Equality of opportunity

5. Respect for equality of opportunity is crucial for both referendums and elections. While in elections equality must be ensured between parties and between candidates, simply replicating this principle in the case of referendums may lead to an unsatisfactory situation. In countries with popular initiatives or optional referendums, these are often not instigated by a political party, and may even propose an option that is rejected by the largest parties – such as reducing the number of members of Parliament or public funding of parties. Accordingly, the guidelines emphasise equality between the supporters and opponents of the proposal, notably as concerns the coverage by the media, in particular in news broadcasts, as well as public subsidies and other forms of backing (points I.2.2.a-e).

6. It would be unrealistic to require a perfect balance between a text’s supporters and opponents in all cases. It may be that a degree of consensus emerges in one direction or the other – particularly in the case of a mandatory referendum on a proposal having required a qualified parliamentary majority. Supporters and opponents must always be guaranteed access to the public media, however. As long as this requirement is satisfied, account may be taken of the number of political parties supporting each option or of their election results, especially in news broadcasts (point I.2.2.c). For the debate broadcast in public media, a strict balance between supporters and opponents should be guaranteed (point I.2.2.b).