Home > 2.9 Electoral offences and sanctions > SLOVAKIA - Act on Election of the President of the Slovak Republic, Plebiscite, Recalling of President and Amending of some other Acts
 
 
 
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Article 1
 

(1) The election campaign (hereinafter the “campaign”) shall start 15 days and terminate 48 hours before the election. The campaign shall be mean the activities of candidates, political parties and movements or other entities in support of a candidate’s election including advertisements and advertising by means of the radio and television broadcasting under Paragraphs 4 and 5, mass media9), billboards, posters and other information carriers10).


(2) Conducting of campaigns outside the time stipulated in Paragraph 1 shall be prohibited.


(3) At the time of the campaign, each candidate shall have the same access to the mass media.


(4) For the campaign under Paragraph 1, the Slovak Radio and the Slovak Television shall reserve maximally one hour of the broadcasting time per candidate, and maximally 10 hours of the broadcasting time in total, in a manner securing that none of the candidates is disadvantages by determination of the broadcasting time. Any claim to the broadcasting time must be filed at the latest five days before commencement of the campaign, otherwise it shall be forfeited. The Slovak Television and the Slovak Radio shall secure a clear marking and separation of this broadcasting from other programmes.


(5) A licence holder for the radio or television broadcasting (hereinafter the “licence holder”) can reserve maximally one hour of the broadcasting time per candidate and maximally 10 hours of the broadcasting time in total. Licence holders shall secure a clear marking and separation of this broadcasting time from other programmes by informing the public that this is a paid political advertising.


(6) Payment for use of the telecommunication means11) shall be provided to the Slovak Radio and the Slovak Television from the State budget of the Slovak Republic according to the extent of the broadcasting time provided under Paragraph 4.


(7) The costs of the campaign in the radio and television broadcasting of licence holders shall be paid by candidates or political parties and political movements, which proposed them. Licence holders shall be obliged to secure to all candidates the same conditions of purchase of the broadcasting time and the same prices and terms of payment.


(8) During the campaign, it shall be prohibited to broadcast the campaign in the times, which are reserved in the radio and television broadcasting for advertising, or to use the radio and television advertising for the campaign.


(9) Broadcasting of the reporting and political programmes shall not be deemed a campaign, provided that they are broadcasted in the manner and under the circumstances like outside the campaign time, and are in compliance with the valid program structure of programme operators.12) Programme operators shall be obliged to secure that the reporting and political programmes are balanced and impartial.


(10) Broadcasting of other programmes, except for the reporting and political programmes under Paragraph 9 and the programmes dedicated to the campaign under Paragraphs 4 and 5, which could influence the voting of electors to the benefit or detriment of a candidate, shall be prohibited during the campaign. 


(11) Each candidate, who is subjected, during the campaign, to false or misinterpreted information and statements in the radio and television broadcasting and in the mass media, shall be entitled to react to them during the campaign. He/she shall exercise this right with a programme operator or editor-in-chief of the mass medium, which broadcasted or published such information or statement. The programme operator or editor-in-chief shall be obliged to provide the candidates for the presidential office with an equally valuable broadcasting time like the broadcasting time, during which the information or statement in question was broadcasted, and it shall be done in the course of the campaign. 


(12) 48 hours before commencement of the voting and in the course of the voting, it shall be prohibited to publish or broadcast information about candidates to their benefit or detriment in the radio and television broadcasting and in the mass media, whether in oral, written, audio or visual form.


(13) In the course of the voting, it shall be prohibited to convince to vote for or against any of the candidates in the buildings, where the Precinct Election Committees are located and in their surroundings.


(14) Results of public opinion polls may be published no later than three days before the election day.


(15) Election Committees, members of their professional (reporting) units and registrars must not provide information about the course and partial results of the voting before signing the minutes.


(16) In the course of the voting, it is prohibited to publish results of the voting surveys.


(17) The Central Election Committee may publish also the preliminary voting results.


(18) Should there be held the second round of the election, the campaign shall commence upon announcement of results of the first round of the election by the Central Election Committee and it shall terminate 48 hours before holding of the second round of the election. Provisions of Paragraphs 2 – 17 shall apply accordingly also to the second round of the election, while the broadcasting time reserved by the Slovak Television and the Slovak Radio shall be two hours; candidates shall file their claims to the broadcasting time no later than 24 hours from announcement of the results of the first round of the election. A licence holder may reserve maximally two hours of the broadcasting time for the campaign before the second round of the election.