Ref. Ares(2018)3317693 - 22/06/2018
Event on Democratic Participation and Electoral Matters
25-26 April 2018
1. The Slovak Republic has established general measures, which also apply to the media and
the social media. The election silence period begins 48 hours before the election day and
covers all forms of election campaigns for which a payment is usually made. The principle of
equality of candidates is applied in public media and in public spaces reserved by
municipalities. The financial limits for the election campaign are set by the Act on election
campaigns, depending on type of elections and on the bodies conducting an election
campaign depending on whether they are political parties, candidates or registered third
parties.
The Act on election campaigns lays down financial sanctions for violations of the election
silence period and for exceeding the financial limits. Compliance with the election silence
period and financial limits is controlled by the State Commission for the Elections and
Control of Political Parties Funding and by the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic by
their own activities and on the initiative of the public.
Conventional debates (including debates in the social media) by private persons for which a
payment is not usually made are an exception, as they are not considered an election
campaign.
2. The State Commission for the Elections and Control of Political Parties Funding dealt with
conducting an election campaign in the social media and adopted a resolution according to
which general election rules that are applied to other forms of election campaigns are also
applied to election campaign in the social media. The State Commission also adopted a
resolution according to which ordinary debates by private persons, for which a payment is
not usually made, constitute an exception as they are not considered an election campaign.
3. Political entities are required to keep all funds designated for an election campaign
(including an election campaign on the internet and social media) allocated on a special
transparent account and are required to deliver report on the funds spent on the election
campaign to the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic, which is then made public. All
items of an election campaign, including digital ads, must include information about the
customer and supplier.
4. Compliance with the Act on election campaigns is generally controlled by the State
Commission for the Elections and Control of Political Parties Funding and by the Ministry of
Interior of the Slovak Republic by their own activities and also on the initiative of the public.
Political advertising in the media is controlled by the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak
Republic and by the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission. The Slovak Republic does
not create online archives of political ads.
5. The Slovak Republic does not plan to introduce a role in formal fact checking for the
Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. Political parties, candidates and registered third
parties have the sole responsibility for the content of the election campaigns.
6. The Slovak Republic does not regulate the content of the election campaigns and leaves
its regulation to the political parties, candidates and registered third parties responsible for
its content.
7. Lists of voters in the Slovak Republic are managed by municipalities. All persons who
process data from these lists are required to keep confidentiality and protect personal data.
Data from lists of voters is not accessible to the public or political parties and therefore
cannot be accessed by third party data sources either.
8. + 9. Personal data is protected by the Act on Personal Data Protection. The compliance
with this act is controlled by the Office for Personal Data Protection of the Slovak Republic.
All persons who process personal data in connection with elections, including election
commission members, are guided by the Office for Personal Data Protection of the Slovak
Republic on how they should protect such personal data.