Election Campaign Finance Research Articles

Election campaign finance bans and corruption: effectiveness across parliamentary and presidential democracies

Election campaign finance bans and corruption: effectiveness across parliamentary and presidential democracies

Intersect of Money Laundering and Electoral Crimes in the Context of Election Campaign Finance

This paper aims to analyze the intersection between the PPTPPU Law and the Election Law in the context of election campaign funding, compare money laundering arrangements in the PPTPPU Law and the Election Law, and recommend ideal arrangements for handling money laundering in the context of future election campaign funding. The intersection between the PPTPPU Law and the Election Law regarding the provisions prohibiting receiving money from criminal acts has raised legal issues, namely which law should be applied, since both are special laws, furthermore this will also lead to different arrangements in each law. - the law, as well as PPATK not being involved in the handling of money laundering, which has been transformed into an election crime under the regime of the Election Law. The problem continues with the unregulated prohibition of giving election campaign fund contributions originating from criminal acts in the Election Law, and this shows the inconsistency of legislators in adopting the concept of money laundering into the Election Law. The method used is the normative legal research method. The results of the study show that based on the lex specialist systematic principle, the law that is applied is the Election Law. The Election Law does not stipulate active money laundering provisions, only regulates passive money laundering, while the PPTPPU Law regulates both; in the future, it is necessary to formulate active money laundering provisions in the Election Law.

Analysis of the Historical Development and Critical Importance of US Election Campaign Finance Regulation

Election, one of the fundamental representations of democracy is changing due to the flood of money running into campaign finance; this essay trying to identify the historical development and impact of US campaign regulation on the virtues of democracy. The general trends across academia spilted between liberitarian and egalitarian perspectives in debating the fundamental tradeoff between freedom and equality by looking at the logic behind the changing regulation. This essay takes an inclusive approach reviewing the various fields that conduct campaign finance research while providing a historical overview of the US election campaign regulations and their critical impact on American political society.

Realitas Implementasi Regulasi Laporan Dana Kampanye Pemilihan Kepala Daerah pada Pilgub Sumbar Tahun 2020

The campaign finance report regulation aims to realize the principle of "honest" elections, namely by implementing transparency in the use of campaign funds for Regional Head Elections reported to the public through the KPU. Campaign finance arrangements have been revised several times by the KPU as the organizer of elections in order to realize transparency in the use of campaign funds. But in reality, the transparency of election campaign finance reports has not been fully realized and is only a formality as one of the administrative requirements of election participants. The problem of transparency in reporting campaign funds was found in the 2020 West Sumatra Governor and Deputy Governor Elections for LADK, LPSDK and LPPDK which were submitted to the KPU to be announced to the public as transparency in the use of campaign funds. The purpose of this research article is as input to the KPU in making improvements to the PKPU regarding the Election Campaign Fund Report in the future in realizing transparency in the use of campaign funds. This study uses a literature review analyzed by researchers during the 2020 West Sumatra Governor and Deputy Governor Elections that have been held. The results showed that the Candidate Pair reported LADK campaign funds, LPSDK was not transparent and the last session of LPPDK was announced to the public after the election voting was held so that it could not be input for the public in making choices on polling day.

Public Financing of Election Campaigns

Public Financing of Election Campaigns

Election campaign financing in Botswana: a case for comprehensive regulation for fairness and to avert illicit financial flows

ABSTRACT Election campaign and political activity financing are scantily regulated in Botswana. This may provide an opportunity for threats to national security as business interests may exert overt influence on politicians and illicit financial flows may bloom. Currently, there is no credible way of knowing who provides what financing to whom since no one is really compelled to disclose such information before a writ is issued. Even after a writ, parties and candidates simply do not declare in accordance with the limited statutory requirement. The paper notes foreign funding of major political parties in Botswana. It then argues argues for reforms that will include banning of funding by organisations involved in crime, introduction of funding thresholds, controls to ensure that funds donated for purposes of campaign finances are used strictly for that, the setting up of a statutory body to ensure compliance as well as sanctions for non-compliance.

Local elections in the European Union and Ukraine: comparative characteristics

The article provides a comparative analysis of the electoral legislation of the EU countries and Ukraine at the local level and on the basis of this analysis, the proposals to improve the electoral legislation of Ukraine take into account the experience of the European Union.
 The main forms of direct democracy in most EU member countries and Ukraine are fixed at the constitutional level, and the procedure of preparing and holding elections is regulated by special election laws. Domestic electoral legislation is overloaded with detailed norms of procedural aspects, unlike the legislation of EU countries, in which much more attention is paid to the issues of transparency of party financial funds and transparency of election campaign financing, as well as protection of national minorities’ interests.
 The main ways of exercising the right to vote not at the place of inclusion in the voter lists in the EU member states were characterized: voting by absentee ballots at specially designated polling stations, voting on the territory of diplomatic and consular missions, voting by mail, proxy voting, mobile voting, voting via the Internet, distance voting. It is noted that the norms in which the institution of a cash deposit is enshrined are discriminatory since they violate the principle of equality of suffrage and create a situation in which candidates are excluded from the political arena on the basis of the property criterion.
 Relevant for EU countries is the adoption of measures to create appropriate conditions for the full implementation of the principle of equality of citizens before the law, in particular, to overcome the actual inequality of opportunities between women and men.
 In order to bring Ukrainian legislation in line with international standards set by the European Union, we propose: to grant the right to vote in local elections to citizens of other states or stateless persons who permanently reside on the territory of the respective territorial community and permanently pay local taxes and fees have common local interests related to everyday life, infrastructure, communication, recreation; to introduce electronic voting; not to apply the institution of cash deposit at the local level; to introduce individual (party) gender quotas, following the French example.

Sanksi Pidana terhadap Kecurangan dalam Laporan Dana Kampanye Pemilihan Umum di Indonesia

In 2019, Dr Somvir, a legislative candidate for Bali Regional People’s Representative Council, reported his campaign fund was zero rupiah, which was later reported to Election Supervisory Body Bali as a case of suspicion of fraud in the campaign fund report. The fraud was manipulating the number of campaign funds received or used. The purpose of this study is to discuss the legal arrangements regarding general election campaign finance reports in Indonesia and to examine the criminal sanctions imposed on fraud in general election campaign finance reports in Indonesia. The research method and problem approach used is a normative method with a conceptual and statutory approach. The results of this study explain campaign fund report is regulated on Law Number 7 of 2017 about General Election and Regulation by General Election Commission Number 24 of 2018 about Campaign Fund in General Election. Criminal sanctions for fraud in campaign fund reports in the Indonesian general election could be confinement, imprisonment, and fines, which are regulated on Article 496 and 497 Law Number 7 of 2017. The government needs to explain clearly the meaning of information in campaign fund reports in the general elections.

Media discourse on receiving funds for financing of the elections’2019 in Ukraine

One of the most important indicators of democracy is electoral transparency, which is characterised by the legitimacy of campaign financing. Since Ukraine declares its desire to join the European Union, it should demonstrate the compliance with the values common to the EU, one of which is democracy. In 2019, Ukraine held «double» elections, around which, traditionally, a multi-vector discourse unfolded in the media space. One of the areas covered was the financing of election campaigns. The author applied one of the basic sociological methods of document analysis – content analysis of the discourse devoted to financing the 2019 presidential and parliamentary election campaigns in Ukraine. The results of empirical study demonstrated that funding for these two campaigns was reported differently. Thus, in the coverage of the presidential campaign considerable attention was paid to the coverage of its various aspects. Moreover, the attention was paid to the type of voter bribery, known as direct. The parliamentary media campaign received less attention than the presidential campaign. The most frequent attention was paid to indirect voter bribery. The tone of the discourse was quite difficult to capture, however, if we evaluate the correlation between the negative and positive contexts of describing the financing of election campaigns, then, of course, the negative ones were much more prevalent.

The legal nature of reforming the modern electoral system of Ukraine: advantages and disadvantages

This article reveals the content of the main transformation processes that have taken place in recent years in the electoral process of Ukraine, including the abolition of "self-nomination" of candidates, abolition of mixed electoral system in parliamentary elections, study of the legal nature of the "single permanent vote". , regulation of the issue of cash collateral, delimitation of the concepts of "registered place of residence" and "actual place of residence", limitation of election funds for candidates for President of Ukraine, etc. Changes in the sphere of presidential, parliamentary and local self-government elections are outlined. The main preconditions for the development and adoption of the Electoral Code of Ukraine and its role for the further functioning of electoral law mechanisms are indicated.
 The result of the consolidation of all normative legal acts regulating election procedures in Ukraine into a single codified legislative act in order to unify the regulation of the preparation and conduct of elections in Ukraine is analyzed.
 The main directions of further development and improvement of the election legislation of Ukraine are studied, including: introduction of an effective system of legal liability for violation of election legislation, proper determination of sanctions for violation of citizens' election rights, assistance in increasing the personnel potential of election commission members and quality control. and integrity of the Central Election Commission, prohibition of amendments to the main provisions of the election law in the period of one year before the election process, regulation of election campaigning on social networks, elimination of problems in the field of transparency of election campaign financing, inclusion of relevant data in the voter list. to it, information and educational campaigns for voters, etc.
 The adoption of the Electoral Code of Ukraine has laid a solid foundation for a transparent, democratic and effective electoral process, following the basic principles and ideas of European integration policy and the policy of developed countries.

The legal nature of reforming the modern electoral system of Ukraine: advantages and disadvantages

This article reveals the content of the main transformation processes that have taken place in recent years in the electoral process of Ukraine, including the abolition of «self-nomination» of candidates, abolition of mixed electoral system in parliamentary elections, study of the legal nature of the «single permanent vote». , regulation of the issue of cash collateral, delimitation of the concepts of «registered place of residence» and «actual place of residence», limita¬tion of election funds for candidates for President of Ukraine, etc. Changes in the sphere of presidential, parliamentary and local self-government elections are outlined. The main preconditions for the development and adoption of the Electoral Code of Ukraine and its role for the further functioning of electoral law mechanisms are indicated.The result of the consolidation of all normative legal acts regulating election procedures in Ukraine into a single codified legislative act in order to unify the regulation of the preparation and conduct of elections in Ukraine is analyzed.The main directions of further development and improvement of the election legislation of Ukraine are studied, including: introduction of an effective system of legal liability for violation of election legislation, proper determina¬tion of sanctions for violation of citizens’ election rights, assistance in increasing the personnel potential of election commission members and quality control. and integrity of the Central Election Commission, prohibition of amend¬ments to the main provisions of the election law in the period of one year before the election process, regulation of election campaigning on social networks, elimination of problems in the field of transparency of election campaign financing, inclusion of relevant data in the voter list. to it, information and educational campaigns for voters, etc.
 The adoption of the Electoral Code of Ukraine has laid a solid foundation for a transparent, democratic and ef-fective electoral process, following the basic principles and ideas of European integration policy and the policy of developed countries.

Anti-Corruption Potential of Prohibiting the Financing of Election Campaigns by Commercial Organizations

The problem of political corruption is particularly relevant for modern criminological science. The processes of formation and functioning of power, due to their high social significance, have long been subject to negative corruption, and therefore they need a special protection mechanism. The subject of the study is the legal regulation of banning the financing of political activities (election campaigns), as well as its reflection in the local regulations of commercial organizations. The article presents a general description of the illegal financing of election campaigns as a form of political corruption, describes the problems of applying measures of retrospective responsibility in relation to its subjects, and also evaluates the effectiveness of banning the financing of political activities (election campaigns) in the system of preventing this form of corruption. To study the practice of regulating the prohibition in question at the level of local regulations of commercial organizations, the authors conducted monitoring of the official websites of 250 major Russian companies based on the methods of statistical analysis of socio-legal phenomena and processes. The results of the study allow us to conclude that it is necessary to take a set of measures aimed at encouraging commercial organizations to adopt anti-corruption compliance programs which will include a ban on financing political activities (election campaigns), as well as aimed at limiting the possibility of committing relevant corruption offenses

Local election campaign finance regimes in Canada: Toward a research agenda

AbstractThe regulation of election campaign donation, fundraising, expenditure, and advertising is an enduring object of study and reform. Compared to the federal and provincial levels, virtually no attention has been paid to Canadian municipal campaign finance regimes. This is surprising given the urban political economy literature’s focus on business influence on local politics and policy and evidence of corruption in Canadian local government. We take stock of Canadian campaign finance rules for municipal elections in light of Canadian and American research findings, which reveals considerable interprovincial variation in their sophistication and stringency. We then propose a research agenda to investigate aspects of Canadian local campaign finance regimes.

The experience of implementation of innovations and the proposals for improvement of electoral legislation based on the results of the 2020 election campaigns (using the materials of over observation and expert interview)

The object of this research is the practice of the 2020 electoral campaigns in the Russian Federation, while the subject is the organization of nationwide voting upon the approval of amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, election of the governor of Krasnodar Region, a number of municipal election campaigns on the territory of Krasnodar Region of September 13, 2020. The goal of this research is to determine the gaps in legal regulation and problematic areas based on the practice-oriented approach, results of semi-structured expert interviews that involved the members of municipal, territorial, and district election commissions, as well as overt observation carried out by the authors during election campaigns, analysis of legislation and law enforcement practice. The authors believe that the identified problems and gaps can be resolved and filled not so much within the framework of Electoral Code, as in the context of current improvement of the electoral legislation, which is of particular relevance at in the lead-up to the 2021 elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly. The authors introduce proposals on electoral-legal codification, development of the principle of electoral federalism and the system of electoral legislation, organization of voter registration, procedures for nomination and registration of candidates, signatures collection in support of the candidates, financing of election campaigns, as well as implementation of innovations in electoral procedures tested in 2020.

Electoral Campaign Financing and Criminal Policy

In a democratic state, power is exercised by elected bodies through free and fair elections. The choice of the political class that will exercise political, economic, etc. power by the sovereign (the people) is one of the most important moments in the way how a state works.The sovereign and the expression of his will by voting for those to be elected to the governing or governing bodies. The first part will address and analyze the election campaign, the day of voting until the moment of the results, is the period when the sovereign exercises his power directly by voting which political class will lead the state.Political classes seeking to govern and govern governing bodies disclose their programs, their policies during the election campaign.Election campaigns in modern and capitalist society require funding as they are associated with costs, expenses. Election campaigns cannot be done without capital, without money. The second part will analyze the power of money in election campaigns is related to the expenses political parties or candidates make to their program, to disseminate their political and governing ideas, so money power is used to influence the sovereign to be informed on election day. who to vote for and who to choose in the governing bodies. The use of money in election campaigns forces a democratic state to set rules on how to finance, spend, etc., so setting rules such as how the power of money will affect election campaigns and their control by the responsible bodies.In a country with a fragile and transitional democracy such as the Albanian state, the control of money power during election campaigns is extremely difficult, however the manner of controlling election campaign financing is clearly defined in legislation. In this paper I will contribute by analyzing the impact of money on the Albanian state policy, first in terms of electoral financing, financing of political parties and individuals in electoral campaigns In this paper I will address and analyze how money affects constitutional principles during election campaigns, how it affects the principles of free and fair elections. The third part will address and analyze how entities participating in electoral campaigns are financed.The use of illegal money during campaigns affects the violation of constitutional principles for free and fair elections.I will address and analyze the criminal policies in the field of illegal financing of electoral campaigns. The Criminal Code of the Republic of Albania in relation to free and fair elections. llegal financing of election campaigns is a current phenomenon of the Albanian society, bringing about the incrimination of Albanian politics.Illegal financing of entities participating in electoral campaigns comes from organized crime or suspects in criminal activities, and this brings about the establishment of those persons who protect the latter's interests and not the interests of the constituents or democratic interests of a state .Intensify the fight against illicit financing of electoral campaigns by creating not only a complete legal framework for preventing illicit financing but also creating practical mechanisms for not only law enforcement but also the practical prevention of uncontrolled funding of electoral subjects.Setting criminal penalties for illegal financing of electoral campaigns and revising the Criminal Code in incriminating all illegal financing actions that violate free and fair elections may be the most important step in the fight against illegal financing of electoral campaigns. Illegal financing of electoral campaigns in Albania calls for free and fair elections and questions the basic principles of the representation of political entities in governing institutions and therefore the interference in law and penal policy is current and immediate.

Institutional Reform for Ensuring the Fair Electoral Competition: Leveling Electoral Competition between Incumbents and Challengers and Rationalizing Government Financing of Election Campaigns

Institutional Reform for Ensuring the Fair Electoral Competition: Leveling Electoral Competition between Incumbents and Challengers and Rationalizing Government Financing of Election Campaigns

Political Financing in Africa: A Comparative Study of Kenya and Nigeria: Proposal for Reform

The linkage between money and polities is a powerful one with implications for democracy, especially in new democracies. Political finance has been identified as a source of political corruption in several countries. Political finance laws and regulations, through which political parties and candidates for office declare their funding sources, are among the main instruments. The relationships between party financing and corruption are so significant that to ignore party funding is simply to open wide the donor for corruption. Looking into Nigerian and Kenyan political history one realizes that there is much that need to be done in this regard. This is why the financing of political life is both a necessity and a problem. The frequency with which new laws concerning campaign and party finance are enacted is testimony to the failure of many existing legal frameworks and legislations. For instance, the Electoral Acts of 2002, 2006 and 2010, the Election Campaign Financing Bill 2012, the Public Collections Act 1960 review the current status of campaign and political finance regulations in Nigeria and Kenya. The cover among other issues: the regulation, management, expenditure and accountability of election campaign funds during election and referendum campaigns. This is because hardly a month goes by without a new scandal involving political money breaking out in some in this part of the globe. Political parties constitute one of the core groups of institutions in Kenya and Nigeria’s democratic systems. The parties that emerged in Nigeria for instance, since Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, however, are characterized by undemocratic practices and exhibited gross misconducts against transparency and accountability. At their best, political parties should nurture and articulate the expression of socio-political interest and opinion. Under current Nigerian conditions, however, most political parties lack ideologies, not issue oriented, but are merely zero-issue alliances of notables who are able to control and, often enough, manipulate party structures, candidacies and even the general electoral process itself. Most parties are vehicles in the hands of few “political entrepreneurs” who invest huge amount of money and expect concurrent rewards on such investment (in the form of public works and procurement contracts, prebendal appointments of cronies to public offices and other forms of prebendal activity). The fallout has led to mass electoral/political violence and political destabilization and disempowerment of the generality of the Nigerian electors, the exclusion of alternative parties seeking to participate in electoral politics and the absence of an effective system to regulate political finance. This paper seeks to explore the concept of political finance. It will equally attempt to concisely analyze the extant legal framework regulating political finance in Kenya and Nigeria, highlight their inadequacies with a view of reforming these inadequacies for a better political finance management and best practices and proffer suggestions on the ways forward drawing freely from the instructive practices of other emerging and advanced democracies.

Corruption as a 'white-collar crime': International legal instruments on public accountability of public officials

Corruption within public services has devastated negative impact on a state, a society, its economy and its citizens. It represents a major threat to the rule of law, democracy, enjoyment of human rights, fairness and social justice. It hinders economic development and endangeres sustainable development, empowerishes national economies, and facilitates the emergence of other threats, such as organized crime. Fighting corruption has become more urgent than ever. This paper deals with the public liability of domestic public officials, highlighting the substantive main international standards for fighting corruption in public services in the international legal instruments adopted by the United Nations and the Council of Europe, such as the United Nations Conventions against Corruption, and the two Convention of Council of Europe, on Civil Law and on Criminal Law. The paper argues that corruption can be prosecuted after the fact, but first and foremost it requires prevention. Preventive policies include the establishment of anti-corruption bodies and enhanced transparency in the financing of election campaigns and political parties. States must endeavour to ensure that their public services are subject to safeguards that promote efficiency, transparency and recruitment based on merit. Once recruited, public servants should be subject to codes of conduct, requirements for financial and other disclosures, and appropriate disciplinary measures. Transparency and accountability in matters of public finance must also be promoted, and specific requirements are established for the prevention of corruption in particularly critical areas of the public sector such as the judiciary and public procurement. Those who use public services must expect a high standard of conduct from their public servants. Preventing public corruption also requires an effort from all members of society at large.

Reforming American Election Campaign Finance

Reforming American Election Campaign Finance

Concepts of Equality in British Election Financing Reform Proposals

This article discusses the ways in which the ambiguous concept of equality has been used in the British debate regarding the financing of political election campaigns. It identifies three concepts of equality commonly used in that debate: 'equality of arms' between political parties, 'equality of influence' between citizens, and 'equality of access' to the so-called 'marketplace of ideas'. The article than discusses each of these concepts of equality in greater detail, and, in doing so, identifies four broader principles underlying the use of these concepts in the election financing debate. The article concludes that, although the language of equality is used often and with great effect in the election financing debate, the concepts of equality being invoked are rarely independently valuable concepts. Instead, the concepts of equality used are valued in the election financing debate because they promote one of the four underlying principles. These principles themselves, however, involve complex questions of democracy and distributional fairness, and are not uncontroversial. I thus suggest that future debates regarding election financing could be enhanced by a more direct discussion of the merits of these underlying principles. The appropriate financing of election campaigns has been a matter of debate in the United Kingdom for at least 100 years. Scandals involving large private donations to political parties intensified modem calls for reform. Responding to these concerns, Parliament enacted the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (hereafter Political Parties Act). During the debate surrounding passage of the Political Parties Act, advocates of reform frequently grounded their arguments in a perceived need for greater 'equality' in the election financing system. Equality, however, is a complex concept.' People seldom agree on what constitutes equality, or on how to best achieve it. Not surprisingly, the ambiguity of the concept of equality is as prevalent in the election financing debate as it is in other areas in which the concept is invoked. In this paper, I attempt to identify and clarify the concept of equality, or more accurately a set of concepts of equality, commonly invoked by advocates of election financing reform. I identify three such equality concepts: 'equality of * Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky College of Law. My thanks to Professor Paul Craig and Dan Lorentz for their helpful comments and suggestions, and to Professor Gordon Baldwin, for the years he has dedicated to making all of his students better lawyers and better people. Errors are of course my own. 1 See, for example, I. Berlin, 'Equality' in H. Hardy (ed.) Concepts and Categories: philosophical essays (The Hogarth Press, London, 1978); R. Dworkin, Taking Rights Seriously (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1977); J. Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999). @ 2002 Oxford University Press This content downloaded from 207.46.13.57 on Mon, 08 Aug 2016 04:27:01 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 254 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies VOL. 22 arms'; 'equality of influence'; and 'equality of access'. After discussing each of these concepts, I conclude that the value of each of them to the election financing debate actually depends on the acceptance of at least one of four broader principles: that political equality requires the state to show equal respect and concern for each of its citizens; that wealth in society should be equitably distributed; that representative democracy should constitute a deliberative search for a greater public good rather than a struggle between self-interested entities; or that democratic self-governance requires public access to the widest possible variety of information. The concepts of equality used in the election financing debate support these principles, but are rarely invoked independently of them. Equality, then, is used in the election financing debate not for its own sake but because it advances one or more of these underlying principles. These principles, several of which are quite controversial, involve important and complex issues about our expectations of society, citizenship and democracy. I do not attempt to evaluate each of these principles here. I do, however, suggest that the election financing debate would be enhanced if advocates of reform avoided arguing for change in the vague language of equality' and instead concentrated on articulating and defending these underlying principles. This paper has three parts. Part 1 provides a context for discussing the most recent reform proposals by briefly outlining the history of Britain's election financing laws. Part 2 analyses the way different concepts of equality have been used by advocates of reform. Part 3 introduces the notion of independent and dependent principles, and examines, in light of this notion, the relationship of the three concepts of equality used in the election financing debate to the four principles identified above. 1. British Election Financing Law