French Superior Audiovisual Council notice for the election evening of May 5, 2002 (2nd round of the presidential election)

First published on 30 April 2002 on the website : www.csa.fr

  • Notices
  • Electoral or referendum consultations
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On April 30, the French Superior Audiovisual Council adopted the following notice for all audiovisual media:
Under the provisions of article L.52-2 of the French Electoral Code,"in the event of general elections, no election results, whether partial or definitive, may be communicated to the public via the press or by any audiovisual communication means, in mainland France, before the last polling station in mainland France has closed. The same applies in overseas France before the shutdown of the last polling station in each of the departments concerned.
As the Commission nationale de contrôle de la campagne en vue de l'élection présidentielle recalled in its press release of April 29, 2002, the purpose of this legislative provision is to keep the free expression of each citizen's vote free from any pressure from individuals or circumstances. It is an essential element of the right to vote.
On April 21, 2002, the day of the first round of voting for the election of the President of the Republic, certain radio and television services announced, in a more or less allusive manner, well before 8 p.m., the shutdown time for polling stations in the major cities in mainland France, the result obtained by the candidate who came second.
Consequently, for the second round of voting on Sunday May 5, 2002, and for each of the two rounds of voting in the legislative elections of June 9 and 16, 2002, the French Superior Audiovisual Council demands :
- all radio stations to broadcast the following text regularly and repeatedly between 7pm and 8pm:"In order to maintain the free expression of each citizen's vote, the law prohibits the diffusion of any result or estimate before 8pm";
- to all TV channels, to announce on air, in a scrolling text that will run regularly and repeatedly between 7pm and 8pm, the following text:"In order to maintain the free expression of each citizen's vote, the law prohibits the diffusion of any result or estimate before 8pm". In addition, to ensure that the law is properly enforced, the French Superior Audiovisual Council is demanding that TV channels permanently display the hour, minute and second on screen as of 7.55pm.