Media Chiefs Demand Equal Treatment On Election Day

Editors-in-chief and directors of more than 10 of the leading pint, electronic and internet media in Bulgaria demanded equal treatment on election day over the announcing of exit poll results.

By law, the announcing of exit poll results on election day, before the closing of all polling stations, is forbidden. Some of the electronic media, however, have found their way around the ban and publish results, concealed as song charts, movie and book rankings and weather forecasts.

In a letter to the head of the Central Electoral Committee (CEC), Ivilina Aleksieva, asking how the equal treatment of all media will be provided, considering that at the previous elections some media were fined and others weren't.

According to the media chiefs, the ban on publishing exit poll results on election day was unnecessary and was depriving the voters of information and was underestimating their intelligence by assuming that exit poll results would swing their political choice.

"We are responsible to our audience for providing relevant information, but at the same time we are forbidden by law to inform them of the exit poll results," the media chiefs write. "In practice, in this age of advanced information technology, this ban cannot be applied equally to all and only "official" media can be prosecuted, unlike anonymous websites, blogs and social media posts."