About a law that’s bad, but – thankfully – dead. Coverage on election campaigning in local elections

Abstract

This text presents a critical, even highly critical, analysis of the current regulations specifying campaign spending limits for local elections. This reflection on the content of the regulations is accompanied by a presentation of practice, examined based on interviews with candidates who anonymously disclosed their individual campaign expenditures.
In particular, it demonstrates that following the 2018 amendments to the Electoral Code, the legal spending limits are only apparent. They still apply to election committees, while any voter (and even a candidate as a voter) can conduct campaigning at any cost, free from any information and reporting obligations. Referring to the actual costs of advertising, it demonstrates that the maximum spending limits stipulated by the legislature are grossly detached from market realities, which directly encourages exceeding them.
This critical assessment of the current law is accompanied by proposals for amendments aimed at making the spending limits more realistic and ensuring more effective monitoring of their compliance.