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Article 68.
 

Forms and Means of Election Campaigning


1. Election campaigning shall mean carrying out any activity aimed at encouraging the voters to vote or not to vote for a particular MP candidate or party that is an electoral subject. Election campaigning may be performed by any means that do not contradict the Constitution of Ukraine and the Laws of Ukraine.


2. Election campaigning may be conducted in the following forms: 1) holding meetings with citizens, other meetings with voters; 2) holding rallies, marches, demonstrations, picketing; 3) holding public debates, discussions, round tables, press conferences pertaining to provisions of the election programs and the political activities of the parties that are electoral subjects or the political activities of the MP candidates 4) making public political advertisements, speeches, interviews, essays, video films, audio and video clips, other publications and notices in printed and audiovisual (electronic) mass media; 5) distributing election leaflets, posters and other printed campaigning materials or printed publications containing election campaigning materials; 6) placing printed campaigning materials or political advertisements on outdoor advertising media; 7) holding concerts, performances, sport competitions, showing films and television programs, or [staging] other public events with the support of a party that is a subject of election process or of an MP candidate, as well as making public the information on such support; 8) public appeals to vote or not to vote for a party that is a subject of election process or for an MP candidate, as well as public assessments of the activities of such parties or MP candidates; 9) installation of campaign tents; {A new clause was added to Article 68 pursuant to the Law № 709-VII dd. 21.11.2013; as amended pursuant to the Law № 1184-VII dd. 08.04.2014} 10) other forms that do not contradict the Constitution of Ukraine and the Laws of Ukraine.


3. Political advertising shall mean the placement or dissemination of election campaigning materials through advertising means. Political advertising shall also include the use of symbols or logos of parties that are electoral subjects, as well as announcements that a party which is an electoral subject or an MP candidate supports entertainment or other public events, or attracting public attention to participation of a party that is an electoral subject or a particular MP candidate in such events. Advertising for printed publications (newspapers, magazines, books) or other commodities or services involving the use of the last names or images (portraits) of MP candidates, names or symbols of parties that are electoral subjects shall also be deemed to be political advertising.


4. Official reports during the election campaign on actions taken by MP candidates holding positions in state executive bodies, state bodies of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, or local self-government bodies, in connection with performance of their official (service) duties provided for by the Constitution of Ukraine or the Laws of Ukraine, shall not be deemed to be election campaigning if these reports are produced in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Law on the Procedure for Media Coverage of the Activities of State Executive Bodies and Bodies of Local Self-Government in Ukraine. Such official reports must not contain any comments of a campaigning nature, video or audio recordings, or photographic illustrations of the activities of the aforementioned persons as MP candidates.


5. Activities specified in Clauses 1 – 7 and 9 Part 2 of this Article that are carried out by a party that is not an electoral subject with the intention of promoting its own activity or explaining its position shall not be deemed to be election campaigning if, in the course of such activities, no mention is made of parties that are electoral subjects, of MP candidates, or of any provisions of election programs.


6. Election campaigning shall be paid at the expense of funds of the State Budget of Ukraine allocated for support for election campaigning in accordance with this Law and at the expense of the electoral funds of parties and MP candidates in single mandate election districts. MP candidates registered in the nationwide election district may carry out election campaigning at the expense of the resources of the electoral fund of the party. The use of the party own funds, those MP candidates’ own funds, or funds derived from other sources to carry out election campaigning, including on the voters’ initiative, shall be prohibited. {Part 6 Article 68 as amended pursuant to the Law № 709-VII dd. 21.11.2013}


7. Parties that have registered MP candidate(s) in the nationwide election district shall be provided with space in printed mass media with due observance of the principle of equal opportunities. A party that has registered MP candidate(s) in the nationwide election district shall finance the events and materials of its election campaign, and any political advertising in its support, out of the funds of its own electoral fund. Support by a party that has registered MP candidate(s) in the nationwide election district, on its own behalf, for concerts, performances, sport competitions, demonstration of films and television programs, or other public events, and also the staging of the aforementioned public events in support of a party that has registered candidates in the nationwide district, shall be allowed only if such events are paid for out of the party’s electoral fund.


8. MP candidates in single-mandate election districts shall be provided with space in printed mass media with due observance of the principle of equal opportunities. An MP candidate in a single-mandate election district shall finance the events and materials of his or her election campaign, as well as any political advertising in his or her support, out of the MP candidate’s own electoral fund. Support by an MP candidate in a single-mandate election district for concerts, performances, sport competitions, demonstration of films and television programs, or other public events, and also the staging of the aforementioned events in support of an MP candidate, shall be allowed only if such events are paid for out of the MP candidate’s own electoral fund.


9. Parties that have registered MP candidates in the nationwide election district and MP candidates in single-mandate election districts shall have the right to rent buildings and premises of all forms of ownership for the holding of meetings, rallies, debates, discussions, or other public events of election campaigning, on a contract basis, at the expense of their respective electoral funds.


10. If a building (premises) of any form of its ownership is provided on a contract basis to a party that has registered candidates in the nationwide election district, or to MP candidate in a singlemandate election district, for the holding of a pre-election public event or election campaign event, the owner (proprietor, user) of this building (premises) shall not refuse to allow any other party that has registered candidates in the nationwide district or an MP candidate in a singlemandate district to use the same building (premises) on the same terms. The aforementioned requirement shall not apply to premises owned or permanently used by a party that has registered candidates in the nationwide election district or to an MP candidate in a singlemandate election district. State- or municipally-owned buildings (premises) shall be provided for holding a pre-election public event or for election campaigning on a noncompetitive basis. 


11. No later than eighty days prior to the day of voting, local executive bodies and bodies of local self-government shall set up stands and public bulletin boards in places allocated for the placement of election campaign materials of parties that have registered MP candidates in the nationwide election district and MP candidates in the single-mandate election district, with due observance of the principle of equal opportunities.


12. Legal entities and individuals providing outdoor advertising shall ensure equal access and equal conditions for the parties that are subjects of the election process, MP candidates for placement of campaign materials (political advertising) using outdoor advertising media.


{Part 12 was added to Article 68 pursuant to the Law № 709-VII dd. 21.11.2013}