The draft law significantly lowers the silence period during which opinion polls cannot be published by the media. This change is a positive improvement that adopts a previous recommendation of the OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission. The previous silence period was during the last 15 days before elections. Under the draft law, the restriction comes into effect at 24:00 hours on the Friday before Election Day (Article 67.18). This change reflects previous recommendations and has brought the restriction of publication of opinion polls in line with internationally accepted principals for the length of a silence period.[9]
