Congressional commissions have approved raising the campaign expenditure limit for parties in elections to 1.5 pesos (up from 1 pesos) per registered voter as well as require parties to maintain a single campaign account — currently they are allowed one per province (electoral district) — and increase the administrative control over campaign regulations. Clarin (in [...]

The campaign finance reforms introduced by the government now have a green light after the New Democrats ended their filibuster. The NDP wanted lower ceilings than the proposed $5000 contribution limits that they say advantaged the Tories. The NDP wanted a stay on the legislation to allow public debate and influence on the legislation, which [...]

EU monitors that oversaw the elections in Mexico this past July called the elections fair and transparent, but too expensive (more, in spanish). Elections in Mexico are notoriously expensive, in part a result of the PRI’s extensive use of state resources during campaigns pre-1997 (during their long single-party control of the state) and the gradual [...]

In the middle of the cash for honors scandal that is plaguing Blair’s party, Labour faces new problems regarding its fundraising and debt-paying practices – they have been requiring councillors to pay part of their publicly-funded stipend to the party to help pay off debts. Councillors of Labour and other parties have been required to [...]

For spending beyond the limits prescribed by law, the TSE (Tribunal Supremo Electoral) froze the accounts of both aspirants in the runoff election (held this Sunday, November 26) for Ecuador’s presidency. The accounts of both candidates were frozen on Friday after the TSE found that Alvaro Noboa, the rightwing candidate, and Rafael Correa, the leftist, had [...]

The campaign finance reform statute that received the support of a majority of voters in Oregon two weeks ago remains unconstitutional in its entirety, says the electoral commissioner. But, the initiative is not dead yet – supporters say that the parts of the measure that do not conflict with the state constitution should become law. [...]

The New Democrats are filibustering the reforms introduced by the government in Nova Scotia (see previous post). The limits may end up lower when all is said and done. From CBC news:
But the New Democrats say the bill benefits the governing Conservatives more than other parties, because of the large number of donations between $1,000 [...]

Yesterday in Nova Scotia, the ruling Tories introduced legislation that puts restrictions on political donations and introduces public funding for political parties. The legislation puts a cap on donations at $5000 per donor per party per year, encourages political donations under $1000 with a 75% tax credit (raising the maximum tax credit from $500), and pays the political parties [...]

The Center for Responsive Politics reports that “in 93 percent of House of Representatives races and 67 percent of Senate races that had been decided by mid-day Nov. 9, the candidate who spent the most money won,” based on spending through October 18th (spending in the final 3 weeks of the campaign are not yet [...]

New intrigue is surrounding the “cash for honors” allegations in the UK – the investigator John Yates has remarked that information gained by his inquiry is now leading him to take further steps, taken to mean that he will interview Prime Minister Blair. Yates also says that progress has been made in the investigation, which [...]

In the past two weeks, two sets of campaign finance irregularies have surfaced in connection with the Chiledeportes (sports’ ministry) scandal. The first involves the problems with Chiledeportes – that there were irregularities detected with the funding of at least 77 projects and that these were concentrated in the last three months of 2005 – [...]

Since politicians are often loathe to reform many campaign finance laws – especially those that may give their challengers any help they may not otherwise enjoy, such as direct or indirect subsidies to fund campaigns – ballot initiatives or referenda can be a useful vehicle for campaign finance reform. However, the use of direct democracy [...]

In yesterday’s midterm congressional elections, California voters rejected by a wide margin a ballot proposition that would have overhauled electoral finance in the state. By a 3:1 margin California voters chose not to pass the initiative that would have 1) provided state funding for political campaigns for each candidate that raised a requisite number of [...]

A fitting day to launch ElectionFinance.net! Today the United States holds close-fought midterm elections in which the Democrats look poised to take the US House of Representatives and possibly even the Senate. The election was the most-expensive Congressional race in history and the second election (2004 being the first) under the new regulatory system ushered [...]