Disclosure by parties of campaign expenditures (as distinct from combined routine and campaign costs) becomes necessary where, as in Canada, the national party organizations are subject to campaign spending limits. The difficulties at the local level in distinguishing between routine and campaign items are compounded when it comes to the central party organizations, see Election Campaigns and Spending Limits .
For example, the Canadian guidelines about election expenses include the following exclusions:
The party must not report those specific costs to produce an advertisement [e.g., raw film footage] which was not used during the election ... The cost of collecting and analyzing survey information is not an election expense as the activity does not result in the direct promotion of a party, its leader, candidates, members, programs or policies and therefore does not directly support the primary objectives of the party ...
Notwithstanding the importance of this process, the cost of policy research and formulation is not an election expense ...
Although [expenditures for party worker self-improvement and education] may put the party in a better position to promote itself ... such costs are not election expenses... Activities such as social functions generally ... are not considered to be election expenses.81
If a party's return of campaign expenses must include the expenses of organizations at the local as well as national levels, then the practical problems of drawing up the returns are increased. A further problem concerning expense returns by parties, as opposed to those by candidates, is that the most effective penalty available to punish individual candidates (the threat of losing his seat in the legislature) is not available when it comes to punishing whole parties. An alternative penalty is deregistration.
Draft Only
