Rules for Third Parties in B.C.’s next election

The Elections Act has been updated, there are big things to note

Note: Any information contained in this blog should not be considered as legal advice. TPAs are encouraged to independently confirm information with Elections BC or with their own legal council. 

Whether you are a veteran election advertiser or this is your first campaign cycle, you need to brush up on the rules for Third Party Advertisers sooner than later. B.C.’s Election Act has been updated, and the next provincial election will have a number of changes for Third Party Advertisers (TPAs). 

Here’s what you need to know.

First, what is a TPA?

A Third Party Advertiser (TPA) is any organization that advertises in the provincial election, that is not a political party or candidate. This includes non profit organizations, unions, and charities. Yes, even charities have to register to do any non-partisan issue advertising during the campaign period.

TPAs must be registered and file disclosure statements with Elections BC, and any advertising must include your name and contact information.

Your advertisements must include an authorization statement that includes the name of the TPA and your phone number or email address. 

For example:

• Authorized by ABC Company, registered sponsor under the Election Act, 604-123-4567
• Authorized by Jane Doe, registered sponsor under the Election Act, jane.doe@email.com

For certain digital placements where this isn’t practical, you can put the authorization statement on the landing page. There may be additional disclosure requirements for certain advertising platforms or broadcasters.

What is election advertising?

In an election campaign there are two phases: the pre-campaign period and the campaign period (sometimes known as the writ period). 

The pre-campaign period starts 60 days before the writ drops, and only applies in fixed date elections. For 2024 it is anticipated that the pre-campaign period will run from July 23 through September 20. During this period, TPAs can only spend up to $150,000 throughout the province on advertising that promotes or opposes a party or candidate, and only up to $3000 in a single riding opposing or supporting a specific local candidate.

The campaign period starts when an election is called and when the polls close on election day. In B.C. the campaign period must be at least 28 days long—it is expected to begin on Sept 21, 2024. However, these dates may vary—for example, if the government requests an earlier election, or if there is a local election that is already running in the same time period—so keep a close watch.

During the campaign period, after the writs are issued, TPAs can again only spend up to $3000 in a single riding opposing or supporting a specific local candidate, or up to $150,000 throughout the province—this includes any advertising that promotes or opposes a party or candidate or takes a position on an issue associated with a party or candidate. 

Advertising that must be reported to Elections BC includes:

• Costs to produce election ad content;
• Costs to place the advertising;
• Ad spend costs; and,
• Publicly released surveys or election polls that aren’t “genuine”, like a push poll.

The production costs of any content run as election advertising in both the pre-campaign and campaign period cannot be prorated and must be fully reported in each period. This means that if you spent $30,000 to produce content for the pre-campaign period, and then used the same content again in the campaign period, you would need to report $30,000 in expenses in both the pre-campaign and campaign period.

What isn’t election advertising?

You do not have to report the following:

• Paid advertising that isn’t partisan and doesn’t take a position on an issue associated with a candidate or party (i.e. Paid “Get out the vote” ads aren’t reportable); 
• Unpaid content (organic social posts, emails, etc.) even if it is partisan and directly promotes or opposes a candidate or party;
• Web properties that election advertising links to; 
• Member-to-member communications; 
• Exclusive direct-to-member communications; and,
• Earned media.

What is prohibited?

You must not run advertisements on Election Day on television, radio, and in magazines and newspapers. Digital ads are permitted, as long as you do not change them on Election Day. You also may not put out robocalls and auto-generated text messages on Election Day.

TPAs cannot coordinate with each other to step around spending limits. This is considered collusion. However, they can share information with each other, as long as it’s not for the purposes of collusion. For example, two TPAs can use the same video as a paid ad and both spend to the limit, but these two TPAs can’t agree that one will advertise in one region and the second will advertise in another, so they can exceed the limit in combined spending.

For more information about what you should and should not claim as election advertising refer to Elections BC.

What money can TPAs spend?

Read this carefully because this is important: TPAs, like unions, associations, nonprofits, and charities, can only spend funds that have been contributed by an individual Canadian or permanent resident for the explicit purpose of using it in election advertising. Contributors must give permission for their money to be used for Third Party Advertising. Elections BC is not prescriptive about how you can gain consent, as long as you have a written record. They have provided this form that you are welcome to use if you wish.

Here are the limitations on what contributions TPAs can use for election ads:

• Only contributions from Canadians / permanent residents who reside in BC (not organizations, companies or unions) who have consented to having the money used for election advertising;
  
• Individuals can only give up to $1401.40 in 2023. In 2024, they may be allowed to contribute a bit more, but Elections BC has not yet release the amount;
  
• A third party must not use an anonymous contribution that has a value of more than $25 to sponsor election advertising;
  
• Total anonymous contributions used by a third party (or in combination with one or more third parties) to sponsor election advertising must not exceed $250 in relation to a single electoral district, or $5,000 overall;
  
• Cash contributions must be $100 or less;
  
• Contributions over $100 must be made by cheque, money order, credit card, or electronic transfer;
   
• Gifts & services are considered contributions if they are not paid for at fair market value (i.e. unions and organizations can’t put staff on paid leave to volunteer for a campaign);
  

There are serious penalties for breaking these rules. Check out Elections BC to be really sure you are following all their guidelines.

Not sure how to approach this? We’ve put together some suggestions for you here. 

And if you are really not sure how to navigate Elections BC rules, reach out to us, we’d love to help. Point Blank is a full-service agency with deep experience in third party campaigns at all levels.