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The Supreme Election Council (YSK) has released a nine-page statement on its official website and announced the rules and restrictions of electoral propaganda to be observed ahead of local elections on March 31, 2019.
Among the prohibitions announced by the Council are also the ban on sending messages to mobile phones and computers of voters as well as distributing them presents or goods, except for propaganda materials.
According to the statement, it will also be forbidden to publish public opinion polls, surveys or forecasts regarding the election or make broadcasts that can influence the opinions of the voters ten days before the election.
The Council has also announced that candidates will be permitted to make propaganda in all dialects and languages in addition to Turkish.
The freedom of electoral propaganda will enter into effect in the morning on March 21 and will end at 6 p.m. one day before the election (March 30).
Conditions of propaganda in open, closed spaces
Some of the rules and restrictions of electoral propaganda to be observed in open and closed spaces from January 31 to March 31, 2019 are as follows:
* It is forbidden to make propaganda on public roads, sanctuaries, public buildings and facilities.
* It is forbidden to make collective verbal propaganda in areas and squares which are not designated by the district elections boards.
* The authorized district election boards are obliged to specify the areas and squares where it will be allowed to hold election rallies and to inform political parties about its decision on March 9, 2019 the latest. As of this day, the political parties eligible to enter the elections will be obliged to notify the election boards about their desired meeting areas and dates in written form.
* In the event that two or more political parties demand to hold an election rally in the same place, the authorized district election board will draw lots and make its decision accordingly.
* No closed-space meeting can be held in sanctuaries, schools, military barracks, headquarters, or camps or other public places.
Propaganda on media and the Internet
Some of the rules and restrictions of electoral propaganda to be observed in media and on the Internet from January 1 to March 30, 2019 are as follows:
* It will be forbidden to engage in electoral propaganda by sending audio-visual or written messages to the electronic mail addresses of citizens or to their mobile and fixed phones.
* However, political parties will be permitted to send audio-visual or written messages to their members at all times.
* From March 21, 2019 to March 30, 2019 on 6 p.m., it will be forbidden to publish the results of public opinion polls, surveys or forecasts regarding the election or make broadcasts that can influence the opinions of the voters ten days before the election.
* When the results of public opinion polls and surveys are announced, it will be obligatory to indicate which organization has conducted and financed the survey as well as the number of the participants. (OI/HK/SD)
