It will be possible to cancel the registration of an electoral contestant or an initiative group if the amount transferred exceeds 1% of the ceiling of funds that can be allocated to the electoral fund or the initiative group. Amendments to this effect to the Electoral Code were voted by the Parliament in first reading. This, say the authors, will prevent financial abuse and illegal financing of electoral campaigns, IPN reports.

According to the draft, this regulation responds to the need to prevent financial abuses and to ensure that the sources of funding are within the legal limits, thus protecting fair and balanced competition between candidates.

“Exceeding the funding ceiling may signal the intention to gain an unfair advantage by using financial resources that have not been transparently declared or that may come from dubious sources. This could distort the electoral process and create an unlevel playing field for other electoral contestants,” say the authors of the draft, MPs from the Action and Solidarity Party.

According to the MPs, the introduction of a mechanism providing for de-registration in the event of exceeding the financial ceiling will allow strict control over the way financial resources are managed in the electoral campaign. Moreover, the new provisions will discourage attempts to manipulate the electoral process through excessive financial contributions, say the authors.

Currently, the Electoral Code stipulates that the general national ceiling of the financial means that can be transferred to the account labeled “Electoral Fund”/”For the initiative group” is 0.1% of the revenues provided for in the state budget law for the current year. For elections or referendums, the general ceiling of the amounts that may be transferred shall be set by decision of the Central Electoral Commission.

The draft law will be submitted to Parliament for a second reading. Once adopted, the legislative amendments will enter into force on the date of publication in the Official Journal.