A/HRC/26/30 privately owned media and de facto government censorship of government-controlled media.48 B. Ensuring transparency 61. Critically, any regulatory framework pertaining to electoral processes must have as a key objective the achievement of transparency in all facets of political life and discourse. A transparent political process is open to scrutiny by the voters and the media, and enables all players in the process to be held accountable, from political candidates, to public broadcasters, to the electoral authorities. This is the most effective means of ensuring that opinions and ideas can be freely and fully expressed, communicated, debated and promoted during electoral processes. 1. Political financing 62. Transparency of political financing is a critical prerequisite for any effective democratic process, and a key means of ensuring the equitable protection of free expression rights. Political finance may come either from private financing, in the form of individual campaign contributions or contributions from the private sector, or from public financing, where the Government contributes. Increasingly, States are focusing on regulating political finance to ensure transparency and to attempt to achieve an equal playing field for political parties.49 There is a general regulatory trend towards the restriction of private financing and the prohibition of donations from foreign States or companies, public authorities and anonymous persons. This is particularly the case given the rise of third-party financing, where individuals, or more often groups or corporate entities, campaign for or against a political party to which they are ostensibly unrelated.50 Whereas third-party financing can be an important means for private sector groups or civil society organizations to promote their chosen candidates or parties, it can also make it difficult for the voting public to know what interests are exerting influence on particular political parties and candidates. 63. At the same time, many States are moving towards increased public funding for political parties to promote a level playing field and reduce dependence on private funding. In some countries this takes the form of a direct transfer of money without restrictions upon its use; in others public financing includes free access to specific State services such as transport, media or government property, or tax exemptions on contributions made to political parties.51 64. Transparency and accountability around political financing are key to ensuring the fairness and integrity of elections. The Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security identified the regulation of uncontrolled, undisclosed or opaque political finance as one of five major challenges that must be overcome to conduct elections with integrity.52 Increasingly, States are setting limits on how parties may spend their funds, in order to reduce the costs of elections and minimize the potential for undue influence of donors on 48 49 50 51 52 Guidelines for Election Broadcasting in Transitional Democracies (see footnote 46), p. 58. See Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “Transparency and integrity in political finance”, available from www.oecd.org/about/membersandpartners/publicaffairs/ Transparency%20and%20Integrity%20in%20Political%20Finance.pdf. Ibid. Ibid. See Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security “Deepening Democracy: A Strategy for Improving the Integrity of Elections Worldwide”, 2012 (see footnote 28). 17