions that the law can impose to exercise political rights. Restrictions based on these criteria are common in national electoral laws, which provide for the establishment of the minimum age to vote and to be elected, and some connection to the electoral district where the right is exercised, among other regulations. Provided that they are not disproportionate or unreasonable, these are limits that the States may legitimately establish to regulate the exercise and enjoyment of political rights and that, it should be repeated, they refer to certain requirements that the titleholders of political rights must comply with so as to be able to exercise them. 156. In addition to the above, Article 23 of the Convention imposes certain specific obligations on the State. From the moment that Article 23(1) establishes that the right to participate in the conduct of public affairs may be exercised directly or through freely chosen representatives, the State has a positive obligation that is manifested with the obligation to carry out certain actions or conducts, and to adopt measures that arise from the obligation to ensure the free and full exercise of human rights to all the persons subject to their jurisdiction (Article 1(1) of the Convention) and of the general obligation to adopt measures in their domestic law (Article 2 of the Convention). 157. This positive obligation consists in designing a system that allows representatives to be elected to conduct public affairs. Indeed, for political rights to be exercised, the law must establish regulations that go beyond those related to certain State limitations to restrict those rights, established in Article 23(2). The States must organize their electoral systems and establish a complex number of conditions and formalities to make it possible to exercise the right to vote and to be elected. 158. Consequently, the State not only has the general obligation established in Article 1 to ensure the enjoyment of the rights, but has specific guidelines to comply with its obligation. The electoral system that the States establish in accordance with the American Convention should make it possible to hold genuine periodic elections, by universal and equal suffrage, and by secret ballot that guarantee the free expression of the will of the voters. Hence, this gives the State a specific mandate in relation to the mechanisms that it should choose to comply with its general obligation “to ensure” the enjoyment of the rights established in Article