ANALYSES
&OPINIONS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marta Gałązka – Political scientist. Graduate and a doctoral student of Institute of Political
Science Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, writing a PhD thesis on parties
of protest in Visehrad countries. Holder of a scholarship of the Institute of Public Affairs.
Co-author of IPA report „Wyborca 2.0” (Voter 2.0).
#21/146
03.2016
MARTA GAŁĄZKA
TOWARDS MORE TRANSPARENCY
IN FINANCING LOCAL POLITICS
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLAND,
SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA*
ANALYSES
&OPINIONS
#21/146
03.2016
INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Society and Democracy Programme
This publication was developed as part of project “Transparency of Local Government Elections in Central
and Eastern Europe”. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This
publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any
use which might be made of the information contained therein.
POLAND, SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA HAVE COMMON PROBLEMS IN SECURING
THE STANDARDS OF EQUALITY, TRANSPARENCY, AND CONTROL OF ELECTORAL
FINANCE
ALTHOUGH FOR REDUCING SOME NEGATIVE PHENOMENA (LIKE PRE-CAMPAIGN)
CHANGES IN LAW MAY BE NECESSARY, THE KEY ISSUE IS EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT
OF THE ALREADY BINDING REGULATIONS, WHICH REQUIRES STRENGTHENED
CAPACITIES OF ELECTION MANAGEMENT BODIES, IMPROVING THEIR
CO-OPERATION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND PROVIDING
OPPORTUNITIES OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE MONITORING FOR CITIZENS
EFFECTIVE CONTROL MEASURES NEED TO BE COMPLEMENTED WITH ADVICE
AND EDUCATION TARGETING BOTH CAMPAIGNING BODIES - FOR MORE
TRANSPARENT PERFORMANCE, AND CITIZENS - FOR EFFECTIVE OVERSIGHT
Co-funded by the Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme of the European Union
FOR SECURING GREATER TRANSPARENCY DIGITAL TOOLS SHOULD BE DEVELOPED
AND USED AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE ELECTION FINANCE MONITORING
AND REPORTING SYSTEM
Co-financed by the PZU Foundation
* This paper is a summary of findings and recommendations published in: M. Gałązka, M. Solon-Lipiński
“Transparency of Financing Local Politics in Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. A Comparative Overview”,
Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw 2016.
Coordination of the project: Małgorzata Koziarek
© Copyright by Instytut Spraw Publicznych, Warsaw 2016
Published by:
Fundacja Instytut Spraw Publicznych
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IMPORTANCE OF INTEGRITY IN FINANCING
LOCAL ELECTIONS
1
It is local government
level where a
substantial portion
of public money is
managed and spent.
Securing fair electoral processes
For the reasons stated above both the state institutions and citizens should
be the promoters and guardians of internationally accepted standards
underlying fair electoral processes: equality, transparency, and control of
electoral finance, which entail:
(1) equal opportunities guaranteed for political parties and candidates, i.e.,
neutral attitude of state authorities towards parties and candidates,
equal coverage by the media and public funding of parties and campaigns
(2) the requirement of setting up details of campaign funds in dedicated
transparent bank accounts,
(3) the existence of institutions, both public and civil, which have the
appropriate tools and financial and human resources to conduct
effective assessment of electoral finance, which altogether ensure that
the standards are monitored over the period of a candidate’s registration
and during the whole electoral campaign.
146_Analizy i opinie.indd 1
Both the state
institutions and
citizens should be
the promoters and
guardians of equality,
transparency, and
control of electoral
finance.
MARTA GAŁĄZKA TOWARDS MORE TRANSPARENCY IN FINANCING LOCAL POLITICS.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLAND, SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA
The year 2014 provided a unique opportunity to observe campaign finances
in three countries which held local government elections at the same
time: Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Since in many countries it is local
government level where a substantial portion of public money is managed
and spent, transparency of financing local politics raises a justified interest.
Campaign financing has a significant impact on the quality of elections. An
adequate funding is vital in enabling candidates and parties to convey their
messages to voters. At the same time, state authorities and citizens have
a legitimate interest in ensuring that the campaign finance system is fair
and transparent, the potential for corruption of the democratic process is
limited, and the rules which secure a level playing field.
2016-05-04 10:30:24
ELECTORAL FINANCE STANDARDS AND PRACTICES
IN POLAND, SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA
2
ANALYSES&OPINIONS
Legal and institutional environment
In each country
the legal and
institutional set-up
of electoral finance
concentrates on
party politics rather
than on independent
candidates.
Infractions in political
finance are subject
to penalty.
In each country the legal and institutional set-up of electoral finance
concentrates on party politics rather than on independent candidates. The
political parties which are election winners are entitled to public funding,
which gives them advantage over independent campaigning bodies
(independent candidates).
The countries ban donations on election campaigns from: (1) foreign entities;
(2) trade unions; (3) anonymous sources (except Slovenia); (4) corporations
(except Slovakia). Neither country bans indirect donations given through
another person or entity.
There are also spending bans and expenditure limits1. The latter are derived
from the number of voters in a given administrative unit. In Poland the
number of seats in elected bodies is also taken into account.
All countries have regulations requiring that parties and campaigning
bodies2 submit financial reports on campaign revenues and expenditures
to an institution responsible for the oversight of political finance: in Poland
the institution is close to the judiciary, in Slovakia it is more dependent on
the executive, and in Slovenia it is a mixed solution.
Infractions in political finance are subject to penalty. In Poland parties
may be forfeited, lose public funding or even deregistered, while their
representatives responsible for finances can be fined or imprisoned.
Relevant penalties in Slovakia include: forfeiture for parties, and fines and
prison for party representatives. In Slovenia fines are applied.
Observed practices
There are a number
of problems
in securing fair
electoral processes
that are found in all
the three countries.
Despite differences in the national legal and institutional environments
of financing local politics, there are a number of problems in securing fair
electoral processes that are found in all the three countries. The monitoring
of the local government elections in 2014 in Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia
1 In Slovakia limits on campaign expenditures were introduced only in 2015
2 In Slovakia reporting obligation concerning independent (non-party) candidates
was introduced only in 2015.
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2016-05-04 10:30:24
revealed the following practices which affect the extent to which the fair
electoral process standards are met3:
(1) Equality
• promotion of candidates before the official start of election campaign
(pre-campaign)
• incumbent use of the public resources connected with the currently
held office (of city mayor etc.)
(3) Control
• unsatisfactory enforcement of existing legal standards due to limited
action on part of the responsible state bodies,
• limited possibilities of citizen oversight.
3
MARTA GAŁĄZKA TOWARDS MORE TRANSPARENCY IN FINANCING LOCAL POLITICS.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLAND, SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA
(2) Transparency
• unsatisfactory reporting by campaigning bodies (reported data not
transparent enough: aggregated expenditure items; no requirement
for earmarking the reported data related to a particular election
campaign in the case of parties; mistakes in reports),
• unsatisfactory access to the data (on-line access to limited data, i.e.,
scans of reports listing donations, donors and expenditures, without
supporting documents) in Slovenia; access to reports and supporting
documents only by personal visit to the relevant electoral authority
office during very limited time periods, e.g. Tuesdays between 2 and
4 p.m., in Poland; data accessible only in three-four months after the
end of campaign.)
3 The monitoring of local government elections 2014 was held by three
organisations: the Institute of Public Affairs (Instytut Spraw Publicznych) in
Poland, the Institute for Public Affairs (Inštitút pre verejné otázky) in Slovakia, and
Transparency International Slovenia (in Slovenia). It involved: monitoring activities
in the field by volunteers, continuous media monitoring, and the analysis of the
financial reports of campaigning. In Poland, additionally several interviews were
held with representatives of electoral management bodies and financial proxies of
campaigning bodies.
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RECOMMENDATIONS: HOW TO IMPROVE
THE TRANSPARENCY OF LOCAL ELECTION FINANCES
4
ANALYSES&OPINIONS
As a response to the shared challenges which are highlighted above, a
set of recommendations was formulated for consideration by decision
and opinion makers in Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Bearing in mind
that the differing national contexts needs to be duly respected, the
recommendations are intended merely as general guideposts which may
inspire detailed measures adjusted to the specific conditions found on
country level.
The pre-campaign and the abuse of public resources for election campaign
purposes should be defined by law and penalized
The case of Slovakia
should be studied,
where in 2015 new
regulations regarding
the pre-campaign
came into force.
146_Analizy i opinie.indd 4
The occurrence of pre-campaign (i.e. promotion activities preceding
the official start of the electoral campaign) may take such forms as the
publication and promotion of a book written by the candidate, or the
organisation of and participation in public events – often using the same
visual identification as in the upcoming campaign. It is hard to stop in a
world of the “never-ending-campaign”, although it still generates serious
problems for the transparency of politics. It is also a very ambitious task to
develop solutions that would completely abolish this kind of practices. The
case of Slovakia should be studied, where in 2015 new regulations regarding
the pre-campaign came into force, although according to reports from the
last parliamentary elections it did not work well. The new law in Slovakia
defines an election campaign as any activity of political parties, candidates
and third parties for which “usually the requital is paid and which is seeking
to promote their performance, objectives and programmes with the purpose
to get the elected office” and extends the expenditure period to be reported
to cover three months preceding the official start of the campaign”. (In
Poland and Slovenia the expenditure reporting period equals the campaign
period).
Another phenomenon which needs attention is the use of public resources
for electoral purposes by incumbents which gives them advantage over
their rivals. Mayors and presidents seeking re-election usually increase
their activity as their term of office approaches its end, using their official
functions for election campaign purposes: give more interviews, organise
municipal events or public consultations, promote achievements of their
2016-05-04 10:30:24
tenure in publications issued by their municipalities. Measures should be
introduced to make the candidates separate their official functions from
campaign activities.
Electoral management bodies should have responsibilities and capacity
sufficient to take a proactive approach in their control activities.
Electoral
management
bodies should have
sufficient staff and
funding to perform
control activities
5
Better co-operation routines should be developed among state agencies
to enable quick reaction to law infringements
It is important that electoral management bodies are able to react quickly.
They should cooperate more closely with other state institutions that have
better possibilities to perform rapid actions (law enforcement agencies,
e.g., police). Law enforcement agencies should also have more staff that are
competent in legal solutions regarding political finance.
Electoral management bodies should provide advice and education to help
campaigning bodies comply with the standards
Electoral management bodies should not only react to irregularities or law
infringements in campaign finances but try to prevent them by information
and education activities. Providing advice and training to political parties
and election candidates on the applicable political funding regulations
Education might
reduce the number
of mistakes made by
candidates and their
proxies.
MARTA GAŁĄZKA TOWARDS MORE TRANSPARENCY IN FINANCING LOCAL POLITICS.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLAND, SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA
All competences on political finance in a given country should be
concentrated in one institution equipped with adequate human and
financial resources. It is a common recommendation by GRECO and
OSCE Poland,4 Slovakia5 and Slovenia6 that the independence of electoral
management bodies should be secured and that their responsibilities
should be extended and the necessary capacities in terms of staff and
funding should be secured.
In Poland and Slovenia bodies responsible for the oversight of electoral
campaign finance either lack the capacity to monitor the financial
integrity of the electoral process and limit their activity to checking expost whether the financial reports of campaigning bodies comply with
formal requirements and legal regulations (which is the case of the
National Electoral Commission in Poland), or are reluctant to use their
powers (Slovene Inspectorate of Internal Affairs did not launch an inquiry
concerning suspicious cases reported and documented by TI Slovenia, or
decided that the offences are minor, except for very few instances when it
issued warnings and imposed fines). If however, the control system is to be
effective, the penalties for breaking the rules concerning the financing of a
campaign should be more adequate and unavoidable.
4 Third Evaluation Round – Addendum to the Second Compliance Report on Po-
land, Strasbourg 2014; Republic of Poland, Parliamentary Elections, 25 October 2015,
OSCE/ODIHR Election Assessment Mission Report, Warsaw 2016.
5 GRECO Third Evaluation Round – Compliance Report on the Slovak Republic,
Strasbourg 2010; Slovak Republic Parliamentary Elections, 5 March 2016, OSCE/ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission Report, Warsaw 2016.
6 Republic Of Slovenia Early Elections Of The National Assembly 4 December 2011,
OSCE/ODIHR Election Assessment Mission Final Report, Warsaw 2012; GRECO Third
Evaluation Round Second Compliance Report on Slovenia, Strasbourg 2012.
146_Analizy i opinie.indd 5
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should be part of their responsibilities. That might reduce the number of
mistakes made by candidates and their proxies during a campaign and
reporting period. It would also create increased awareness of existing
provisions and their sense among candidates. It should be particularly
recommended before local elections when the vast majority of candidates
are non-partisan, local activists without great experience and knowledge of
the procedures.
Citizen oversight should be promoted through education and monitoring
opportunities
6
ANALYSES&OPINIONS
Citizens should be
more aware of the
rules in political
finance.
The strengthening of institutional supervision of political financing is not
enough to provide sufficient integrity in this field. The crucial element is
oversight by the public, which discourages parties and candidates from
breaking the rules and contributes to making electoral finance more fair
and transparent. In this way it not only helps to reduce the risk of political
corruption, but also to build public trust which, in the era of disappointment
with representative democracy, seems to be a rare and much sought of
good, especially in this part of Europe.
Apart from the work of state institutions, there is also a need to increase the
role of, encourage, and facilitate citizen oversight of political finance. First
of all, citizens should be more aware of the rules in political finance – there
is a need for education in this field. The knowledge on citizen oversight
of electoral processes should be incorporated in the system of citizen
education. Another, more operational issue, is that the law should provide
for more opportunities for citizens to monitor financing local politics and to
react if they observe cases of law infringements.
The law should also provide sufficient framework for action taking by the
electoral management body or other state control institutions in response
to citizen complaints.
In Poland there are provisions which formally enable some oversight by
citizens, but in practice they are not much help for non-governmental
organizations who undertake watchdog activities or would like to do so.
Only those foundations and associations whose tasks, as indicated in their
founding statutes, include control of political finances have the right to file
complaints related to the reports submitted by campaigning bodies, and
they have for that only 30 days from the report submission to the electoral
management body (which has 60 days to respond to the complaint).
Digital tools should be used to increase data accessibility, citizen oversight,
and campaign finance transparency
Finally, the universal recommendation for all countries taking part in the
monitoring is to increase transparency by using digital tools. Slovenia is the
most advanced in this regard, but even their solutions are not perfect, as they
do not guarantee full transparency of campaigning bodies’ expenditures. The
country uses a tool which makes CB’s reports available on-line – the reports
have to be submitted by CBs via the portal of the Agency of the Republic of
Slovenia for Public Legal Records and Related Services (AJPES), which can be
accessed by citizens. However the reports – which are made available only
four months after the elections - are scanned documents (listing donations,
donors and expenditures) in pdf format which do not allowing any data
146_Analizy i opinie.indd 6
2016-05-04 10:30:24
mining, and are not supplied with any supporting documents. While the
access to the data is easy, the scope of accessible data is limited.
Contemporary technical solutions may be very effective in increasing
transparency of campaign finance. To make them part of the system
relevant legal provisions should be introduced and adequate e-tools should
be developed and used by electoral management bodies. Parties and
campaigning bodies should disclose their revenues and expenditures in
greater detail, including the nature and value of individual (cash and in-kind)
donations and loans. Tools such as transparent bank accounts (which gives
the public a “live view” on a party or CB’s account) should be used, not only
during electoral campaigns but also in the everyday activities of political
parties. Data should be as open as possible – situations when important
data is attached in non-editable data format (e.g., jpg) should be avoided.
Contemporary
technical solutions
may be very effective
in increasing
transparency of
campaign finance.
7
MARTA GAŁĄZKA TOWARDS MORE TRANSPARENCY IN FINANCING LOCAL POLITICS.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLAND, SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA
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