Circular No. 09/2007/TT-BTC guiding the management, use, and settlement of election expenses for National Assembly deputies in the XIIth term

CIRCULAR

Decision No. 09/2007/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance guiding the management, use, and settlement of funds for the election of National Assembly deputies for the twelfth term

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Pursuant to the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on the Election of National Assembly Deputies adopted by the tenth session of the tenth National Assembly on December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 1077/2007/NQ-UBTVQH11 dated January 29, 2007 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly regarding the announcement of the date for the election of National Assembly deputies for the twelfth term and the establishment of the Election Council;

Pursuant to Directive No. 02/2007/CT-TTg dated January 31, 2007 of the Prime Minister on organizing the election of National Assembly deputies for the twelfth term;

After receiving opinions from the Office of the National Assembly, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Finance guides the allocation, management, use, and settlement of funds serving the election of National Assembly deputies for the twelfth term as follows.

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The funds serving the election of National Assembly deputies for the twelfth term shall be guaranteed by the central budget.

2. The funds serving the work of the election of National Assembly deputies for the twelfth term must be managed strictly by organizations and agencies, expended according to regulations and purposes, and be effective. At the same time, it is necessary to utilize means that can still be used from previous elections and mobilize means currently equipped at units to serve the election tasks to save costs for the state budget.

3. After the election ends, organizations, agencies, and units using the funds must settle the amount of funds used for the election with the financial authority at the same level.

4. Along with the funds serving the election of National Assembly deputies for the twelfth term guaranteed by the central budget, based on the actual situation in the locality, requirements of the work, and budget capacity, the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities may report to the People's Councils at the same level for consideration and decision to supplement funds from the local budget to serve the work of the election of National Assembly deputies in the locality.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. Content of expenditure: Funds serving the election of National Assembly deputies for the twelfth term shall be used for the following contents:

a) Expenditure on materials and publications serving the election:

- Expenditure on printing voter cards, ballots, rules for polling places, writing voter cards, voter lists, insignia for election organization staff, minutes of the election; various forms, biographies, candidate lists, self-nominated candidates, successful candidates, and other documents serving the election work;

- Expenditure on preparing and printing materials serving and guiding the election work;

- Expenditure on materials serving the election such as the Law on the Election of National Assembly Deputies, guiding documents implementing the Law, and publications serving the election.

b) Expenditure on propaganda, guidance, and administrative expenses for the election work:

- Expenditure on propaganda, guidance, and mobilization for the election;

- Expenditure on office supplies and administrative expenses during the election period;

- Expenditure on communication services serving the election;

- Expenditure on renting conference halls and polling places;

- Expenditure on decorating loudspeakers and security at polling stations;

- Expenditure on making supplementary ballot boxes and engraving seals of the election organization;

- Expenditure on allowances for those directly serving during the election period; - Other expenditures directly serving the election work.

c) Expenditure on organizing conferences:

- Expenditure on conferences for consultations, meetings with voters, and election mobilization;

- Training conferences, deployment conferences, coordination conferences, summary conferences, and award ceremonies.

d) Expenditure on directing, inspecting, and supervising the election:

- Expenditure on fuel, vehicle rental, and travel expenses;

- Expenditure on counting votes and transporting ballots;

- Other expenditures related to directing, inspecting, and supervising the election.

Within the scope of funds allocated for the election by the competent authority and the actual situation of each electoral unit, the units and organizations entrusted with the use of funds shall arrange expenditures according to the above contents appropriately and in accordance with current regulations.

2. Expenditure levels:

Organizations and units receiving funds to serve the election of National Assembly deputies must implement expenditures according to the financial expenditure regulations stipulated by the competent authority, specifically as follows:

a) Expenditure on conferences and training sessions for election business: Implemented according to the current regulations of the Minister, Head of central agencies, and Chairman of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities detailing the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on travel expense regulations and conference expenditure regulations for administrative agencies and public service units.

b) Expenditure on printing and transportation (ballots, voter cards, documents, forms, seals, etc.) related to serving the election work shall be implemented according to signed contracts.

c) Expenditure on allowances for those directly serving during the election period:

- At the central level: Based on the actual operation of organizations and agencies directing, supervising, and inspecting the election at the central level, the Secretary-General of the Central Election Council will coordinate with the Director of the National Assembly Office to establish specific expenditure levels based on current regulations. The Director of the National Assembly Office will decide and issue specific expenditure levels in writing;

- At the local level: Based on the actual situation in the locality and the announced election budget, the Chairmen of the Provincial and Municipal Election Councils will consider and decide after reaching agreement with the Chairmen of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities.

d) Other expenditure items: Implemented according to legal payment vouchers based on the approved budget by the competent authority.

3. Allocation of funds for the election:

a) Based on the Decision approving the allocation of election funds by the Election Council, the Ministry of Finance will notify the amount of election funds to the Provincial and Municipal Election Councils and relevant central ministries and agencies.

b) Based on the election budget amount announced by the Central Committee, taking into account the number of voters in the area, the characteristics of each region, the Provincial Election Commission decides to approve the budget allocation plan for the election and instructs the Department of Finance to notify the election budget to relevant agencies and organizations at the provincial level and the District Election Boards. The District Election Board decides on the budget allocation and instructs the Financial Office to notify the election budget to the Polling Stations and relevant agencies and organizations within its jurisdiction.

In cases where the Election Board is established based on electoral units comprising two or more administrative districts, the office of the Election Board shall allocate the budget estimate for the election to the financial agency of the district, county, city under province, or municipality where it is located.

On the basis of the allocated budget, the entity using the budget (Election Council, Election Commission, Election Board, Polling Station, and other agencies, organizations, units...) shall prepare the budget estimate according to current expenditure standards and regulations stipulated in Clause 1, Section II of this Circular, and submit it to the same-level financial agency and State Treasury for coordinated implementation of expenditures as prescribed.

4. Allocation of funds for election purposes:

a) Ministries and central agencies shall withdraw their budgets directly from the State Treasury at the transaction location.

b) Funds for election units under the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall be notified to these ministries and withdrawn from the State Treasury according to current regulations.

The central budget shall provide targeted supplementary funding to the provincial and municipal budgets.

The allocation of funds between different levels of local budgets, the Departments of Finance of provinces and centrally-administered cities shall base their decisions on actual conditions and management capabilities, and report to the Provincial Election Commission to decide on the method of allocating funds for local elections either through targeted supplementary funding to lower-level budgets or direct notification and allocation of budgets to agencies using election funds.

d) Entities using election funds, when there is a need to spend from the budget, must prepare vouchers according to regulations and send them to the same-level State Treasury to withdraw the budget for expenditures.

The State Treasury Agency shall verify the legality and validity of the vouchers and payment orders issued by the responsible head of the entity using the funds, ensuring timely and proper payment to the entities using the funds.

5. Settlement of funds:

After the completion of the election, the Polling Stations, Election Boards, Election Commissions, and related agencies allocated election funds shall settle the funds used with the same-level financial agency according to the time frame and format specified in Decision No. 19/2006/QD-BTC dated March 30, 2006, of the Minister of Finance regarding the issuance of accounting regulations for administrative and public services; specifically as follows:

a) The Polling Stations are responsible for settling the allocated funds and those actually used with the financial agency of the district, county, city under province, or municipality.

If the Polling Station ceases operations after the Election Council announces the election results but the settlement process has not been completed, the Polling Station Head shall delegate responsibility and authorize a Polling Station Member representing the People's Committee to settle the funds with the financial agency.

b) The Election Boards are responsible for settling the allocated funds actually used with the financial agency.

If the Election Board ceases operations after the Election Council announces the election results but the settlement process has not been completed, the Election Board Chair shall delegate responsibility and authorize an Election Board Member representing the People's Committee to settle the funds with the financial agency.

Other agencies and units allocated election funds shall settle the funds used with the financial agency according to current regulations.

Financial agencies at all levels are responsible for reviewing and approving the settlement of funds by agencies and units using election funds; the Department of Finance is responsible for compiling the settled election funds into the local budget settlement report and settling with the Ministry of Finance, and simultaneously sending the report to the Central Election Council.

III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

This Circular takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette and is also applicable for supplementary elections for representatives of all levels of People's Councils for the 2004-2009 term (if any).

Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Finance by relevant ministries, central agencies, and localities for prompt resolution./.