Summary
Reasonable limitations may be placed on private funding contributions to level the playing field during campaign activities.
Obligations
Election Parts
Quotes
- States should: ii. consider the possibility of introducing rules limiting the value of donations to political parties.
- States should: iii. adopt measures to prevent established ceilings from being circumvented.
- [States should] ensure transparency of the electoral process, particularly in: 8.2.2. electoral campaign funding and party financing: legislation in this field is necessary not only to regulate the origin of funding and set a limit on expenditure, but also to enable all voters to have access to data on the nature and amount of campaign and party spending.
- Limits on campaign spending may be necessary to prevent a disproportionate or one-sided campaign, but should not be so strict as to prevent effective campaigning.
- States should consider introducing rules which limit the value of donations to political parties and candidates.
- Where there are provisions in the legal framework for elections relating to private contributions to campaign expenses incurred on behalf of parties and candidates, these should be so designed as to ensure equality of freedom to raise private funds. Furthermore, these provisions may include limits on contributions in order to 'level the playing field' to a reasonable degree, taking into account geographic, demographic and material costs.
- A party may receive donations within the limits of domestic law, which may prohibit donations from certain sources. By no means may parties interpret private donations as granting any possibility to influence and/or alter the party programme and/or party policies. Parties must adhere to laws that require disclosing the origin of private donations to parties.
- Limitations on contributions can be means to minimize the possibility of corruption or the purchasing of political influence.
- Regulations may limit the overall monetary contribution an individual or a legal entity may make to a candidate/party (quantitative restrictions). Additionally, regulations may prohibit contributions from certain sources, such as foreign persons or organizations, legal entities, state bodies or public enterprises, or anonymous donations (qualitative restrictions).
- Limits (on contributions and spending) should be clearly defined in the law and be realistic to ensure that all electoral contestants are able to run an effective campaign, recognizing the cost of modern elections. It is good practice for limits to be indexed against inflation, rather than set as absolute amounts.
- Limitations on contributions can be means to minimize the possibility of corruption or the purchasing of political influence.
- Regulations may limit the overall monetary contribution an individual or a legal entity may make to a candidate/party (quantitative restrictions). Additionally, regulations may prohibit contributions from certain sources, such as foreign persons or organizations, legal entities, state bodies or public enterprises, or anonymous donations (qualitative restrictions).
- Limits (on contributions and spending) should be clearly defined in the law and be realistic to ensure that all electoral contestants are able to run an effective campaign, recognizing the cost of modern elections. It is good practice for limits to be indexed against inflation, rather than set as absolute amounts.
- Transparency International recommends that governments make the following four commitments: (...) Introduce limits on sources and amounts of donations to political parties and candidates, and encourage a broad base of donors, to strike a healthy balance between public and private funding.
- Funding political parties through private contributions is also a form of political participation. Thus, legislation should attempt to achieve a balance between encouraging moderate contributions and limiting unduly large contributions.
- The amount of public funding awarded to parties must be carefully designed to guarantee the utility of such funding, while at the same time ensuring that private contributions are not made superfluous or their impact nullified.
- In order to secure a diverse and pluralistic political process which is hospitable to candidates and parties from across the political spectrum, States should: (…) (d) Permanently assess the impact of private financing of political communication in the promotion of a plural debate; and consider adopting ceilings for donations to political campaigns in order to prevent financial imbalances from destabilizing the playing field and disproportionately limiting the participation of certain parties or candidates in political campaigns.
- The ideal requirements for political finance regulation in post-conflict societies listed below should be viewed as goals for the international community to achieve given the challenging constraints in which they are operating. There are three key requirements in the areas of legal framework, resources for political actors and institutions...1. A legal framework for political finance regulation—contained in the electoral law, the political parties law or a separate political finance law—should include: Realistic limitations on monetary and non-monetary contributions from private sources for political activity, probably with a relatively high limit on the size of donations.
- Although the legal framework should permit private funding of political campaigns, reasonable limitations on the amount of private contributions are permissible. What is reasonable depends on the type of election and factors unique to the particular country, such as geography, demographics, and relative costs of media and other campaign materials. It is also acceptable to limit the total amount of expenditures of the electoral contestants in a given campaign. Although the legal framework should permit electoral contestants to expend sufficient resources to convey a political message, there is no minimum standard that requires that electoral contestants be given an opportunity to buy an election.