Main Principles of Information Support for Elections

1. Voters, including the ones with visual or auditory disabilities, shall be provided with the opportunity for access to diverse, objective and unbiased information necessary for making deliberate and free choices.

In order to ensure access to information for persons with visual or auditory disabilities, such information may be provided using available formats in the manner and in the scope specified by the Central Election Commission.

2. The information contained in the documents submitted to the respective election commission for the registration of candidates shall be open. District and territorial election commissions shall submit the information indicated in Part three of this Article for its publication on the official website of the Central Election Commission, pursuant to the procedure specified by this Code. Such information may be made public and provided in accordance with the procedure specified by the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Public Information”.

3. In accordance with the procedure provided for in this Code, territorial election commissions shall publish information on registered candidates on their websites (if available), or on the websites of the respective councils or in any other manner determined by these commissions, as well as, pursuant to this Code, they shall provide information on candidates, to the extent and in the manner established by the Central Election Commission, for the purposes of publication on the official website of the Central Election Commission. Information on registered candidates may be published on the official websites of the respective regional or territorial representations of the Central Election Commission in case of their formation. When conducting the election, the Central Election Commission shall post on its official website the information in a form of the data set organized in the format that makes it possible to process those data automatically by electronic means (a machine readable format) so that those data may be re-used, in particular, the information on each candidate’s last name, first name (all first names), and patronymic name (if any), date, month, year and place of birth, citizenship, time of residence in the territory of Ukraine (except for candidates registered to participate in local elections), information on position (occupation), place of employment, party membership, place of residence, existence or absence of criminal record, the nominating entity, the election programs of candidates or subjects of their nominations, and when holding the national election, the autobiography of the candidate submitted to the Central Election Commission.

4. The election commissions, mass media and information agencies, state executive bodies, state bodies of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, bodies of local self-government, their officials, civic associations, as well as other persons shall, when disseminating information on the election that shall not be considered election campaigning, pursuant to Article 51 of this Code, abide by the principles of unbiased, unprejudiced, balanced, reliable, complete and accurate information, and to avoid discrimination and sexism