Is a political party required to be registered to participate in elections?

Political parties must be registered for election participation

The Political Party Registration Act, 2014 mandates the registration of political parties in Jamaica and the monitoring of their finances.

Prior to the passage of the legislation, there was no requirement for parties in Jamaica to be registered, or for their financial arrangements to be regulated.

With the enactment of the legislation, political parties intending to contest the polls in elections and referenda must be registered with the Electoral Commission of Jamaica.

The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) is responsible for the administration of the legislative requirements relating to political party registration and campaign financing.

Therefore, the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties has been established to effectively manage the registration and monitor the financing of political parties.

The role will also include monitoring of the obligations for financial reporting and declarations of the sources and uses of funds by political parties under the Election Campaign Financing Act, 2016.

To register any organisation or body of individual citizens of Jamaica as a political party, the organisation or body is required to make an application to the Electoral Commission of Jamaica giving therein full particulars which are required under section 52D of the Representation of the People Act.

Part VB of the Act sets out certain conditions that must be met to be registered as a political party. Additional particulars are required under The Political Parties Registration Regulations, 2017.

Also, political parties that meet the criteria for state funding must have their finances monitored and regulated by the ECJ and are mandated by law to make statutory reports of their financial standing at the end of each financial year.

Parties which fulfill the criteria under law will receive as follows: “…the amount approved by Parliament for state funding shall be divided equally among the political parties that qualify to receive state funding.”

Where a political party elects not to take state funding it shall not be available for division among other registered political parties entitled to receive state funding.

However, according to the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 2014 Section 52AG Subsection 4, “a registered political party shall not receive as state funding in any financial year, more than forty percent of its income for the previous financial year.”

Section 52AE Subsection 1 says “every registered political party shall, on or before the 1^st day of April in every year, prepare and submit to the Commission for the preceding financial year of that political party (a) An annual financial report prepared by a registered public accountant; (b) a statement showing the sources of the funds of the political party.”

It goes on further to state in subsection 2 that “A copy of the report and of the statement made for the purpose of subsection 1 shall be kept by the political party for at least six years from the end of the financial year in which they are made.”

The receipt of state funding does not “…preclude any political party from lawfully obtaining moneys from sources other than the state.”

The state funding, however, has conditions of use. The funds can only be used for the development of the party, that is to say its headquarters, salaries of party administrators, electricity, water and telephone bills.

It can also be used for things like party recruitment and civic education, research and policy development of the political party, education and training of its members and what the law says are “…other reasonable logistical and operating expenses to strengthen the political party as a democratic institution.”

The Electoral Commission of Jamaica comprises eight members appointed by the Governor-General: four selected Commissioners, four nominated Commissioners and the Director of Elections.