A/79/151 LGBT people reinforces stigma. 160 As noted by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, “[s]tigmatizing statements made by public officials against LGBTQ+ persons create an environment conducive to violence against members of that community, gender rights activists and human rights defenders working to protect the rights of these groups”. 161 51. Electoral campaigns often involve so-called “third parties”, individuals or organizations other than political parties or candidates that campaign for or against specific parties, candidates or issues. 162 The role of third parties, such as academic institutions, think tanks, civil society organizations and media organizations, in electoral campaigns is rarely regulated due to the difficulty of distinguishing between the regular activities of citizens, civil society organizations and even businesses and their involvement in electoral politics. Greater transparency in the regulation of third -party involvement in political campaigns may assist organizations working on the human rights of LGBT persons to get formally involved in supporting certain political positions. More detailed regulation may also help promote transparency with respect to those organizations that use discriminatory rhetoric or incite violence against LGBT persons. IX. Campaign finance 52. Equitable access to campaign finance is an important component of electoral participation. Campaign finance may originate from donations to candidates or political parties, as well as from government subsidies. Regardless of the electoral system, the distribution of resources to LGBT political actors may be influenced by a perception of the political viability of a candidate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. When LGBT persons are only peripherally involved in internal party governance structures, LGBT candidates may receive correspondingly low levels of funding from political parties. 163 53. In environments where support for the rights of LGBT people may have adverse effects, donations to individual LGBT candidates, or to parties advocating for equal rights of LGBT persons, may be constrained by possible negative consequences for the donor. To help avoid this, limits on the disclosure of details of financial contributions to candidates may be put in place. Under such regulations, with due precautions against possible illicit campaign financing, relatively small donations can be reported without disclosing the identity of the donor, thus avoiding stigmatization of the donor. 164 54. As mentioned above, additional regulation of third parties in campaigns can contribute to an increase in transparency regarding funding sources and expenditure. Several countries require third parties to officially register and to operate through a dedicated bank account and within spending limits. 165 Such regulations may help increase the accountability of third parties if they disseminate discriminatory messages or incite violence against LGBT electoral stakeholders. __________________ 160 161 162 163 164 165 24-12964 OSCE, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, “Final report on the 2020 parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan” (Warsaw, 2020), p. 11. A/78/288, para. 88. Funding of Political Parties and Election Campaigns : A Handbook on Political Finance, Elin Falguera, Samuel Jones and Magnus Ohman, eds. (Strömsborg, Sweden, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2014), pp. 189 and 190. Submission by VoteLGBT, p. 3. OSCE, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), Guidelines on Political Party Regulation, 2nd ed. (Strassbourgh, 2010), para. 265. OSCE, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, “Note on third party regulations in the OSCE region”, Note No. POLIT/372/2020 (Warsaw, 2020), paras. 107 –143. 19/25