Until now, in the pre-election races, the main part of the income of the traditional parties was formed by the state subsidy. However, when it came to initiative committees or new formations, they mainly relied on donations from sympathizers or candidates on their lists. We have witnessed a number of journalistic investigations about socially weak donors or donor campaigns within a month in size surpassing “Bulgarian Christmas” for example.
28 political formations are participating in the current election race. Some of them rely heavily on fundraising as well as fundraising from candidates. How many donations they collected as of October 21st and supporters or candidates are more generous, we will present in this post. In it, we will also include information on which date the most donations were made and what their average value is, as well as for which formations the funds from the candidates are the main source of funding.
Rules for donations and candidate funds
Parties and coalitions can finance their campaigns with their own party funds, candidate funds and donations from individuals.
Donations and funds from candidates have no ceiling, but all sums received by participants must be declared within 7 days. They are published in the public register maintained by the Audit Chamber, which contains the complete financial information on the parties' election campaigns. All donors and applicants who have provided amounts above the minimum wage must submit a declaration of origin of the funds. Donations worth more than BGN 1,000 are checked by the Audit Office for compliance with the income of the person concerned. The same rules apply to funding provided by applicants.
Key trends in candidate donations and funds
Until October 21, 2024, according to the register of the Audit Chamber, sympathizers and candidates have contributed to the formations' income with a total of BGN 2,697,398.
A total of 10 formations received donations from individuals, and 11 – funds from the applicants. More details about the two types of party income can be seen below:
The DPS-New Beginning campaign continues to be supported to the greatest extent. Almost half of all funds raised are precisely for the formation behind Peevski – BGN 1,215,000 (45% of all income from donations and candidates). Costly for their coalition candidates is this race – They have invested BGN 785 thousand so far, and supporters of the new beginning in DPS have donated funds in the amount of BGN 430 thousand.
Detailed information about the income during the campaign of the formations having representatives in the 50th National Assembly can be seen in the graph below:
*The Velichie Party has not declared any donations or funds received from its candidates.
Of these, non-monetary funds were declared by BSP-United Left in the amount of BGN 5,000 from a candidate for deputy and Continuing the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) in the amount of BGN 23,690 from candidates and two donations from individuals persons in the amount of BGN 540 and BGN 260 thousand
As we indicated above, according to the legal regulations for donations and funds of the candidates with a value below the minimum wage, a declaration of origin of the funds is not required and the Audit Chamber does not carry out an inspection. So far in the campaign, 115 monetary donations and 1 non-monetary donation under BGN 933 have been made. The remaining 109 monetary and 2 non-monetary donations are above this value. The average value of monetary donations is BGN 5,633. The monetary contributions of candidates below the minimum wage are 41 in number, and those above – 135. The non-monetary funds of the candidates under BGN 933 are 12, and over – 9. The average value of the amounts from the candidates is BGN 5,727.
The bulk of donations below the minimum wage amount go to the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms campaign. Thus, Ahmed Dogan's faction has collected BGN 65,320 from its sympathizers. It is impressive that their desire to donate was precisely on October 4th, when 70 out of all 71 donations were made, each of which was worth BGN 920. This is slightly below the threshold of the minimum wage and thus the donors do are obliged to submit declarations on the origin of their funds.
Five times more generous are the supporters of There is such a people. Out of a total of 67 donations to the party, 52 are in the amount of BGN 5,000.
On the control over the donations and funds of the candidates
As we have noted in previous publications on the topic, sometimes formations raise funds for a specific election campaign even before its start. We also observe such a practice in the data for the upcoming elections, for which donations have been made since the beginning of September. With regard to the funds invested by the candidates, more than half lack information on the date on which they were provided to the parties.
In view of what has been described, the need to define specific terms for fundraising is again outlined. It is permissible to start collecting donations on the day of confirmation of the registration of the relevant formation for participation in the elections. If the donation itself is targeted and the donors expect the funds to be used to finance the campaign, then the end of the fundraising should most logically be the last day of the pre-election race or the election day itself.
Changes in the legislation may also be envisaged regarding the income verification of donors and applicants from abroad, for savings in banks and others. The Audit Office also highlights this fact in its audit reports prepared after each type of election.