Restrictions as to Pre-Election Publicity Campaigning
Participation in pre-election publicity campaigns shall be prohibited to:
a) persons who are not citizens of Ukraine;
b) bodies of executive power and local self-government authorities as well as officials and employees thereof, and
c) members of electoral commissions when in line of such duty.
2. In military units (formations) and in penitentiary institutions pre-election publicity campaigning shall be restricted. Individual authorized persons of parties (blocs)s and candidates for deputy shall not be allowed to visit military units (formations) or penitentiary institutions. Meetings of the said persons with the voters shall be organized by the respective constituency electoral commissions jointly with commanding officers of military units (formations) or superintendents of penitentiary institutions, relevant notices to be obligatorily communicated to the authorized persons of parties (blocs) in the same constituency and of candidates for deputies registered in the same single-mandate electoral constituency as least 3 days prior to the scheduled date of any above mentioned meeting.
3. Dissemination, in any possible form, of materials containing any calls to liquidate the independence of Ukraine, to change the constitutional order in a violent way, to interfere with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation, to undermine its security, or to illegally cease the state power, or propagating war or violence, or inter-ethnic, racial or religious conflicts, or threatening human rights and freedoms or human health, shall be prohibited.
4. State-owned or communal mass media as well as their officials, employees and creative staff, shall, in any material or program which is not made under an agreement concluded in compliance with the requirements of Article 54, p. 11 and Article 55, p. 6 of this Law and throughout the duration of the electoral process, not be allowed to campaign for or against candidates for deputy or parties (blocs), or to evaluate pre-election programs thereof, or to impart any preferences. Should this stipulation be violated and if so sought by the Central Electoral Commission or the respective constituency electoral commission, the activity of the mass media entity in violation may be temporarily suspended by court of law.
5. Any mass media entity having publicized information deemed evidently incorrect by a party (bloc) or a candidate for deputy, shall be obligated, not later than within three days as of the date of publication/ airing of the said information and at least two days prior to the election day, to provide an authorized person of the said party (bloc) or of the said candidate for deputy, if they so request, with opportunity to disprove the publicized information, by granting them the same amount of air time on television or radio, or by publishing the material submitted by the said party (bloc) or candidate for deputy, which shall be printed in the same type size, marked “Disproval” and carried on the same page and in the same place, and be of no smaller dimensions that those of the publication confuted. Any disproval shall bear references to the confuted publication in the printed mass media or the product aired on television or broadcasted by radio, and impart all facts being disproved. Such disproval shall be published without any supplements, comments or abridgements and at the expense of the respective mass media entity.
6. Any pre-election publicity campaigning accompanied by giving-out of money or by free or preferential distribution of commodities, services, works, securities, credits, lotteries or any other values shall be prohibited.
7. The Central Electoral Commission shall furnish, in the state-owned mass media, its explanations as to prohibition of any pre-election publicity campaigning accompanied by giving-out of money or by free or preferential distribution of commodities, services, works, securities, credits, lotteries or any other values. The text of such explanations shall be approved by the Central Electoral Commission and two times a week published in “Holos Ukrayiny” and “Uryadovy Kouryer” dailies on their first pages as well as regularly aired by television and radio broadcasting entities as of the date 30 days prior to the election day.
8. Regional state-owned or communal television and radio broadcasting entities shall not air their products to intervene with the pre-election programs of parties (blocs) aired on all-national broadcasting channels at the expense of funds which are allocated from the national budget of Ukraine for the preparation and conduct of elections.
9. The central executive authority for information policies, television and radio broadcasting shall, jointly with state-owned television and radio broadcasting entities subordinate thereunto, be obligated to provide for a procedure excluding any possibility of an occurrence when any party’s or bloc’s pre-election publicity campaign program televised by the first all-national channel coincides in time with such program of another party (bloc), should the air time for the both programs be granted at the expense of funds which are allocated from the national budget of Ukraine for the preparation and conduct of elections.
10. Airing of pre-election programs of candidates for deputy registered in single-mandate electoral constituencies on any channel of state-owned or communal television and radio broadcasting entities shall not coincide in time with the airing of pre-election programs of parties (blocs) on all-national broadcasting channels should such air time be granted at the expense of funds which are allocated from the national budget of Ukraine for the preparation and conduct of elections.
11. Informational television and radio programs shall not contain any pre-election publicity materials of parties (blocs) or candidates for deputies, and shall not contain any political advertising. Political advertising shall be designated as such and separated from any other materials.
12. Pre-election programs of parties (blocs) and of candidates for deputies shall not be interfered with by airings of goods, services and works commercial advertisements or of any other information.
13. Pre-election publicity campaigning shall not be allowed to foreign mass media pursuing their activity in the territory of Ukraine.
14. Mass media of any form of ownership and pursuing their activities in the territory of Ukraine shall not, within 15 days preceding the day of election, publicize any information on the outcomes of public opinion polls as to attitudes to parties (blocs) and candidates for deputy.
15. No printed pre-election publicity campaigning materials and no notices as to the electoral process developments shall be placed on monuments of architecture or in places where they might impede road traffic safety.
16. No candidate for deputy employed (including part time employment) by any of the bodies of state power and local self-government authorities, or at state-owned or communal enterprises, or by such institutions or organizations, or by military unit (formation), shall involve any of his/ her subordinates (when at work) or make any use of the agency-provided or institutional vehicles, means of telecommunication, equipment, premises or any other resources at his/ her work for any purposes of pre-election publicity campaigning or for any other effort related to such campaigning. No such candidate shall ever avail of any in-house meeting, conference or staff assembly for the purposes of pre-election publicity campaigning.
17. Production and dissemination of printed pre-election publicity materials with no indications of the publishing institution, of the number of printed issues or of information as to persons in charge of the issue, shall not be allowed.
18. Pre-election publicity campaigning shall cease as of 24.00 of the last Friday prior to the election day. As of the said moment any active publicity campaigning (publication of pre-election publicity materials in the printed mass media, distribution of electoral flyers, placement of electoral posters, public appeals as to voting for or against parties (blocs) or candidates for deputy) shall not be allowed. All pre-election publicity campaigning materials shall be removed as of 24.00 of the last Friday prior to the election day by the respectively authorized departments of the bodies of executive power and local self-government authorities.
19. No results of voter polling as to their votes shall be publicized before the end of the voting.
20. Any interference with the exercise of the right to pre-election publicity campaigning as well as any violation of the rules of such campaigning as set forth in the law shall entail liabilities stipulated in the laws of Ukraine.
21. Should an electoral commission receive a complaint or statement as to violations of the requirements set forth in p. 3, p. 6 and p. 12 through 17 of this Article, such commission shall immediately communicate the said complaint or statement to the respective law enforcement authorities for verification and response in compliance with the laws of Ukraine.
