Auditors from the BNAO and European exchanged experience in the audit of political financing, its control and electoral systems

How to effectively fight corruption from the perspective of the best practices in the audit of political parties and election campaigns – this was the theme of the seminar where auditors from the Bulgarian National Audit Office and leading European experts in this field met to exchange experience in the audit of political financing, its control and electoral systems. The event took place on 20 and 21 October 2022 with the support of the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives.

“In our audits, we come across indications of fraud and suspected crimes and we are constantly looking for effective countermeasures. Over the years, we have developed the skills and capabilities to carry out high quality audits of the financing of political parties and election campaigns – a field, which is not typical for a SAI’s audit activity. For a long time, SAIs were also on the sidelines of the topic of corruption, which is within the realm of other relevant bodies, but this perception came to be reconsidered.” Those were the words of the BNAO President Tzvetan Tzvetkov who wished auditors to have the courage to fight corrupt practices, which they encounter in the course of their audits, by applying the audit methodology with due care and by staying alert to suspected infringements and frauds.

Mr. Chad Vickery, Vice President of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, welcomed the participants by video conference.

Mr. Tzvetomir Todorov – legal adviser at the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives – talked about the various definitions of corruption and the need for a common concept in Bulgaria, as well as the legal and societal aspects of this offence.

Dr. Magnus Öhman – Director of the Regional Europe Office at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, who has international experience in support of initiatives for political financing in more than 45 countries, discussed the comparative aspects of the institutional powers related to the misuse of public resources for political purposes. He gave a formulation of the various types of legislative measures to counter the misuse of public resources, as well as examples of their application in some European countries. He stressed that the strong and effective oversight institutions, which enjoy sufficient powers, are paramount for exercising control and audit of the spending of public funds.

Ms. Barbara Stonestreet – political finance expert at the French National Commission on Elections and Political Financing – talked about political financing as a cash flow cycle and its main elements, the international standards, as well as the various approaches and best practices in the area of accountability of the finances of political entities.

Individual examples of political finances reporting thresholds in some European countries were discussed – donation limits, reporting thresholds, deadlines, etc., as well as the maintenance of electronic systems for reporting and disclosing of incomes and expenditures of political parties and political candidates.

The two international experts gave examples from Europe and the world of the various types of supervisory institutions for prevention and reduction of the misuse of public funds, particularly in the fiend of political financing, and discussed their strengths and weaknesses. It was emphasized that for this process to be effective, timely reporting of political entities and election campaigns to the supervisory bodies must be ensured, as well as the publicity and transparency of their reports and finances to the general public.

During the second day, two discussions were held. The first one dealt with the legal and practical challenges in reporting of election campaigns of nomination committees and party coalitions, which was moderated by Dr. Teodor Slavev from the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives. The second one focused on the Guidelines on the Application of the International Auditing Standards and the Audit Activity of the Bulgarian National Audit Office in the part concerning the identification and reporting of data (indicators) for frauds.