to date) of its representatives. This situation notably diminishes the likelihood of the necessary representativity between the people and their representatives. This Commission considers that in practice the effects of this institution constitute an authoritarian enclave that has prevented culmination of the transition to full representative democracy. 97. The Commission understands that the above-cited rights to political equality prohibit the states parties to the American Convention from giving unreasonable distinct or unequal treatment to their citizens in the election of their representatives. Therefore, these rights imply that the states parties cannot reduce or water down the effective opportunity for the citizens to elect their representatives, giving greater weight to the votes cast by certain members of society, even if they are representatives of the people. 50 64. The Commission observes that several international organizations, as well as domestic courts, have referred to circumstances in which the concentration or use of power by an incumbent administration in an election may provide advantages that undermine the right of other candidates to participate on equal terms in an electoral race. 65. For example, in the case of Gitonas and others v. Greece, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the annulment of the election of five congresspersons for having held public office that established grounds for disqualification for more than three months in the three years preceding the elections did not breach Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which refers to the right to free elections. The Court stated as follows: The Court notes that paragraph 3 of Article 56 of the Constitution, which was applied in the applicants’ case, establishes grounds for disqualification that are both relative and final in that certain categories of holders of public office―including salaried public servants and members of staff of public-law entities and public undertakings―are precluded from standing for election and being elected in any constituency where they have performed their duties for more than three months in the three years preceding the elections; the disqualification will moreover stand notwithstanding a candidate’s prior resignation (…) Such disqualification, for which equivalent provisions exist in several member States of the Council of Europe, serves a dual purpose that is essential for the proper functioning and upholding of democratic regimes, namely ensuring that candidates of different political persuasions enjoy equal means of influence (since holders of public office may on occasion have an unfair advantage over other candidates) and protecting the electorate from pressure from such officials who, because of their position, are called upon to take many―and sometimes important―decisions and enjoy substantial prestige in the eyes of the ordinary citizen, whose choice of candidate might be influenced The Court cannot reach any other conclusion; there is nothing in the judgments of the Special Supreme Court to suggest that the annulments were contrary to Greek legislation, arbitrary or disproportionate, or thwarted “the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature.” (…) Consequently, there has been no violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-3). 51 66. As for the Constitutional Court of Germany, it issued a ruling in a case in which the federal state had violated the right of a person to participate in an election on an equal footing. Regarding this, it made the following observations: (…) Democratic equality means that the ruling majority at a given time and the opposition minority must benefit, on principle, from the same opportunities in the election to secure votes. The guarantee of equity in the electoral contest and campaigns is an indispensable element in the free and open formative process of the people’s orientation and will, as enshrined in Basic Law. 50 51 The right of political parties to equity in the electoral race was recognized so that it could be exercised during the election. Its application was gradually extended to pre-campaign activities. It is also applicable for electoral campaigns in a democracy of the masses, as long as they are influenced by public authorities (…). That right is breached when state bodies are biased in favor of a political party or candidate in elections or interfere to the detriment to any one of them. IACHR, Report 137/99, Case 11.863, Andrés Aylwin Azócar et al., Chile, December 27, 1999. European Court of Human Rights, Case of Gitonas and others v. Greece. Judgment of July 1, 1997.