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Article 71.
 

General Procedure for Using Mass Media


1. Election campaigning through mass media of all forms of ownership shall be conducted with due observance of the principle of equal opportunities and under the procedure prescribed by this Law.


2. Election campaigning through mass media, including political advertisements, shall be conducted in forms and with observance of requirements and restrictions prescribed by this Article and Articles 68, 70, and 72 – 74 of this Law.


3. A party that has registered MP candidates in the nationwide election district, as well as an MP candidate in a single-mandate election district, shall have the right to use state-owned and municipal mass media on conditions provided for by this Law.


4. The Central Election Commission shall approve the procedures for providing air time and printed space at the expense of the funds of the State Budget of Ukraine allocated for support for election campaigning in accordance with this Law to parties that have registered MP candidates in the nationwide election district and to MP candidates. {Part 4 Article 71 as amended pursuant to the Law № 709-VII dd. 21.11.2013}


5. Election campaigning through mass media of all forms of ownership paid for out of the electoral funds of parties and MP candidates in single-mandate election districts shall be conducted on conditions of equal pay for a unit of air time or printed space.


6. Each mass media organization shall set the price per a unit of printed space or air time to be used for election campaigning at the expense of electoral funds no later than one hundred days prior to the day of voting; the price shall not exceed the average price charged for commercial advertising (advertising which is disseminated with the purpose of generating profit) for the last three quarters of the year preceding the year of the MP election. At the same time, mass media shall be entitled to calculate separate rates per unit of printed space or air time for business days and days off and holidays as well as for periods of air time or printed space types with different potential audience size.


{Part 6 Article 71 as amended pursuant to the Law № 709-VII dd. 21.11.2013}


7. Mass media organizations registered after 1 June of the year preceding the year of a regular election of people’s deputies of Ukraine shall set the prices per unit of printed space or air time on the basis of data collected over the entire period of their functioning, in accordance with the procedure provided for by Part 6 of this Article. The price rates established by such mass media shall not exceed the price rates applied, respectively, by newspaper Holos Ukrainy (for printed mass media). {Part 7 Article 71 as amended pursuant to the Laws № 709-VII dd. 21.11.2013, № 1227-VII dd. 17.04.2014}


8. Prices per unit of printed space and air time for conducting election campaigning shall not be changed during the election process. A mass media outlet shall not be allowed to grant discounts or introduce extra charges to parties that have registered MP candidates in the nationwide election district or to MP candidates in single-mandate districts. Election campaigning in mass media of all forms of ownership carried out at the expense of resources of electoral funds of parties, MP candidates in single-mandate districts shall be allowed only after the printed space or air time was paid from the respective electoral fund accounts.


{Paragraph 2 was added to Part 8 Article 71 pursuant to the Law № 709-VII dd. 21.11.2013}


9. A mass media organization that has provided air time or printed space for election campaigning for a party that has registered MP candidates in the nationwide district or to an MP candidate at the expense of the respective electoral fund resources, shall not refuse to provide air time or printed space on the same terms to another party that has registered MP candidates in the nationwide district, or another MP candidate. A mass media outlet may refuse to provide air time or printed space to a party that has registered MP candidates in the nationwide election district or an MP candidate if the materials provided for distribution fail to comply with the requirements of Parts 6 or 10 Article 74 of this Law.


{Part 9 Article 71 as amended pursuant to the Law № 709-VII dd. 21.11.2013}


10. When making public the results of public opinion poll related to the election of MPs, mass media shall indicate the person or entity that commissioned the poll, the full name of the organization that conducted the poll, the time when the poll was conducted, the territory covered by the poll, the size and method of sampling, the polling method, the exact wording of the questions, and the possible statistical error.


11. The requirements prescribed by Parts 5 – 9 of this Article shall not apply to printed mass media organizations founded (owned) by the parties that have registered MP candidates in the nationwide election district or by MP candidates in single-mandate election districts, as regards their own election campaigning.