Campaign finance contributions – an overview
THE EMERGING wisdom on campaign financing is that there is no perfect or permanent legislation that can be formulated. Whatever measures are put in place, efforts will be made to circumvent them and to find loopholes. The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) must therefore be vigilant in carrying out its functions to achieve strict compliance with the law and recommend amendments of the law as are deemed necessary.
Here is an overview of what is campaign financing and what it entails.
WHAT IS A CONTRIBUTION?
A contribution is any donation or gift of money (whether wholly or in part) or non-monetary resources (goods, services, or use of facilities or equipment), or any loan of funds that is made or provided to a candidate or political party for the purpose of supporting or opposing the candidature of another person or for the purpose of influencing an election.
SOURCES AND AMOUNTS OF CONTRIBUTIONS/DONATIONS
The law stipulates that contributions/donations can be made by or from:
a) Legal entities, (e.g., companies) and natural persons.
i) Contributors may contribute a maximum of $1.5 million to each candidate and up to $31.5 million to a registered political party.
b) The Government may, where monies have been appropriated for campaign financing in the approved Estimates of Expenditure for the current financial year, provide funding for the reimbursement of election expenses incurred by:
(i) the candidates of a registered political party which meets the requirements of Section 12 and Part VB of the Representation of the People Act; and
(ii) An independent candidate, who has received at least five percent of the votes cast in the election.
(iii) Funding shall be disbursed to a candidate, upon certification by –
a) the director, that the candidate is in compliance with the provisions of the Campaign Financing Law; and
b) the political ombudsman, that the candidate is in compliance with the Political Code of Conduct for elections.
iv) A candidate may elect, by notice in writing to the commission, not to receive funding.
c) The National Election Campaign Fund is empowered to accept and receive contributions from: i) individuals; ii) companies and other entities; and iii) Jamaican diaspora groups; The director of elections is responsible for the management and administration of the National Election Campaign Fund. All monies forming part of the fund shall be paid or transferred by the political party into a bank in Jamaica.
IMPERMISSIBLE DONORS
In order to minimise or regulate influence peddling, as well as obviate the possibility of the State and its policies being hijacked and dictated to by narrow interest groups, the following are banned from making contributions/ donations to campaigns for political office:
a) any foreign or Commonwealth government, or any agent of such government, whether directly or indirectly;
b) a public body as defined in Section 2 of the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act;
c) an entity whose existence is, or activities are, illegal under any law;
d) a person or an entity whose identity is not disclosed to the recipient of the contribution;
e) a person or an entity who makes the contribution through an intermediary; and
f) a person who, or an entity which, uses a false identity in making the contribution.
HOW ARE CONTRIBUTIONS REGULATED?
There are several methods used to regulate contributions. They include the following:
• Political parties and candidates must declare to the ECJ all contributions of $250,000 or more.
• Any government contracts valued at $500,000 or more, which have been entered into up to two years prior or after a contribution is made, must be declared to the ECJ.
• Individuals or entities who currently hold government contracts must declare any contribution to the ECJ no later than 14 days of making the contribution.
• Individuals or entities who are awarded government contracts after making a contribution must declare same to the ECJ within 14 days of entering into the contract.
• Any contribution/donation made by a contributor/donor must be accompanied by a declaration to the candidate or political party stating the full name, address, occupation or nature of business, and that the donor qualifies to make a donation under the regulations. A person, whether legal or natural, who knowingly, or recklessly, makes a false declaration commits an offence.
• A political party, or a candidate, shall not accept any contribution/ donation from an impermissible donor.
• Where a political party or a candidate receives a contribution/ donation from an impermissible donor, the donation or an equivalent amount must be returned within 30 days.
• A person who knowingly makes a contribution/donation to a candidate or political party which includes a contribution from an impermissible donor shall commit an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction in a Parish Court to a fine not exceeding three million dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months.
• Any contribution/donation received whose donor is anonymous or unidentifiable shall:
(a) if the donor has used a facility provided by an identifiable financial institution, be returned to that financial institution; or, otherwise,
(b) be sent to the accountant general for lodgement to the Consolidated Fund.
• A contribution/donation is accepted by a candidate if it is received and retained by the candidate for the purposes of his or her campaign activities and cannot be used for personal, family or business expenses.
• Where in relation to a political party or a candidate:
(a) money is lent otherwise than on commercial terms; or
(b) any property, services or facilities are provided otherwise than on commercial terms, the value of the donation shall be taken to be the amount representing the difference between the actual cost and the cost that would have been incurred by the political party, or the candidate, as the case may be, had the loan been made, or the property, services or facilities been provided on commercial terms.
• Every political party and each candidate shall submit separately to the Electoral Commission during a campaign period expenditure reports of contributions/donations (by the registered party), and final disclosure reports (by candidates and political parties) giving all such details in respect of each donor as may be required by the Electoral Commission.
• A candidate contesting an election shall, within six weeks of election day, submit to the Electoral Commission a consolidated report, in the prescribed form, detailing all contributions/donations received within the campaign period.