Electoral Financing for Candidates and Third Parties Supervisor of - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Electoral Financing for Candidates and Third Parties

Supervisor of Political Financing 2 0 1 4

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Training outcom es

1 . I m portant docum ents 2 . Scope of Political Process Financing Act 3 . Principles of political financing 4 . Roles of cam paign team m em bers 5 . Electoral activities: phases and rules 6 . Election advertising by third parties

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1 . I m portant docum ents

• Political Process Financing Act ( PPFA)
• Electoral Financing Overview ( P 0 4 9 4 5)
• Electoral Advertising I nform ation and

Guidelines ( P 0 4 9 4 3 )

• Guidelines I ssued by the Supervisor of

Political Financing ( P 0 4 9 4 1)

• Electoral Financial Return for Candidate

( P 0 4 9 0 1)

• I nstructions to Official Agent for

Com pleting the Electoral Financial Return for Candidate ( P 0 4 9 0 2)

w w w .electionsnb.ca

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2 . Scope of the Political Process Financing Act

• PPFA governs financial activities of:
• Registered political parties
• Registered district associations
• Nom ination contenders
• Candidates
• Official candidates of registered political parties
• Registered independent candidates
• Third parties

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3 . Principles of political financing for elections

• Lim its on political contributions
• Lim its on “pre-w rit” advertising
• Lim its on election expenses
• Public funding to reim burse election

expenses

• Public disclosure of electoral finances

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3 . Principles ( Cont.)

• Lim its on political contributions
• No difference in contribution rules and

lim its in an election year or election period

• Rules establish:
• Definition of “contribution”
• Recipient and contributor eligibility
• Acceptable m eans of raising funds
• Annual lim it of $ 6 ,0 0 0 per political party and

district associations

• Public disclosure of contributor if total > $ 1 0 0
• Receipts issued by political party
• N.B. incom e tax credit up to $ 5 0 0

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3 . Principles ( Cont.)

• Lim its on “pre-w rit” advertising
• Subject to $ 2 ,0 0 0 annual advertising lim it
• f candidate’s registered district

association ( RDA)

• $ 3 5 ,0 0 0 annual advertising lim it for registered

political parties

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3 . Principles ( Cont.)

• Lim its on election expenses
• Definition of election expenses: PPFA, s.6 7
• “Election expenses” m eans all expenditures

incurred during an election period for the purpose of prom oting or opposing directly or indirectly, the election of a candidate or that of the candidates of a party, including every person w ho subsequently becom es or w ho is likely to becom e a candidate, and includes all expenditures incurred before an election period for literature, objects or m aterials of an advertising nature used during the election period for such purposes

• I ncludes contributions of property

and services to a cam paign

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3 . Principles ( Cont.)

• Lim its on election expenses ( cont.)
• Calculation
• Num ber of registered electors in electoral

district m ultiplied by inflation-adjusted rate per elector

• 2 0 1 4 Estim ated Election Expenses Lim it
• 1 1 ,2 6 9 electors X $ 3 .3 0 / elector = $ 3 7 ,1 8 8
• w w w .electionsnb.ca

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3 . Principles ( Cont.)

• Public funding to reim burse election

expenses

• Criteria to receive reim bursem ent of

election expenses

• Candidate declared elected
• Candidates receiving 1 5 % of vote in their

respective electoral districts

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3 . Principles ( Cont.)

• Public funding to reim burse election

expenses ( cont.)

• Calculation of reim bursem ent
• Candidate’s election expenses ( less contributed

property and services) up to a m axim um

• Maxim um = num ber of registered electors in

electoral district m ultiplied by defined rate per elector

• 2 0 1 4 estim ated m axim um reim bursem ent
• 1 1 ,2 6 9 electors X $ 1 .3 1 / elector

= $ 1 4 ,7 6 2

• w w w .electionsnb.ca

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3 . Principles ( Cont.)

• Public disclosure of electoral finances
• Electoral Financial Return for Candidate

subm itted by official agent

• Exam ined by Supervisor
• Available for public exam ination

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4 . Roles of cam paign team m em bers

4 .1 Candidate 4 .2 Official representative of registered district association 4 .3 Official agent of candidate 4 .4 Cam paign m anager 4 .5 Registered independent candidate

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4 . Cam paign team roles ( Cont.)

4 .1 Candidate

• Does not m anage electoral finances
• May be authorized to collect contributions
• r incur election expenses, but not

recom m ended

• Nom ination paper accom panied by $ 1 0 0

deposit

• Refunded upon filing Electoral Financial Return

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4 . Cam paign team roles ( Cont.)

4 .2 Official representative of registered district association ( RDA)

• Arrange financing for cam paign
• Contributions and fund-raising events
• Loans and guarantors
• Consider reim bursem ent of election expenses
• Transfer funds to official agent
• Authorize non-election expenditures
• Pre-w rit advertising
• Joint non-election and electoral item s
• Ensure com pliance w ith legislation
• See Electoral Financing Overview

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4 . Cam paign team roles ( Cont.)

4 .3 Official agent of candidate

• Appointm ent
• By chief agent of Party; confirm ed by candidate
• Manage spending of election funds
• Prepare or approve budget w ithin spending lim it
• Authorize and identify all election expenses
• Open bank account
• I f offered, m ake use of Party’s sim plified m ethod
• Subm it Electoral Financial Return for Candidate
• Collect reim bursem ent, pay bills, & close account
• Ensure com pliance w ith leg’n
• See Electoral Financing Overview

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4 . Cam paign team roles ( Cont.)

4 .4 Cam paign m anager

• Role not specified in legislation
• Must understand and respect roles and

responsibilities of official representative and official agent and collaborate w ith them

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4 . Cam paign team roles ( Cont.)

4 .5 Registered independent candidate

• Must register w ith Chief Electoral Officer

prior to public presentation as candidate

• Appoint official representative
• Sam e responsibilities as for RDAs
• I ssue receipts acknow ledging contributions
• Appoint official agent
• Sam e responsibilities as for other candidates
• Generally, sam e person fills both roles
• Sam e rules as other candidates

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5 . Electoral activities: phases and rules

5 .1 Pre-nom ination 5 .2 Pre-w rit 5 .3 Election period 5 .4 Post-election A handy sum m ary: Electoral Advertising I nform ation and Guidelines, Appendix B

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5 .1 Pre-nom ination activities

• Nom ination contenders
• No lim its on donations
• No lim its on expenses
• Report any surplus to Supervisor
• Advertising should focus on nom ination
• Applies equally to incum bent MLAs
• I f nom inating convention held during

election period, successful contender’s costs > $ 1 0 0 0 deem ed to be election expenses

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5 .2 Pre-w rit activities

• Nom inated candidate
• Nom inated candidate and RDA becom e

entw ined follow ing nom ination

• Candidate m ay be authorized by official

representative to:

• Solicit contributions and incur non-election

expenditures: not recom m ended

• I ncur his or her ow n reasonable travel expenses,

if to be reim bursed by RDA

• I f no expectation of reim bursem ent, no prior

authorization needed

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5 .2 Pre-w rit activities ( Cont.)

• Official representative of RDA
• Authorize all solicitation of contributions

and organizing of fund-raising events

• Authorize all non-election expenditures
• Pre-w rit advertising prom oting candidate
• No identification disclosures nor tagline required
• Subject to $ 2 ,0 0 0 annual advertising lim it of RDA
• Other election-related costs: no lim its
• Nom inating convention
• Travel expenses of candidate
• Candidate's w ebsite
• Cam paign office set-up

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5 .2 Pre-w rit activities ( Cont.)

• Official agent of candidate
• Prepare or approve cam paign budget
• Based on estim ated election expenses lim it and

funds available from RDA

• Open electoral bank account
• Party m ay offer sim plified m ethod
• Authorize election expenses
• Order advertising to be used during election
• Collaborate w ith official representative on joint

pre-w rit and election-period item s

• Signage, hand-outs, door-knockers, etc.
• Candidate’s w ebsite
• Cam paign office rent and set-up costs

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5 .2 Pre-w rit activities ( Cont.)

• Official agent of candidate ( cont.)
• Candidate’s w ebsite
• Generally, not considered to be advertising
• Not subject to $ 2 ,0 0 0 pre-w rit advertising lim it
• Purchased advertisem ents are considered to be

advertising; e.g. W eb banners, Facebook, Google, etc.

• Subject to $ 2 ,0 0 0 annual advertising lim it
• No disclosure requirem ents until election period begins

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5 .2 Pre-w rit activities ( Cont.)

• Official agent of candidate ( cont.)
• MLA’s com m unications w ith constituents*
• Non-partisan in nature
• MLA’s Constituency Office*
• May never be used for partisan political activity
• May not be used for cam paign office
• Must be closed during election period

* Orientation Manual 2 0 1 0 , Legislative Adm inistration Com m ittee, Legislative Assem bly of New Brunsw ick

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5 .3 Election-period activities

5 .3 .1 ENB publishes election expenses lim its 5 .3 .2 Official representative supplies funding 5 .3 .3 Official agent m anages election expenses 5 .3 .4 I dentification required on advertising 5 .3 .5 Advertisem ents used pre-w rit and during election period 5 .3 .6 Signs used in previous elections 5 .3 .7 Vandalized, stolen, or destroyed signs 5 .3 .8 Placem ent of signs 5 .3 .9 Advertising prohibitions

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5 .3 .1 ENB publishes election expenses lim its

• Spending lim its based on Prelim inary List
• f Electors
• Prepared upon issuing of w rits of election
• Historical m odification of “election

period” for political financing purposes

• From issue of w rits of election until close
• f polls on Election Day

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5 .3 .2 Official representative of RDA supplies funding

• Transfer funds to official agent to finance

election cam paign

• I dentify and determ ine retail value of

contributions of property and services to cam paign ( “donations in kind”)

• Advise official agent of joint-use item s to

be reim bursed to RDA as election expenses

• Direct costs of fund-raising events held

during election period

• Office rent prorated, phones, etc.

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5 .3 .3 Official agent m anages election expenses

• Authorizes all election expenses
• May delegate authorization to incur
• Expenses incurred by candidate
• Ow n lodging, food, and transportation
• I f reim bursed, election expenses
• I f not reim bursed, not election expenses
• $ 2 ,0 0 0 non-travel personal expenses
• Reim burse electoral portion of joint item s
• Hand-outs, door-knockers, etc.
• Office rent, phones, etc.

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5 .3 .3 Official agent m anages election expenses ( Cont.)

• Volunteer labour
• “The donation by an individual of his

personal services, talents or expertise, or the use of his vehicle and the product of that donation, w here it is given freely and not as part of his w ork in the service of an em ployer,” is not considered a contribution nor an election expense

• Other property and services donated “in

kind” are election expenses

• $ 1 0 0 exem ption

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5 .3 .4 I dentification disclosure in or on all advertisem ents

• PPFA, section 7 3
• Bear the nam e of the candidate on w hose

behalf it w as ordered

• I f printed advertisem ents, include nam e

and address of printer

• Tagline m ay be helpful
• “Ordered on behalf of John Doe”
• Sim ilar disclosures for political parties

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5 .3 .5 Advertisem ents used pre- w rit and during election period

• Must m eet identification disclosure

requirem ents during election period

• Official agent
• Reim burse official representative for cost
• f advertisem ents
• Signage reim bursed at full cost
• Door-knockers, hand-bills, brochures, etc. m ay

be based upon quantities distributed pre-w rit and election-period

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5 .3 .6 Signs used in previous elections

• Previously-used signs assigned current

retail value of sim ilar, new signs

• Determ ined by official representative
• Official agent to reim burse RDA
• I nclude w ith election advertising expense

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5 .3 .7 Vandalized, stolen, or destroyed signs

• Replacem ent costs do not constitute

election expenses

• Official agent requests exem ption from

Supervisor

• See Electoral Advertising I nform ation and

Guidelines

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5 .3 .8 Placem ent of signs

• Certain restrictions on highw ay signs
• Departm ent of Transportation and

I nfrastructure

• Municipalities
• NB Pow er
• Bell Aliant

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5 .3 .9 Advertising prohibitions

• Election Day and Sunday preceding it:

“the blackout period”

• Radio and TV; new spapers and m agazines;

unsolicited electronic com m unications

• Facebook and Tw itter perm itted
• From any m oving vehicle on Election Day
• Parked vehicles m ay bear advertising
• W ithin 3 0 m etres of a regular or advance

polling station

• No restriction on locating a cam paign
• ffice near a returning office

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5 .4 Post-election activities

• Candidate
• Advise official agent of:
• Lodging, food, and transportation expenses for

reim bursem ent

• Non-travel personal election expenses up to

$ 2 ,0 0 0

• Other election expenses incurred by candidate
• Official Representative
• Celebrations after close of polls
• Not election expenses
• Report all non-election expenditures in

Annual Financial Return of RDA

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5 .4 Post-election activities ( Cont.)

• Official Agent
• Reim burse candidate and RDA for election

expenses

• Subm it Electoral Financial Return to ENB
• Receive election expenses reim bursem ent

from Supervisor, if eligible

• Pay all liabilities
• Disburse excess funds
• Close electoral bank account
• Subm it bank statem ents to ENB

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6 . Election advertising by third parties

• PPFA provisions since 2 0 1 0
• Definition of “third party”
• a person or group other than a registered

political party, a registered district association or a candidate. A “group” m eans a group of persons acting together by m utual consent for a com m on purpose, and includes a trade union.

• Exam ples of 2 0 1 0 election advertising on

follow ing slides

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2 0 1 0 election advertising

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2 0 1 0 election advertising

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2 0 1 0 election advertising

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2 0 1 0 election advertising

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2 0 1 0 election advertising

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6 . Election advertising by third parties ( Cont.)

• “Election advertising” m eans

“a m essage transm itted to the public by any m eans during a cam paign period that prom otes or opposes a registered political party or the election of a candidate or takes a position on an issue w ith w hich a registered political party or a candidate is associated….”

• Unrestricted advertising outside the

cam paign period

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6 . Election advertising by third parties ( Cont.)

• “Election advertising” does not include:

a) An editorial, debate, speech…or new s b) Distribution or prom otion of a book if it w as planned irrespective of the election c) The transm ission of a docum ent directly by a person or a group to its m em bers, em ployees or shareholders d) The transm ission by an individual, on a non-com m ercial basis, of his or her personal political view s via the I nternet

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6 . Election advertising by third parties ( Cont.)

• Advertising identification required
• For any third party w ho advertises during

cam paign period, not just those registered

• I ncluding individual law n signs
• Authorization and identification

inform ation

• Nam e of third party
• Nam e of person responsible for books and

records and telephone num ber or address

• Taglines: see Electoral Advertising

I nform ation and Guidelines

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6 . Election advertising by third parties ( Cont.)

• Third party shall register w ith ENB

im m ediately after incurring election advertising expenses exceeding $ 5 0 0 in total

• May register in advance

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6 . Election advertising by third parties ( Cont.)

• Election advertising contributions
• Eligible contributors
• I ndividuals ordinarily resident in N.B.
• Corporations
• Trade unions
• No lim its, but not eligible for provincial

incom e-tax credit

• Disclose contributions received six m onths

prior to registration

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6 . Election advertising by third parties ( Cont.)

• Chief Financial Officer appointed prior to

registration

• Responsibilities:
• Ensuring com pliance w ith legislation
• Accepting election advertising

contributions

• Authorizing election advertising expenses
• Maintaining books and records
• Filing required reports w ith the Supervisor

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6 . Election advertising by third parties ( Cont.)

• Spending lim its for general election
• Province-w ide lim it
• 1 .3 % of election expenses lim it of a registered

political party

• Lim it relating to a single electoral district
• 1 0 % of province-w ide lim it
• 2 0 1 4 estim ated lim its
• $ 1 ,0 4 3 ,6 2 2 political party X 1 .3 % = $ 1 3 ,5 6 7
• $ 1 3 ,5 6 7 X 1 0 % = $ 1 ,3 5 7
• w w w .electionsnb.ca

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6 . Election advertising by third parties ( Cont.)

• Spending lim it for by-election
• Lim it calculated for that electoral district

for m ost recent general election

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6 . Election advertising by third parties ( Cont.)

• No circum vention of Act
• No collusion w ith political entities
• Publicly-accessible registry and financial

reports

• Serious offences
• Fines betw een $ 5 0 0 and $ 2 0 ,5 0 0
• Jail term s not m ore than 1 8 0 days
• One prosecution follow ed 2 0 1 0 election

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Recap of training outcom es

• Gain understanding of:
• I m portant docum ents
• Scope of Political Process Financing Act
• Principles of political financing
• Roles of cam paign team m em bers
• Electoral activities: phases and rules
• Election advertising by third parties

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I nform ation and assistance

• Political party
• Chief agent, official representative, or

financial officer

• Elections New Brunsw ick
• Nathan Phillips, CA, Assistant Supervisor
• f Political Financing
• 5 0 6 -4 5 3 -2 2 1 8
• 1 -8 0 0 -3 0 8 -2 9 2 2
• nathan.phillips@electionsnb.ca