58 days left to the election, propaganda rules are clear
The Supreme Election Board (YSK) decision regarding the procedures and principles to be followed during the propaganda period in the President and parliamentary elections to be held on 14 May was published in the Official Gazette.
The YSK decision on the procedures and principles to be followed during the propaganda period in the Presidential Election and the 28th Term Parliamentary Election was published in the Official Gazette.
According to the decision, the propaganda process will begin on Friday, March 31, 2023 for the Presidential election and on Saturday, March 18, 2023 for the parliamentary elections, and will end on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at 18:00.
If the absolute majority of the valid votes cannot be achieved in the first round of the presidential election, the election will go to the second round. In the second round, the propaganda process will start on Monday, May 15, 2023, and will end on Saturday, May 27, 2023 at 18:00.
At the time of the election, verbal propaganda shall not be made collectively on public roads, in temples, in buildings and facilities that provide public service, and in squares other than those to be displayed by the district election boards. In which squares verbal propaganda can be made collectively will be determined by the district election boards.
LOTS WILL BE DRAWN
The district election board will determine the meeting areas in that electoral district until Friday, April 28, and the candidates participating in the election will be notified in writing. Candidates, within two days from the notification, will submit the meeting areas and duration they want to benefit from to the district election board in writing. Upon the application of more than one presidential candidate to make oral propaganda, the meeting, square, day, order and hours of the district election boards will be determined by drawing names until Monday, May 1, 2023 and notified to the relevant parties.
AT LEAST TWO HOURS
If more than one candidate applies for verbal propaganda at the designated meeting area on the same day and time, the propaganda period will be at least two hours. There will be a break of at least two hours between successive propaganda. If an agreement cannot be reached between the applicant candidates, the propaganda order will be determined by drawing a name. In case of an agreement between the candidates, the days and hours of propaganda can be changed without the consent of the other candidates/candidates.
ELECTION PROPAGANDA WILL NOT BE MADE ON CAMPUSES
There will be no collective verbal propaganda in open places from the end of the second hour after sunset until sunrise. Considering that all open and closed areas on the campuses of universities, where faculties, student dormitories, technical and administrative units are closed and where entrance and exit are controlled, are used by students and staff as a common area for public service, election propaganda and election meetings will not be held there. Oral propaganda will not be made abroad and at customs gates.
THEY CANNOT OPEN ELECTION OFFICE ABROAD.
As of Friday, March 31, 2023, when the nominations are finalized, presidential candidates will be able to open election offices in the country to carry out their work. However, candidates cannot open election offices abroad.
Political parties and independent candidates will be able to open election offices as of Saturday, March 18, 2023, the starting date of the election calendar. Without prejudice to other election activities, visual and audio propaganda can be made in the election offices, but the provisions of the legislation on environmental noise will have to be complied with in the audio broadcasts to be made in the election offices.
Election offices will be open to the public from 09:00 to 23:00. Announcements and advertising materials in the election offices will be removed on Saturday, May 13, 2023 (May 27, 2023, if the second vote remains), at 18.00, and the activities of the offices will end on this date.
Candidates will be able to make verbal, written and visual propaganda through announcements and adverti*****ts in the printed media published in the country or by opening a website until 18.00, one day before the election, from the start of the propaganda period. However, it will not be able to make written and visual propaganda by means of adverti*****ts and adverti*****ts in the printed media published abroad.
It will be forbidden to make propaganda by sending video, audio or written messages to citizens’ e-mail addresses, mobile or fixed phones. However, political parties will be able to send audio, video or text messages to their members about the candidate they support.
Within ten days before the voting day, no broadcasts or distributions will be made in favor of or against the candidate or in a way that will affect the vote of the citizens, under the name of mini-referendum, through written, oral and visual media and media, public opinion surveys, surveys, forecasts, information and communication phones. . Outside this period, in publications such as public opinion polls, surveys, forecasts and mini-referendums to be made in the country; principles of impartiality, truth and accuracy will have to be followed.
However, publications such as public opinion polls, polls, forecasts and mini-referendums will not be made abroad. At the time of public opinion polls and publication of surveys, it will be necessary to disclose by which organization the research was conducted, the number of subjects, and by whom the research was funded. In case of any violation of these rules, the matter will be reported to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, the Information Technologies and Communications Authority and the Access Providers Association.
PROPAGANDA PROHIBITED WITH SPEAKER
In the propaganda period, on the condition that it does not disturb the peace and comfort of the people, propaganda will be free with loudspeakers until the end of the second hour after sunset, only in open places in the country. On the other hand, during the hours of open or closed ground meetings on behalf of another candidate, it will be heard from the places and buildings where these meetings are held, and propaganda cannot be made with loudspeakers in a way that will disturb these meetings. Candidates, if they wish, will be able to benefit from the municipal loudspeakers, if any, on an equal basis, according to the program to be arranged by the district election board.
THE TURKISH FLAG AND RELIGIOUS PHRASES WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE
Candidates will be free to distribute all kinds of publications such as brochures, flyers, posters, banners or CD/DVD containing audio and video only within the country during the propaganda period. However; political parties and candidates will be prohibited from distributing or distributing any gifts or giveaways or having them distributed through third parties or institutions and organizations. Political parties and candidates will only be able to open stands within the country without prior permission, provided that they do not disturb the peace and welfare of the people and do not hinder pedestrian and vehicle traffic. The Turkish flag and religious inscriptions shall not be displayed on flyers and any other printed matter used for propaganda.
IT WILL BE SHARED EQUALLY
Except for the election time, no fee will be charged for the adverti*****ts and adverti*****t places allocated to the bidder free of charge. These places will be shared equally among the candidates.
Apart from the places prohibited in the Law No. 298, visual propaganda can also be made through fixed digital billboards suitable for display and adverti*****t placed in public areas. However, voice propaganda will not be possible with these tools.
OFFICERS CANNOT DISTRIBUTE ANNOUNCEMENTS
From the beginning of the propaganda period until the voting day, broadcasts containing propaganda will not be made in the adverti*****t places and vehicles in air, land, sea and rail system vehicles used in public transportation for public transportation, in or outside the city. The rule will also be valid in covered stops allocated to public transportation vehicles and in closed areas where passengers get on and off.
Employees as civil servants and servants in the state, annexed budget administrations, special provincial administrations, municipalities and their affiliated departments and establishments, economic state enterprises and the institutions and partnerships established by them, and other public legal entities will not be able to distribute adverti*****ts.
Propaganda will not be made abroad and at customs gates. The state, annexed budget administrations, special provincial administrations, municipalities and their affiliated departments and institutions, state economic enterprises and their institutions and partnerships, other public legal entities, public interest societies and entities subject to the Banking Law, in favor of or against any candidate or of citizens. They will be prohibited from making any kind of broadcasts in order to influence the game. Associations and foundations working in the public interest will not be able to take initiatives that may affect the vote of the electorate.
THEY CANNOT USE THE OFFICE CAR
Ministers and deputies will not be able to participate in the election propaganda trips to be made in the country with their office cars and vehicles allocated for official service. During the trips to be made for this purpose, receptions and farewells, ceremonies and official banquets will not be held as per the protocol. The prohibition in this article will also apply to the incumbent president if he is a candidate. No civil servants will be able to participate in election propaganda trips.
