Election silence - Wikipedia

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2024-11-01 14:30:03

Election silence,[ 1] blackout period,[ 2] [ 3] [ 4] pre-election silence, electoral silence, or campaign silence[ 5] is a ban on political campaigning or media coverage of a general election, before or during that election.

In some jurisdictions, such as Slovenia, Poland and Nepal, it is forbidden to try to convince people to vote for a specific candidate or political party on the day of election. Some jurisdictions have declared that, legally, election silence is in violation of law regarding freedom of speech. It is however used in some of the world's democracies "in order to balance out the campaigning and maintain a free voting environment".[ 5] Whereas in others, a more limited form of 'silence' operates where the media are prevented from commenting on campaign activities on polling day, and/or publication of opinion polls is illegal.

An election silence operates in some countries to allow a period for voters to reflect on events before casting their votes.[ 5] During this period no active campaigning by the candidates is allowed. Often polling is also banned.[ 5]

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