Home > 4.2 Presidential elections > AZERBAIJAN - Election Code
 
 
 
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Article 80
 

80.1. The following shall have the right to free airtime of TV and radio companies for election campaigning, in accordance with Article 77.2 of this Code:


• Presidential candidates;
• Political parties or blocs of political parties with candidates registered in more than 60 single-mandate election constituencies, or in more than half of all municipalities; and
• Referendum campaign groups with 40,000 or more members.


80.2. The following shall have the tight to free TV and radio airtime companies for pre-election campaigning, in accordance with Article 77.3 of this Code:


• Candidates registered in single-mandate constituencies;
• Referendum campaign groups with 20,000 or more members; and
• Political parties or blocs of political parties with candidates registered in more than 1/3 of all municipalities.


80.3. Candidates for membership of a municipality and referendum campaign groups with 2,000 or more members, shall have the right to free airtime for election campaigning from TV and radio companies, in accordance with Article 77.4 of this Code.


80.4. Within a week after the commencement of the period set forth in Article 75 of this Code, a lottery shall be held to divide the free airtime allocated according to Article 80.7 of this Code, on the basis of applications submitted by registered candidates, political parties, and blocs of political parties.


80.5. The total volume of free airtime for election campaigning allocated by the TV and radio companies referenced in Article 77.2 of this Code should be no less than 3 hours a week for pre-election campaigning. The total volume of the free airtime for election campaigning allocated by the TV and radio companies referred to in Article 77.3 of this Code, should be no less than 1 hour and 30 minutes a. if the total airtime of those broadcasting companies is less than 2 hours during a day, the mentioned airtime should not be less than ¼ of the total programming time. The allocated free airtime should be within the time when most viewers can watch it.


80.6. The free airtime provided by broadcasting companies shall be divided on equal terms and amounts among the registered candidates, political parties, blocs of political parties and referendum campaign groups.


80.7. The date and time of airing pre-election materials shall be determined by a lottery conducted by the relevant election commission in the presence of representatives of the relevant TV and radio companies. The information on the time and place of the draw shall be officially published. The persons mentioned in the Articles 40.2 and 40.4 of this Code have the right to participate in the draw. The results of the lottery shall be formalized by a protocol. The table of division of airtime determined by the lottery should be published in the periodicals mentioned in the Articles 77.2 and 77.3 of this Code. 80.8. Expenses of TV and Radio companies from allocating free airtime to candidates, political parties, blocs of political parties, and referendum campaign groups, shall be reimbursed from the state budget.