37 matches exceeded the limit of expenses in the latest municipal elections | Spain

He Court of Accounts has inadmitted expenses worth 3.2 million euros of the 60 million declared by the political parties to finance the campaign of The latest municipal elections, held in 2023. According to the Supervisory Report approved by the Plenary, 37 political formations of the 371 that have submitted the electoral accounting exceeded the maximum limit of expenses provided for these elections.

The report indicates that, of the 37 political formations, 32 exceed the maximum limit by a percentage greater than 1%, which constitutes a sanctionable infraction. The external advertising expenses limit and the press and radio advertising limit has been exceeded, in both cases, by six political parties.

He Court of Accounts It has formulated 72 proposals to reduce electoral subsidies for joint value exceeding 500,000 euros. These proposals are made to those political parties that have incurred certain breaches of the electoral regulations and in accordance with the criteria included in the instruction approved by the Plenary. As a result of the inspection, the Court formulates a series of recommendations addressed to the Government of Spain, in order to exercise the corresponding legislative initiatives, and also to the Central Electoral Board (JEC), to the postal service provider and the political parties themselves.

The report has been approved with the discrepant vote of four court advisors, who question that Bildu could have access to electoral subsidies in such elections. These counselors are José Manuel Otero – a text of the text – and Javier Morillas, Rebeca Laliga and Miguel Ángel Torres, who adhered to the vote against. All of them were proposed by the PP to be part of the supervisory body.

The discrepancy is based on a difference in criteria on whether the Court of Accounts must appreciate whether the political formations meet the conditions and circumstances established by the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (Loreg) to access public subsidies. For the majority of the Plenary, it is not for the Court to decide whether the parties that concur to elections meet all the requirements to receive such public money payments, an issue that is the responsibility of the General Directorate of Internal Policy.

The discrepant counselors, on the other hand, estimate that the supervisory competence includes the obligation to pronounce on whether Bildu could receive such subsidies according to article 127.4 of the aforementioned Organic Law. This precept establishes that these subsidies « will not be accrued » in favor of political formations whose management bodies, parliamentary or political groups, or their electoral lists « include or maintain persons convicted by sentence, even if it is not firm, for crimes of rebellion, terrorism or serious crimes against state institutions, in the terms provided in the criminal legislation, except that they would have publicly rejected the means and the means used ”. As a consequence of this debate, said Interior Department must verify whether Bildu met the requirements established by law to proceed or not to the disbursement of the subsidy. Until now, the aforementioned training has received 30% of the subsidy that would correspond to it.

The municipal elections referred to in the report took place on May 28, 2023. The inspection carried out analyzes the accounting of the electoral income and expenses presented to the Court of Accounts for the political formations that participated in the municipal elections of May 2023 in which more than 8,000 municipalities were elected. In relation to these local elections, 371 political formations have submitted accounting, 22% of the 1,662 that finally obtained representation. In the elections to the seven Canarian island councils, which also chosen that date, have made 5 political formations of the 10 that obtained representation. 85% of the formations presented the electoral accounting in the deadline and have done so through the electronic headquarters of the institution.

Political formations have declared income to finance the electoral campaign for almost 60 million euros. 44% The electoral expenses that have been considered justified by the Court of Auditors have promoted 57 million euros, of which 34 million correspond to ordinary electoral operations and 23 million to electoral propaganda shipping operations through mailbox.

Among the electoral expenses for ordinary operations are 5.5 million euros for external advertising or 4.5 million euros for advertising in press and radio. The Court has identified electoral expenses worth 3.2 million euros that have not been correctly justified or have no electoral nature by not adjusting to the expense concepts provided for in article 130 of Organic Law 5/1985, of June 19, of the general electoral regime. Therefore, they have not been admitted as susceptible to being financed with electoral subsidies.

A total of 38 political parties have met the requirements to receive the specific subsidy for direct shipping and electoral propaganda personnel (the parties made about 120 million shipments).