IV. Formation of parties and limits to illegal expenditure and vote buying

Illegal expenditure and vote buying

As mentioned in the Guidelines on Political Party Regulation, “[i]t is reasonable for a state to determine a maximum spending limit for parties in elections in order to achieve the legitimate aim of securing equality between candidates. […] The maximum spending limit usually consists in an absolute sum or a relative sum determined by factors such as the voting population in a particular constituency and the costs for campaign materials and services.” However, in case the authorities indeed choose to dispose entirely of the idea of specific election campaign spending limits, it may be considered to introduce an annual spending limit, for political parties and in this case, clarify that election campaign spending would come within the ambit of this limit.