International IDEA Digital Solutions for Political Finance Transparency Samuel Jones, International IDEA International IDEA Do political parties have to report regularly on their finances? International IDEA Do political parties have to report on their finances in relation to election campaigns? International IDEA Do candidates have to report on their campaign finances? International IDEA Is information in reports from political parties and/or candidates to be made public? International IDEA Situation in reality ? One of the main findings of IDEAs 2014 Handbook on Political Finance was gap between the de jure regulations on paper and the de facto practice. Also the case more specifically with reporting and disclosure. The Money, Politics and Transparency research project came to the same conclusion: Result: Undermines public trust in parties and candidates International IDEA Why digital? Save time (both on reporting and disclosure side) Reduce human error Save money Store, file and archive data instantly Incomplete reports rejected Easier for agency to manipulate and interpret the data Assists efforts to verify data submitted Reach largest number of people in most user-friendly way (in conjunction with other methods) Parties and candidates have greater control and a complete picture of submitted data. International IDEA Existing Systems Software-based Brazil Canada Latvia Sweden United States Web-based Australia Estonia Finland Norway United Kingdom International IDEA UK Electoral Commission: PEF Online International IDEA Disclosure Principles User-friendly Accessible Searchable Comparable Downloadable Timely Detailed International IDEA Accessible International IDEA Searchable International IDEA Comparable International IDEA Downloadable International IDEA Timely International IDEA Detailed