Ballot Bucks: Where we follow the money | Power our election coverage

The thing about the role of money in elections is that it’s most often hiding in plain sight.

There is small money, like the handouts distributed in cash to individual voters. All it takes is a conversation with a dozen voters in a constituency to get an understanding of what amount each party is promising. But try as we may, there’s no way to trace the money back to its origins to pin the culprits.

Then there is the big money. It's hard to miss the mega rallies, heli-hopping campaigns, the media blitz and the horse trading. Let alone the unaccounted crores donated to parties in cash, we don't even have the right to access information on the money that is donated through electoral bonds.

These seemingly lost trails only bring out the bloodhound in our reporters. After all, how can a crime of such proportions be carried out without leaving behind clues? There may be firewalls beyond which we cannot see, but journalistic history is proof no wall is mole-proof. Following the money trail in elections requires sustained and painstaking investigations where every clue that trickles through the cracks helps with painting the larger picture. The News Minute and Newslaundry team will look at elections and money.