“Clearly, the number of channels through which money may be poured into politics… makes political financing difficult to control as a practical matter… As soon as one channel of political money is blocked, other channels will be used to take its place.”[1]

Many of the values and principles that are important to election integrity are at stake in the area of political finance, particularly electoral campaign financing. The main issues include development of policy goals, adoption of a legal/regulatory framework, its implementation and enforcement, and definition of the public’s right to information. Political finance should be examined from the viewpoint of ethics, fairness, equity, accountability, transparency and accessibility—the same viewpoints generally followed to examine election integrity throughout the electoral process. Rigorous standards are especially necessary given the high visibility of campaign financing and its impact on public confidence in elections.

This section is divided into three main areas: Political Finance Policy, Political Finance Regulation and Political Finance Enforcement.

Political Finance Enforcement discusses the following issues:

• Clear Laws and Regulations;
• Establishment of Independent Political Finance Regulator;
• Oversight Powers of Political Finance Regulator in the areas of Disclosure, Audits and Investigations;
• Enforcement Powers of Political Finance Regulator in the areas of Material Incentives, Administrative and Civil and Criminal Sanctions.

The section is complemented by other sections, on Access to Information about Political Finance, and Regulating Party Financing in Parties and Candidates.