Following a commission of enquiry and a three-year period of direct rule by the United Kingdom, the Turks and Caicos Islands managed to reform its political campaign finance reform system and has now set limits on the entire amount that can be given to a political party during any given election period.
The Cayman Islands sets some limits on campaign spending by individual candidates, but those only apply during the last six weeks of a campaign. Anything spent before that is not recorded or disclosed.
Turks Integrity Commission Director Eugene Oluone said that, during the most recent elections in late 2012, the British overseas territory had a donation limit of US$30,000 for companies or individuals wishing to give to candidates. Political parties also had spending limits of US$30,000 per district.
Candidates running in at-large seats island-wide could not spend more than US$40,000 and political party leaders were limited to US$100,000. Overall, the total spending was not to exceed US$600,000, Mr. Oluone said.
While he could not say precisely how much had been spent in previous campaigns, Mr. Oluone estimated that “you are looking at millions.” In the end, just more than $500,000 was given in total political donations for the 2012 election, he said.
“[Campaign spending limits] will go a long way in curbing buying of votes, if you like,” he said. “If little Turks and Caicos can regulate political parties, then it can happen in the big countries.”
Difficult subject
Campaign finance issues were discussed often during a three-day anti-corruption conference held at the University College of the Cayman Islands.
Transparency International Chairperson Huguette Labelle noted that her home country of Canada has set strict limits on individuals giving to political candidates. Right now, a CAD$1,200 limit exists for individual donations.
Corporations or unions in Canada cannot directly donate to political candidates or parties.
However, Ms. Labelle said she did not necessarily recommend such stringent limits for all countries seeking to curb the appearance of political glad-handing.
For Professor Trevor Munroe of the University of the West Indies, disclosure of donations is more important than limiting the amount of those contributions. Mr. Munroe discussed the subject during a late-2012 conference at UCCI.
“Any of us can know who were the biggest contributors in the third quarter of 2012 to the British Labour party … but none of us here in a parliamentary democratic system can know who is paying the piper and thereby well positioned to call the tune,” Professor Munroe said. “Not in Jamaica, not in Trinidad, not in Barbados, not in Guyana, and, of course, not in Cayman Islands.”
At the moment, Cayman has no upper limit on political contributions made to either individual candidates or political parties.
Also of some surprise to many in attendance at the 2012 lecture, Mr. Munroe said that most Caribbean countries had laws against vote buying.
“This happens almost as if it’s a matter of course … and what [non-enforcement] does is bring the law into disrepute,” Professor Munroe said.
Cayman rules
The Elections Law (2004 Revision) does provide an expenditure limit that candidates must stay within. The limit applies to candidates from the time they receive official nomination to the day of the general election – usually about six weeks. Candidates belonging to political parties can legally spend only $30,000 within that time; independent candidates may spend up to $35,000 between their nomination and Election Day.
All candidates are required to report the total amount of their expenditures within that time period to the elections supervisor’s office, where those records are kept on file for a year after the votes are counted.
Any candidate accepting a donation greater than $5,000 must identify the source of that donation to the supervisor. The name and address of any person who contributes more than $10,000 to a candidate or party must also be given to the supervisor’s office.
Candidates and parties are not required to document any donations or expenditures that occur outside of the nomination period. In other words, if someone receives or spends $200,000 on a campaign prior to their official nomination as a candidate, that would not violate spending limits.
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