Approved by the Decision 3/14
dated on June 21, 2003 of the
Central Election Commission of
the Republic of Azerbaijan

I N S T R U C T I O N
on the control of the distribution of funds allocated for the preparation and conduct of Presidential Elections of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the State budget, usage of the allocated funds and funding entered election funds of the registered candidates to presidency

1. Cost of the preparation and conduct of Presidential Elections of the Republic of Azerbaijan, providing the activity of the election commissions in term of their office is implemented by the State budget.
Election commissions implement registration of the budget funding allocated for the preparation and conduct of elections. The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan (hereafter referred to as the Central Election Commission) is the manager enjoying full rights of the funding entered his disposal. The funding entered the Central Election Commission is transferred to the Constituency Election Commissions at latest within 90 days prior to the voting day, in their turn they distribute this funding among Precinct Election Commissions at latest within 10 days prior to the voting day.
The funding is distributed among election commissions by considering the administrative and social-economic indicators.
Chairmen of election commissions are managers of the funding allocated for the relevant election commissions and are responsible for the compatibility of financial documents with the decisions of the relevant election commissions, submission of financial reports on the expenditure in the case and time defined by the Election Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan (hereafter referred to as Election Code).
Unspent funding by election commissions is transferred from the account of Constituency and Precinct Election Commissions to the account of the Central Election Commission and is kept in its account. Operations on this funding are implemented by meeting the requirements of Article 16 of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
2. The candidate to presidency must open specific election account to finance pre-election campaign in accordance with the relevant case and time defined by Articles 91 and 190 of the Election Code. The election fund of the candidate to presidency is kept in specific account of the Joint Universal Investment Bank (or the subsidiaries and representations of the bank), by establishing in the capacity defined by Article 191 of the Election Code and on the accounts of the resources implied by this article. Maximum limit of the election fund of the candidate to presidency shall not exceed 200 thousand of the minimum salary to the day of official publication of the decision on determination of elections. After submitting documents formalized in the relevant order the bank opens specific election fund for the candidate. The funding of the election fund is with an appointment character. The funding shall be used only for the following purposes:
a) for the financial support of the organizational-technical measures directed to collection of signatures, as well as payment for the relevant persons for collection of signatures;
b) for the payment for the cost of the measures related to pre-election campaign, as well as information and consultation service;
c) expenditure related to the payment for other actions implemented directly by legal entities and citizens.
The registered candidate to presidency who participated in the voting and had 5 percent of votes of the voters and has been regarded elected, as well as the registered candidate to presidency who withdrew his candidacy because of the obligatory cases implied by Article 73.3 of the Election Code up to the voting day is obliged to return the unused part of the funding transferred to his election fund by the Central Election Commission within 30 days after the voting day. When this period ends the relevant bank
must transfer the funding indicated in the letter of the Central Election Commission to his account without any dispute.
3. Registration of the budget funding allocated for the preparation and conduct of elections, as well as the election fund of the candidates, registered candidates is separately conducted by the Central Election Commission in accordance with the forms of financial account.
The Central Election Commission conducts the separate registration on cost sub-articles of the expenditure exercised in accordance with the approved smeta related to the conduct of elections and the funding allocated to Constituency and Precinct Election Commissions, registration of the expenditure on the income of the sources implied by Article 191.2 of the Election Code of the candidate, registered candidate on election funds and the relevant measures.
Constituency Election Commissions conduct the registration on the execution of the expenses realized in accordance with the approved smetas of election commissions related to elections on each cost article.
4. The financial reports of the Central Election Commission, Precinct and Constituency Election Commissions are compiled in accordance with the report #2 on the execution of the cost smeta of offices approved by the Decision I-62 dated July 15, 1998 of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Precinct Election Commissions provide the Constituency Election Commissions with the financial report on the collection and expenditure of the funding allocated from the national budget based on the Annex # 1 of this Instruction within 5 days after the voting day. The chairman of the Precinct Election Commission approves the report.
The Constituency Election Commissions provide the Central Election Commission with the financial report on the collection and expenditure of the funding allocated from the national budget based on Annex # 1 of this Instruction within 10 days after the voting day. The chairman of the Constituency Election Commission approves the report.
The Constituency Election Commission provides the Central Election Commission with review reports of Precinct Election Commissions and Constituency Election Commissions based on annex # 1 of this Instruction within 10 days since the official publication of electoral results after approval of the chairman of the commission and leadership of local treasure office.
Candidates to presidency, registered candidates to presidency provide the Central Election Commission with their financial reports in the case implied by items 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 of Article 94 of the Election Code, in accordance with Annex # 2 by approving with their own signatures.
If the candidate to presidency, registered candidate to presidency authorizes another person with his/her own right to use the funding of his/her election account according to his/her written report submitted to the Central Election Commission by him/her, then this person provides the Central Election Commission with the financial report by signing it and carries direct responsibility for law violations.
Final financial report including primary financial documents approving the collection and expenditure of the election fund is submitted at latest within 10 days after the official publication of electoral results.
The Central Election Commission makes report to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as mass media on the usage of the budget funds, expenditure of the election funds of the registered candidates to presidency within 3 months after the official publication of general election results. Stated financial report, information must be published in official press within a month after being submitted to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan.