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Article 45
 
Article 45. Information of Voters and Referendum Participants
1. Voters and referendum participants shall be informed by bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government, election commissions, mass media organizations, legal entities and natural persons in accordance with this Federal Law. Bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government shall not be entitled to inform voters about candidates, about electoral associations, electoral blocs.
2. Informational materials carried by the mass media or otherwise disseminated shall be objective and accurate and shall not violate the equality of candidates, electoral associations, electoral blocs.
3. Information of voters, referendum participants, in particular through the mass media, about the preparation and conduct of elections, referendums, the periods and procedures for the performance of electoral actions, actions relating to participation in a referendum, about electoral and referendum laws of the Russian Federation, about candidates, electoral associations, electoral blocs shall be carried out by commissions.
4. Mass media organizations shall be free in their activity aimed at informing voters, referendum participants.
5. In television and radio programs and in the publications carried by the print media, reports concerning election events, events related to a referendum shall be always presented in the form of separate news items, without any comments. Such news items shall not give preference to any candidate, electoral association, electoral bloc, referendum initiative group, another group of referendum participants, in particular with regard to the time devoted to cover their election activities, the amount of space allocated in the print media for such reports.
6. Journalists, other creative workers and officials of a mass media organization who have been engaged in an activity related to informational support of an election, a referendum in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation governing elections and referendums shall not be dismissed from their offices at the initiative of the administration (employer) and shall not be transferred to other offices without their consent in the period of the relevant election campaign, referendum campaign, and during one year thereafter, save the case where a disciplinary action was taken against them in accordance with the labor legislation of the Russian Federation and this action has not been appealed in a court or has been declared lawful and appropriate by a court.
7. On voting day, before the end of the voting in an electoral district, referendum district, no information shall be published (made public) about the results of the election, referendum and no such information shall be placed in public information-telecommunications networks (including the Internet).