There is separate legislation governing spending promoting particular candidates at a Northern Ireland Assembly election, and at the local elections happening at the same time
Under the Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) Order 2001, the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the Electoral Law Act 1962, the candidates standing for your party will appoint agents, who are responsible for the candidate’s spending and must report it in a return after the election.
Sometimes you may need to decide whether campaign spending should count towards the party spending limit, or the spending limit of a candidate standing for your party in a particular constituency.
Campaign spending does not count against both the party and candidate spending limits. It will fall into one category or the other.
Political parties support their candidates in various ways. This may have to be reported in different ways, depending on what you do. Since often it must be reported by the candidate and agent, this is covered in more detail in our candidate guidance, which we will publish later in the year.
First, you should identify if your activity promotes a particular constituency candidate during the candidate regulated period. If it does, then the next question is how the spending must be reported. This depends on the candidate's or agent's link to the activity.