Under the amendment, each political party running in parliamentary, local or European Parliament elections has the obligation to open an account for its campaign donations in each constituency. In coalitions, one of the parties must open such an account in each constituency.
Donations for the campaigns of independent slates, groups of voters and candidates will be paid into a separate account of the candidate representing the slate or group of voters.
Presidential candidates also have the obligation to open a separate account for donations, regardless of whether they are nominated by parties or voters.
Such accounts must be opened on the day of submitting the candidacy at the latest or one year before the scheduled election date at the earliest.
If the candidacies are not submitted in time or are invalid, the donations have to be returned to the donors.
The banks in which accounts for election campaign donations are opened have the obligation to immediately notify the State Election Commission and provide at its request all information pertaining to account transactions.
Under the amended law, donations for election campaigns can be collected until election day and not up to 30 days after the end of campaigning, as was the case until now. Donations made after election day must be returned to the donor or, if that is not possible, paid into the state budget.
The limits for campaign costs for local elections have been raised. Candidates running for Zagreb mayor are allowed to spend HRK 1 million and not HRK 500,000 as until now, while candidates for county mayors and mayors of larger cities can spend HRK 600,000. Candidates in runoffs can spend a maximum 20% above those limits.