58. IN PRACTICE: Have campaign finance reports submitted by political parties and/or candidates in the last election been made publicly available?

Source: OSCE/ODIHR (2016) Republic of Belarus, Parliamentary Elections, 11 September 2016. OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Report. OSCE/ODIHR, Warsaw

Source: OSCE/ODIHR (2015) Republic of Belarus, Presidential Elections, 11 October 2015. OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Report. OSCE/ODIHR, Warsaw

In the context of 2016 Parliamentary elections, the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission stated: "OECs, DECs and financial authorities were responsible to oversee compliance with campaign finance regulations. Banks were obliged to report to DECs on a weekly basis on campaign fund transactions, but this information was not always published, as required by law. Most candidates submitted their first financial reports to the DECs ten days prior to the elections and their second reports five days after the elections, as required by law. However, the law does not require these reports to be made public or to be audited, which limits the overall transparency and accountability of campaign finances and falls short of international obligations and good practice." (page 15)

In the context of 2015 Presidential elections, the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission stated: "As required by law, the CEC published information on total income and expenditures of candidates on its website on a weekly basis, and all candidates submitted financial reports to the CEC prior to the election. However, the reports were not comprehensive and the law does not require publishing of the reports nor of disaggregated income and expenditures of candidates. Candidates were required to submit their final financial reports within five days after election, and as of 13 November, no further update on income and expenditures was published on the CEC website." Also, the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission recommended "To increase the transparency and accountability and to enable voters to make an informed choice, the CEC could consider publishing comprehensive and disaggregated candidate reports on income and expenditures in a timely manner." (page 14)