When does electoral law apply to charities?

The principal law regulating political campaigning activity is the amended Political Parties, Elections and Referendum Act 2000 (PPERA).

In many cases, PPERA will not apply to the campaigning activities of charities in Scotland, but sometimes it will. It applies to spending on ‘regulated campaign activity’ (some aimed at the public) during the ‘regulated period’.

Your charity must register with the Electoral Commission as a non-party campaigner if it spends (or plans to spend) more than £10,000 on ‘regulated campaign activity’ that counts as ‘qualifying expense’, including staff costs.

The Electoral Commission maintains a public register of non-party campaigners in the lead-up to an election. They do not publish personal details such as names, addresses and phone numbers.

Regulated campaign activity and qualifying expense

PPERA lists a number of activities that may be regarded as ‘regulated campaign activities’. To assess whether the activity is a ‘qualifying expense’ the Electoral Commission looks at two factors:

• the ‘purpose test’
• whether the activity is ‘made available to the public’

Some activities only need to meet the ‘purpose test’ to be regulated, while others will only be regulated if they are made available to the public in addition to meeting the ‘purpose test’.

Activities that may be regulated include:

• producing or publishing material in any form (such as leaflets, adverts, websites) which is made available to public at large or any section of the public
• canvassing and market research seeking views or information from members of the public
• press conferences and other media events organised by or on behalf of your charity
• public rallies and other public events
• transport in connection with publicising your charity’s campaign

The purpose test

The ‘purpose test’ means it is reasonable to think that the activity is intended to influence voters to vote for or against political parties or categories of candidates, including political parties or candidates who support or do not support particular policies or issues.

When considering whether an activity meets the ‘purpose test’ it may be helpful to think in terms of:

• whether it includes a call to action to voters – does it encourage voters (explicitly or by implication) to vote for or against a particular candidate or party?
• tone – are you negative or positive towards a policy closely associated with a party or category of candidates?
• context – are you campaigning on an issue that is particularly associated with a particular party (whether you name the party or not)?
• timing – did your campaign start before or during the election period?
• how would a reasonable person see your activity – would they think your actions are intended to influence their vote?

Are the activities aimed at the public?

‘The public’ is not defined in the law and has its ordinary meaning. The test is whether the activities are aimed at, seen, heard by or involve members of the public, or a section of the public. The public does not include members or committed supporters of charities. For example, a meeting held only for your charity’s members or a leaflet sent only to people who are already signed-up as supporters of your charity would not be considered to be aimed at the public.

The regulated period

UK Parliament general elections usually have a regulated period of 365 days, ending on the day of the election. All other elections have a regulated period of four months, ending on the day of the election. You should read the Electoral Commission guidance for further details.