Peculiarities of Disseminating Information on the Results of Election-Related Opinion Polls

1. Enterprises, establishments, institutions and organizations conducting opinion polls shall have the right to make public the results of election-related polls, provided that they indicate the time when the poll was conducted, the territory covered by the poll, the size and mode of selection of the poll sample, the polling method used, the exact phrasing of the questions, the margin of error, and the persons who commissioned the poll.


2. When reporting the results of an election-related opinion poll, information agencies and mass media shall indicate the full name of the organization that conducted the poll, the persons who commissioned the poll, as well as other data specified in Part one of this Article. The provisions of this Part shall apply to cases of dissemination of an election-related opinion poll on the Internet.


3. During the last two days prior to the day of voting, the publication or dissemination in any other manner of the results of election-related opinion polls, including those pertaining to the candidates and parties (party organizations) that are electoral subjects, shall be prohibited.


4. On the day of voting, making public the results of opinions polls pertaining to the expression of voters’ will shall be prohibited until the close of the voting.


5. Methods for conducting voter surveys relating to expression of the voters’ will during voting shall ensure the protection of the secrecy of voting of the voters being polled.


6. If a broadcasting company makes public the results of an interactive poll of its audience conducted during an election-related program or a program with the participation of candidates, representatives of the parties (party organizations) that are electoral subjects, the participants of the program shall be prohibited from commenting on the results of such poll or referring to it otherwise. During the whole period of making public the results of an interactive poll of the audience, the text message “This poll reflects the opinion of this audience only” shall be displayed on the screen (for television programs) in a form perceptible to the viewer, or be voiced (for radio programs) in a well-articulated manner by the announcer or studio host immediately prior to and after making public the aforementioned results.