Auditing of election campaign funds and expenditures

1. No later than 5 days after the announcement of the final election result, for every political party registered as electoral subject, or for candidates proposed by the voters, the CEC shall appoint by lot one or more certified accounting experts, selected in accordance with Article 92/7 of this law, to perform an audit of the funds received and spent for the electoral campaign. The audit report shall be submitted to the CEC by the deadline provided for in the appointment decision. The report may not include personal data of donors under the value provided for in points 2 and 3 of Article 92/2 of this law.

2. The electoral subjects specified in point 1 of this Article shall make available to the auditor appointed by the CEC all information, documents, or data that are related to funding and expenditures of the electoral campaign, in accordance with this law.

3. The electoral subjects that under audit shall make available all the information they have from the banks, institutions, or third parties related to the audit, or authorise the auditor to obtain such information from third parties. The CEC shall make available to the auditor the information it receives from third parties about the subject of audit, at each phase of the auditing process.

4. The CEC shall publish the audit reports for electoral subjects no later than 30 days from the date the report is submitted, or depending on the case, from the date the respective verifications are completed.

5. Failure of electoral subjects or donors to comply with the rules provided for in this chapter, when it does not constitute a criminal offence, shall constitute an administrative offence and shall be punishable in accordance with the provisions of Part XIII of this law.

6. The CEC shall have the right to directly verify electoral campaign income and expenditures of any political party registered as an electoral subject, or candidates proposed by voters, the audit report in accordance with point 1 of this Article, as well as any other information relevant to the subject matter that it becomes aware of. For the purpose of this Article, CEC shall have the right to request data, documents, or information from electoral subjects or third parties, who must respond to the CEC request within 15 days from its receipt. Failure to cooperate or refusal to cooperate, destruction of documents, delays or inappropriate behaviour during the verification process conducted by the CEC, shall be reported to the prosecutor’s office as a criminal offense, in accordance with Article 248 of the Criminal Code, and shall be administratively sanctioned by the CEC in compliance with Article 173 of this law.