Chapter 15
FINANCING OF THE ELECTIONS
Article 150
1. Expenditures related to the organization of the preparation and conduct of the election shall be covered by the State Budget.
2. The State Budget shall cover expenditures related to:
1) the duties of the National Electoral Commission and of the National Electoral Office, as provided by statute;
2) the duties of electoral commissions of subordinate level, and ensuring provision of services to them by organs and organizational units assigned for those purposes;
3) election duties of principal organs of the state administration and subordinate central offices and organizational units, and also of other state organs;
4) election duties ascribed to communes;
5) broadcast without payment by the Polish Television and the Polish Radio of election programmes of election committees, pursuant to the provisions of Article 142;
6) entitlement by election committees to obtain subsidies pursuant to the provisions of Article 155.
3. Information on expenditures referred to in para. 2 shall be announced by the Head of the National Electoral Office within 5 months of the election day.
4. Each year, the State Budget shall provide financial resources for the operation of the National Electoral Commission, the National Electoral Office and for the maintenance and updating of the permanent register of voters in the commune by heads of the commune or mayors (presidents of towns).
5. The rules of financial planning of the expenditures referred to in paras. 2 and 4 and of their execution shall be determined by budgetary provisions.
Article 151
The expenses of election committees related to elections shall be met from their own resources.
Article 152
1. Election committees may organize the raising of funds for election purposes, in the manner and according to rules specified by the provisions on public collections.
2. No permit is required for the organization of a public collection.
Article 153
1. Election committees cannot accept for election purposes funds derived from:
1) the State Budget, with the exception of cases referred to in Article 155;
2) state organizational units;
3) the budget of local-government units, municipal unions and other municipal legal persons, and self-government councils;
4) state-owned enterprises, and also businesses in which the State Treasury participates, local-government units, municipal unions and other municipal legal persons;
5) subjects receiving the subventions of the State Treasury;
6) foreign persons, within the meaning of the provisions of foreign exchange law.
2. The provisions of para. 1 shall apply as appropriate to non-cash assets.
Article 154
1. The financing of election committees' participation in elections shall be public.
2. Any election committee whose constituency list has been registered, shall draw up a financial report on the sources of funds received, and in particular, on any bankers' credit obtained, terms of that credit, and on donations exceeding the equivalent of the ten-fold average monthly wages in six main sectors of material production, and also on the expenditures for election purposes.
3. The National Electoral Commission, in agreement with the Minister of Finance, shall establish a specimen for such financial report and the detailed scope of information to be included therein.
4. Financial reports shall be announced, in a daily newspaper with nationwide circulation, by election committees within 3 months of the election day. The election committee shall notify in writing the National Electoral Commission about announcing of the report.
5. Agents of election committees set up by voters shall retain documents concerning the financing of electoral campaign for a period of 12 months after the election day.
Article 155
1. An election committee, which satisfies the requirements referred to in Article 154, paras. 2 and 4, shall have the right to subsidies from the State Budget.
2. The total amount of subsidies referred to in para. 1 shall account for 20 per cent of the sum of expenditures estimated in the State Budget in relation to organization of preparation for the election and conduct thereof, and shall be apportioned to:
(1) election committees of political parties,
(2) other election committees,
in shares resulting from dividing the amount of this subsidy by 560 and multiplying it by the number of seats of Deputies and Senators obtained, respectively, by all election committees of political parties and other election committees.
3. The subsidy for an election committee, subject to the reservation contained in para. 4, shall be calculated by dividing the amount of subsidies apportioned to all election committees, referred to in para. 2 subpara. 2, by the number of Deputies and Senators elected from candidates nominated by theses committees and multiplying the quotient by the number of Deputies elected to the Sejm from the lists of that election committee.
4. The principles and procedure for calculation of subsidies for an election committee of a political party, referred to in para. 2, subpara 1, and their transfer, shall be specified by separate provisions.
5. Transfer of the subsidy to a bank account indicated by the election committee shall be made by the Minister of Finance on the basis of the estimated expenditures referred to in para. 2 and information of the National Electoral Commission about those election committees entitled to obtain subsidies as well as the number of deputies to the Sejm elected from the lists of candidates of those election committees.
Article 156
In the event that the funds obtained for purposes of the election campaign, including any subsidy referred to in Article 155, para. 1, exceed expenditures, the agent of the an election committee created by voters shall apply such surplus to publicly beneficial purposes. Information about such fact shall be announced in a daily newspaper with nationwide circulation no later than 9 months after the election day and shall also be communicated to the National Electoral Commission.
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