The role of campaign finance in elections is indisputably decisive in contemporary democracy. It can significantly impact the healthy function of social, political and economic mechanisms and the well-being of people in the long run. According to the Electoral Knowledge Network, all monetary and in-kind contributions and expenditures collected by and incurred by candidates, their political parties or their supporters for electioneering are included in campaign finance. The election campaign financing is a subset of the larger concept of political financing. Therefore, many countries have regulated campaign finance under political financing. Either campaign finance systems or political financing systems are varying from country to country based on the broader legal framework and socio-political context of each country.
Final Report on Estimated Election Cost Monitoring: Presidential Election 2019

The current campaign finance discussion in the Sri Lankan political context evolved during the recent two decades as a result of increased involvement of money in Sri Lankan politics and corruption being a major phenomenon in the Sri Lankan economy and political decision-making process. Since the end of the 90s, there have been many efforts to create discourse on the introduction of campaign finance law by a few organizations and it was bolstered following the Election Commission taking the issue into their greater attention with the influence of civil societies. CMEV has been actively engaged in regulating campaign finance since its very beginning through various initiatives. In the last two national elections, Presidential Election 2019 and Parliament Election 2020, CMEV initiated a study on the estimated cost of election campaign expenditure to spotlight the adverse impact of unregulated election campaign expenditure which creates an uneven ground for competitors.

This website provides periodic updates and relevant knowledge related to introducing campaign finance regulations into the Sri Lankan legal system. It also shares knowledge, laws and experience from other countries related to political financing and election campaign expenditure.

Final Report on Estimated Election Cost Monitoring: Parliamentary Election 2020

The current campaign finance discussion in the Sri Lankan political context evolved during the recent two decades as a result of increased involvement of money in Sri Lankan politics and corruption being a major phenomenon in the Sri Lankan economy and political decision-making process. Since the end of the 90s, there have been many efforts to create discourse on the introduction of campaign finance law by a few organizations and it was bolstered following the Election Commission taking the issue into their greater attention with the influence of civil societies. 

Campaign Finance Laws Regulated Countries

CMEV has been actively engaged in regulating campaign finance since its very beginning through various initiatives. In the last two national elections, Presidential Election 2019 and Parliament Election 2020, CMEV initiated a study on the estimated cost of election campaign expenditure to spotlight the adverse impact of unregulated election campaign expenditure which creates an uneven ground for competitors.