Summary
States should provide for the independent monitoring of campaign and political funding.
Election Parts
Criteria
Quotes
- Ensure that the financing of political groupings and regional elections is not only subject to traditional parliamentary scrutiny but is also monitored by an independent body such as a court of auditors.
- States should provide for independent monitoring in respect of the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns.
- States should establish independent auditing bodies endowed with sufficient powers to supervise the accounts of political parties and the expenses linked to electoral campaigns.
- The independent monitoring should include supervision over the accounts of political parties and the expenses involved in election campaigns as well as their presentation and publication.
- 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....3. Effective institutions and processes for enforcement of political finance regulation, including: As noted above, a nonpartisan, independent institution responsible for enforcement of political finance regulations with sufficient authority, training and resources to perform enforcement responsibilities.
- States should provide for independent monitoring of the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns. Political parties and candidates should be required to present regular accounts to an independent authority.
- To this effect, party financing legislation should include stipulations regulating at least four distinct aspects relating to the transparency of political finance: Monitoring: provisions for an independent body to inspect and control party accounts.
- First of all, funding must be transparent; such transparency is essential whatever the level of political and economic development of the country concerned. Transparency operates at two levels. The first concerns campaign funds, the details of which must be set out in a special set of carefully maintained accounts. In the event of significant deviations from the norm or if the statutory expenditure ceilings are exceeded, the election must be annulled. The second level involves monitoring the financial status of elected representatives before and after their term in office. A commission in charge of financial transparency takes formal note of the elected representatives’ statements as to their finances. The latter are confidential, but the records can, if necessary, be forwarded to the public prosecutor’s office.
- Regulatory agencies must be independent in terms of appointments, security of tenure and funding, and should themselves be independently supervised.
- The enforcement of political finance laws and regulations requires the existence of independent oversight authorities and an effective system of sanctions to end impunity.
- Appointments to the regulator should be independent from political pressure, and should include checks to increase its impartiality, neutrality and financial independence.
- The information provided to the public needs to be accurate, which means that the enforcement agencies need to have the means to audit the reports and ensure that they give a correct picture of the finances of the party or candidate’s campaign.
- Electoral campaign accounts will be submitted to the organ charged with supervising election procedures, for example, an election committee, within a reasonable time limit after the elections.
- An impartial body should control campaign financing.
- Independent monitoring should include supervision over the accounts of political parties regarding their regular sources of income and expenditure, their routine operational costs as well as their election expenses.
- To ensure the effectiveness of campaign finance rules, it is critical that responsibility for supervision be given to an independent and professional regulatory body, mandated to provide guidance to electoral stakeholders, check campaign finance reports and investigate potential breaches, and that it be endowed with sanctioning power in order to promote the effective implementation of the law and ensure the accountability of all stakeholders.
- Appointments to the regulator should be independent from political pressure, and should include checks to increase its impartiality, neutrality and financial independence.
- It is usual that the EMB has responsibility for supervising and enforcing campaign finance regulations.
- To ensure the effectiveness of campaign finance rules, it is critical that responsibility for supervision be given to an independent and professional regulatory body, mandated to provide guidance to electoral stakeholders, check campaign finance reports and investigate potential breaches, and that it be endowed with sanctioning power in order to promote the effective implementation of the law and ensure the accountability of all stakeholders.
- The legal framework for party and candidate financing should include provisions for disclosure, reporting, monitoring and enforcement.