Libro Dos · Título Dos Capítulo Dos. Derechos y Obligaciones

Political parties enjoy the following rights:

a)To nominate candidates for offices subject to popular election.

b)To oversee all activities of the electoral process by means of poll watchers appointed in accordance with the law.

“c) To appoint, within the eight days following the date of the call for an election, their national poll watchers and to accredit them in a timely manner before the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The poll watchers of the political parties have the right to attend the sessions of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and of the other electoral bodies and to oversee the actions of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and of the temporary electoral bodies at the national level.”

d)To report before the Supreme Electoral Tribunal or before the Inspector General any anomaly of which they have knowledge and to demand that actions violating the norms and principles of electoral and political-party legislation be investigated.

e)To use postal and telegraphic franking in their oversight function with respect to the electoral process.

This right may only be exercised from the day following the call for elections until one month after each electoral event has concluded, and it shall be governed by the respective regulation, which shall indicate which of the representatives of the parties may use the postal and telegraphic franking within the territory of the Republic and the liabilities incurred by them for improper use of such franking. When these services are not provided directly by the State, the State shall reimburse the amount thereof to the political parties that have used them.

f)Upon prior written request, to enjoy free use of municipal halls and other suitable municipal facilities to hold assemblies and for up to one meeting every three months; and,

g)To enjoy the use of poles located within public thoroughfares and of other property of common use, for the placement of electoral propaganda, provided that its purpose is not incompatible with that end.”

“h) To engage in proselytism in non-electoral periods, understood as actions and activities of education and training, organization and dissemination of their ideology, political program, political proposals, political positions, calls to meetings and any other activity relating to the operation of political organizations, as well as dissemination thereof in the media.”

Congress of the Republic on 25-05-2016.

On the control and oversight of the financing of political organizations. The control and oversight of the public and private funds received by political organizations for the financing of their permanent and campaign activities corresponds to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The regulations shall govern the oversight mechanisms.

At the request of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and under reservation of confidentiality, the Contraloría General de Cuentas, the Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria, the Superintendencia de Bancos, the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones, as well as public officials, are obligated to carry out the pertinent diligences and deliver the information required of them for the effective oversight of the public and private contributions received by political organizations.

Political organizations shall have the following obligations:

a)To record the centralized receipt of public and private contributions in a single bank account, separated by the origin of each one.

b)To use a single account for the departmental or municipal organization.

c)To provide information and permanent access by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to the books of the political parties and, in the case of political financiers, to the pertinent accounting information related to the contributions made.

d)The Supreme Electoral Tribunal shall estimate the in-kind contributions that are not recorded in the respective books.”

25-05-2016.

On public financing for the ordinary activities of political organizations. The State shall contribute to the financing of political parties at the rate of the equivalent in quetzales of two Dollars (US$2.00) of the United States of America, per vote legally cast in its favor, provided that it has obtained not less than five percent (5%) of the total valid votes cast in the general elections. The calculation shall be made, taking as a basis the greatest number of valid votes received, either for the offices of President and Vice-President of the Republic or on the National List for the offices of deputies to the Congress of the Republic. Parties that obtain at least one seat in the Congress of the Republic, which shall likewise receive financing, are excepted from the five percent (5%) requirement.

Political organizations shall allocate public financing as follows:

a)Thirty percent for the education and training of affiliates;

b)Twenty percent for national activities and operation of the national headquarters;

c)Fifty percent for the payment of operation and other activities of the party in the departments and municipalities in which the party has current party organization. These resources shall be distributed one-third to the permanent organs of the departments in which the party has current party organization, and the other two-thirds to the permanent organs of the municipalities in which the party has current party organization;

d)In the year coinciding with elections, the parties may allocate the total annual installment of the public financing to which they are entitled, to cover electoral campaign expenses. The resources used shall be considered as expenses for purposes of the limit on electoral campaign expenses established in subparagraph e) of Article 21 Ter of this Law.

To determine the amounts corresponding to each permanent organ, the number of registered voters in each constituency in the last election shall be used as the basis for the calculation.

For purposes of this Law, expenses incurred to train affiliates, cadres, electoral overseers of political parties, training and publication of training material shall be considered purposes of ideological and political education.

The general secretaries of the national, departmental and municipal executive committees shall be personally liable for the management of the funds to which this article refers.

Payment of the financing shall be made within the corresponding presidential term, in four equal annual installments and during the month of July of each year, with the exception of the resources established in subparagraph d) of this article, which must be granted in the month of January. Prior to delivery of the corresponding allocation, the political organization must prove, by means of certification of record of the National Executive Committee, the manner in which it distributed the financing.

In the case of a coalition, the financing shall be distributed as determined by the coalition agreement.

In addition to what is established in the preceding article, the financing of political organizations and electoral campaigns shall be governed at all times by the following provisions:

a)Political organizations are prohibited from receiving contributions of any kind from:

1.States and foreign individuals or legal persons;

2.Persons who have been convicted of any crime against public administration, of crimes of money laundering or other assets, and other related crimes;

3.Persons whose property has undergone extinction-of-domain proceedings or persons linked to them;

4.Foundations or associations of a civil nature with an apolitical and non-partisan character. Excepted are contributions granted by academic entities or foundations for training purposes, which shall be reported to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in a detailed report within the thirty days following.

b)Contributions in favor of political organizations shall be made in accordance with the banking and financial requirements to which such contributions are subject, based on their amount and origin. For such purposes, the political organization is obligated to issue an accounting receipt authorized by the Superintendency of Tax Administration for each one. Contributions may in no case be anonymous. Political parties have the obligation to determine and identify, for purposes of contribution reports, the origin of all contributions. A contribution that is not recorded in its accounting books six months prior to the date made shall not be considered as coming from a political financier. It is prohibited to make donations of any kind in favor of candidates, and persons linked or related to them; all donations shall be channeled through the political organization.

c)Political organizations, through their national committees, must keep organized accounting records in accordance with the laws on the matter; and, without prejudice to the foregoing obligation, political organizations and political financiers have the obligation to keep the following books:

1.Cash contributions book, in which all contributions made to the political party and any contribution made by a political financier for the benefit of a person who is a candidate of the political party or has expressed his or her intention to be one shall be recorded;

2.Special book of in-kind contributions, in which the value of all contributions shall be established at market value. When a person is registered as a candidate of a political party, any contribution in cash or in kind made by a political financier for the benefit of such person shall be considered as part of the contributions in cash and in kind, which shall be recorded in said book at the value that a third party who is not a related person would have charged for the provision of services or sale of goods;

3.Special book of contributions for political training by foreign entities, in which income and expenses for political training shall be detailed. Within said books, political organizations shall consolidate the contributions made to the political party. They shall also keep a special book of contributions for political training. The accounting records of the parties are public.

d)The patrimony of political organizations must be fully recorded in their accounting, and bearer instruments and anonymous accounts may not form part thereof.

e)The maximum limit for electoral campaign expenses that each political organization shall use directly shall be at the rate of the equivalent in quetzales of fifty cents of a Dollar (US$.0.50) of the United States of America, per citizen registered as a voter up to the thirty-first of December of the year prior to the elections. In the case of coalitions among organizations, the total limit may never exceed the individual amount. Said limit may be lower by virtue of a provision of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, following a joint session with the General Secretaries of the legally registered political parties who attend the session which for such purpose the Supreme Electoral Tribunal must convene fifteen days after the call to the electoral process.

f)Electoral civic committees shall be financed solely with private contributions; they shall have as the limit for electoral expenses the equivalent in quetzales to ten cents of a Dollar (US$.0.10) of the United States of America for each citizen registered as a voter in the municipal or district constituency, as the case may be.

g)Individuals or legal persons that are related or linked, or a single linkage unit, both with the political organization and among themselves, may not make contributions exceeding ten percent (10%) of the campaign expense limit.

h)Any donation made by any natural or legal person in favor of a political party or any other entity established under this Law shall be expressly accepted and appraised in writing by the favored entity. Otherwise, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal shall determine its appraised value for the corresponding legal effects.

i)Where a legal person engages in acts of electoral propaganda, before or after the call, in favor of a political organization or a candidate, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal as competent tribunal and respecting due process may order the respective register to immediately cancel its legal personality, without prejudice to any other liabilities incurred.

j)The Supreme Electoral Tribunal shall have the power to request information evidencing monetary and non-monetary contributions made by any political financier.

k)Non-compliance with the rules governing financing of political organizations entails application of the administrative or criminal sanctions determined by law, both for political organizations and for national, departmental or municipal secretaries, persons making contributions, those receiving them and candidates benefiting from them, including cancellation of the legal personality of the respective organization by the Register of Citizens or the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The declaration of cancellation of the legal personality of the organization in question shall proceed on its own initiative and without having previously suspended the organization.

25-05-2016.

For purposes of interpretation of this Law, it shall be understood:

1.Related persons: They are two or more natural persons or juridical persons independent from the political organization, which receive, channel, administer or grant any type of financing to the same, among which there exists a direct or indirect relationship between them, through ownership, management or any other kind of relationship defined by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

2.Linked person: It is the natural person or juridical person linked with the political organization, with the political financier, with any of the members of its permanent or direction and control organs or its candidates, through ownership, management or any other kind of relationship defined by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

3.Financing unit: It is constituted by two or more related or linked natural persons or juridical persons that grant financing to a political organization.

4.Linkage unit: The group of persons that have ownership, management or common control relationships according to the criteria established above.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal shall establish the existence of linkage units based on criteria that include ownership, management reasons, joint business strategies and other elements duly substantiated by the Superintendency of Banks.

5.Political organization financier or political financier: It is any national natural person or juridical person that makes a contribution, in money or in kind, or by means of any contracting not carried out under market conditions, to any political organization, association with political purposes or entity of any type, national or foreign, that carries out activities benefiting a political party, a candidate or a person with an interest in running for a popularly elected office.

25-05-2016.

Political parties and electoral civic committees shall publish, by any electronic means available to them, thirty days before the date set for the holding of the elections:

a)The amount of contributions of any nature made by natural or juridical persons in the case of political parties during the last two years, and by electoral civic committees since the date of their creation;

b)The amount of contributions of any nature made by natural or juridical persons for the electoral process in which it participates; and,

c)The balance sheet of the financial statements of the entity corresponding to the last year prior to the holding of the elections in which it participates.

The report shall be submitted to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and it shall make it available to the citizenry on its website.

25-05-2016.

Political parties have the following obligations:

a)To deliver to the Register of Citizens a certified copy of all records of their assemblies, within the time limit of fifteen days following the date of their holding.

b)To register with the Register of Citizens, within the time limit of fifteen days following its holding, every amendment undergone by their constitutive deed and their statutes, as well as to report changes occurring in the composition of their permanent organs.

c)To keep a register of their affiliates on affiliation sheets prepared by the party itself and authorized by the Register of Citizens, and to deliver to the latter a faithful copy of the sheets for their vetting. Only those recorded on the affiliation sheets vetted by the Register of Citizens shall be deemed affiliates of political parties.

d)To develop their proselytism, ideological training, fundraising and participation in electoral processes activities, in accordance with the law and in adherence to the principles underpinning them.

e)To foster the participation of the country's different citizen sectors in national politics. To that end, political parties may promote female participation and that of other sectors in their lists of candidates for offices subject to popular election.

f)To foster civic-democratic education and training of their affiliates.

g)To submit their books and documents to such reviews as the Supreme Electoral Tribunal or its organs deem necessary at any time to determine their lawful operation.

h)To promote the analysis of national problems.

i)To collaborate with the corresponding authorities and to oversee electoral processes so that they are conducted in conformity with the law.

j)To refrain from receiving economic assistance, preferential treatment or special support from the State or its institutions, in any manner not expressly permitted by law.

k)To request the Register of Citizens that the Department of Political Organizations authorize the books of records of all their organs, once the parties have been legally registered.

l)To report before the Supreme Electoral Tribunal or the Inspector General any anomaly of which they become aware and to demand that actions violating the norms and principles of electoral and political party legislation be investigated; and,

m)To carry out in accordance with the law such activities as are necessary for the fulfillment of their functions.

n)To submit an annual financial report to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, signed by a Public Accountant and Auditor, active collegiate member. The electoral authority, when it deems pertinent, may order the conduct of audits of political parties to determine compliance with the present Law.

Republic on 25-05-2016.

Affiliation sheets shall be individual or collective. In the latter case they may not include more than ten affiliates. Once submitted to the Register, they shall be vetted within a time limit of fifteen days. If for any reason one or more of the affiliates on the collective sheet cannot be registered as such, this shall not affect the affiliation rights of the rest. The regulation shall govern matters relating to this subject.