The electoral rules require the apportionment of election expenses in certain circumstances. MPs will need to apportion election expenses where:
- an election advertisement is published before and during the regulated period,
- an election advertisement promotes both the candidate and the party, and
- an election advertisement promotes two or more candidates.
Expenses cannot be apportioned between elections. For example, where office signage or vehicle signage is used over more than one election you will need to account for the cost of the advertisement as an election expense at each election. The Electoral Commission advises candidates to use the price that was originally paid for the item, or if this is not known, what the item would cost to purchase now based on two quotes.
If an election advertisement has been published throughout the parliamentary term and continues to be published up until polling day you must apportion a fair amount of the expenses to the regulated period (for example, if the advertisement has been published throughout the three year term a twelfth of the cost would be counted to reflect the cost incurred during the regulated period).
Apportionment is a factual exercise determined by the circumstances of each case. The Electoral Commission is happy to discuss apportionment questions.