The Central Electoral Bureau for the elections for members of the European Parliament from Romania in 2024 and for local public administration authorities in 2024 (BEC) informs that on Friday, May 10, the electoral campaign for the elections of June 9 begins, from that moment applying the rules specific to this period regarding permitted actions and propaganda materials.
At the same time, according to the regulations in force, the use of discriminatory messages or slogans or messages inciting hatred and intolerance, as well as any forms, means, acts or actions of defamation and religious or ethnic enmity, is prohibited in the electoral campaign.
The Central Electoral Bureau strongly recommends that electoral competitors respect the general rules regarding the conduct of the electoral campaign, have a balanced, honest and constructive discourse and avoid distortion or manipulation of information in order to prevent the spread of fake news, disinformation actions and any slip-ups likely to affect the smooth running of the electoral process.
Electoral discourse and political messages transmitted by electoral competitors must be developed in such a way as to provide guarantees regarding the respect and promotion of the principles of democracy and to contribute to the development of a climate of integrity in the conduct of electoral campaigns, both out of respect for other competitors and for voters.
Voters deserve to have access to objective, factual and correct information in order to form their own opinion and make an informed decision.
In this sense, we consider it useful to go through the following documents:
ü Code of best practice on disinformation (consolidated version in 2022), available at this link https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/ro/policies/code-practice-disinformation;
ü Commission Recommendation (EU) 2023/2829 of 12 December 2023 on inclusive and resilient electoral processes in the Union and on strengthening the European character and the efficient conduct of elections for the European Parliament, available at the following link: https://www.roaep.ro/legislatie/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Recomandarea-UE-2023-2829.pdf;
ü The guide for preventing and combating voter disinformation actions, made by the Permanent Electoral Authority and available at the following link https://www.roaep.ro/prezentare/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ghid_prevenire_combatere_actiuni_dezinformare_alegator.pdf.
Constituency electoral offices ensure the correct conduct of the electoral campaign in the constituency in which they operate and resolve the complaints addressed to them regarding the prevention of a political party, organizations of citizens belonging to national minorities, political alliances, electoral alliances or an independent candidate from -conduct his electoral campaign under the conditions provided by law, as well as complaints regarding the violation of other incidental legal provisions.
Violation of legal norms attracts the application of contraventional or criminal sanctions, as the case may be.
The conduct of the electoral campaign in audiovisual media is carried out in accordance with the provisions of Law no. 33/2007, republished, with subsequent amendments, of Law no. 115/2015, with subsequent amendments and additions, of the Decision of the National Audiovisual Council no. 149 of April 3, 2024 regarding the rules for broadcasting the electoral campaign for the election of members from Romania to the European Parliament in 2024 and the Decision of the National Broadcasting Council no. 150 of April 3, 2024 regarding the rules for broadcasting the electoral campaign for the local elections of 2024.
The electoral campaign ends on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 7:00 a.m.
For more information, visit the website of the Central Electoral Office www.bec.ro
