Monitoring Election Campaign Finance: a Handbook for NGOs

Background

The financing of political parties has become an issue of growing concern in advanced democracies and elsewhere, with political actors regularly accused of abusing electoral rules for political gain. Monitoring of the sources and spending of political party funds has become an important means for civil society to assess and contribute to the quality of democratic processes.

Objectives

The Justice Initiative seeks to promote a “multi-dimensional” approach that allows NGOs to monitor campaign financing in a way that best reflects their own objectives and national circumstances. The methodology provides guidance on monitoring both sources of income—to the extent that existing disclosure requirements permit—and context-specific expenditure.

Activities

The Justice Initiative has detailed its party and campaign finance monitoring in a practical Handbook that is now available in both printed and electronic format. Further, it will be disseminated through regional workshops and in-country monitoring projects in cooperation with local partners.

For reports on case studies monitoring political finance during elections in Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine, click here.

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