On Friday night into Saturday, October 30, 2021, in the first minute after the start of the election silence, an internet portal violated the election silence, contrary to the Electoral Code, by reporting live on the social networks and on the website about alleged activities of pre-election vote-buying in Ohrid.

In the live reporting, two persons who bring out content for several traditional and online media, pointed out members of a political party as organizers of alleged vote-buying. Although the party was not directly named, the two persons talked about its party colors and made a description with a clear depiction with which they revealed the identity of the indicated political party. This represent violation of the rules for media reporting during election silence and violation of Article 76-B of the Electoral Code.

The two persons, apart from personal observations, did not offer any evidence about these findings and about other accusations expressed during the live reporting at the expense of other entities.

Otherwise, this reporting is not the first of this kind for this internet portal, which in a similar way violated election silence in the first round of the local elections, then explicitly mentioning also the names of parties. But indirect describing of parties that clearly reveals the identity of the party and fan reporting is also an equally gross violation of the Electoral Code.

CIVIL will publish details about this case after the end of the election silence on Sunday at 7.00 pm. International observers will also be notified about the case. CIVIL calls on all competent bodies to react with appropriate procedures, and is available for materials and evidence for this case.

All information and field reports are subject to thorough examination by CIVIL’s Analytics Team. Once all facts are determined and confirmed, the report is handed over to the Editorial Office of CIVIL MEDIA and the Team for public relations for further communication and publishing.

CIVIL