State or Public Funding
Electoral events are a core function of a democratic state. The state thus remains the primary source of funding for the core costs of most EMBs. The electoral budget forms part of the consolidated annual national budget, yet different models of EMBs may receive their funding by different methods and routes from the budget.
Method of Disbursing State Funding
Funding for many EMBs under the Independent Model, for example in Albania, Ghana and Kosovo, is a separate line item in the national budget, released directly to the EMB by the treasury. For others, the EMB budget is released through a government ministry.
Budgets for EMBs under the Governmental Model are usually part of the budget of the government ministry responsible for implementing electoral processes, as in Cook Islands, Denmark and Singapore. Where the Mixed Model is used, the budget of the component independent EMB may be channelled through a line ministry, such as the Ministry of the Interior in France.
Integrated or Distributed Electoral Budgets
An electoral budget may be a single integrated item in the national budget, or may consist of many components that are spread across the budgets of various government agencies. National, regional and local governments’ budgets may each provide funds to EMBs. In the unitary state of Indonesia, the national budget fully funds the EMB to conduct presidential elections and elections to national and regional legislatures, but regional and local authorities provide most of the funding for elections for provincial governors and local mayors. Such arrangements are more common in federal states. Funding for the EMB in Bosnia and Herzegovina is provided by all four levels of government; their respective shares vary according to the type of elections being held. In India and Mexico, the national government funds the EMB to conduct national elections, but regional governments contribute funds when their elections coincide with national ones. In the UK, the costs of elections are funded by local authorities and reimbursed by the central government according to fixed scales.
