Bill would make all party nominees liable for repaying campaign funds

All nominees fielded by a political party in election campaigns would be made liable for the repayment of campaign funds, under amendment proposals to the campaign finance and electoral laws submitted to parliament by ruling Fidesz.

Under Hungarian law, parties fielding a national list are entitled to state campaign funding. If the party fails to garner at least one percent of the vote in the election, it must repay the funding. In a November 2017 amendment to the campaign finance law, the leaders of political parties became personally liable for the repayment.

Under the bill submitted on Tuesday, parties which fail to account for campaign funding they received previously would not be eligible for new funding.

Another amendment proposal, also sponsored by Fidesz, aims to make voting easier for citizens by making the procedure more transparent.

According to the bill, campaign ads would have to carry an imprint bearing the name of the party that ordered the advertisement, except where the photo or name of the organisation or the candidate are clearly visible. Political ads may only be displayed with the written permission of the owner of the structure on which they are displayed, the proposal said. The name of the customer shall appear next to ads published in newspapers, it said.

Parties would have to submit the names of their candidates and their lists earlier, 37 and 36 days before the election, respectively, the proposal said.

Under the current law, those deadlines are tighter, which the sponsors said were too short for ballots sent by post to arrive.

Source: MTI