Cyprus

[CY] Law Proposal for Banning Exit Polls and their Media Coverage

IRIS 2013-9:1/7

Christophoros Christophorou

Council of Europe expert in Media and Elections

In June 2013, a deputy of the Cypriot party Κίνημα Οικολόγων Περιβαλλοντιστών (KOΠ - Ecological and Environmental Movement) submitted a law proposal to the Cyprian Parliament aiming at prohibiting exit polls during election days and their dissemination on radio and television. The prohibition on exit polls and their coverage applies to all elections, be they at municipal, national or European level.

The public broadcaster and all other radio and television broadcasters are banned from screening or transmitting the results of any exit polls that directly or indirectly refer to elections. Offenders risk a fine of up to EUR 1,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both.

According to the explanatory memorandum attached to the proposal, exit polls and their media coverage are considered problematic in view of undue influence as could be seen “in particular after the closing of the ballots in the presidential elections of 17 February 2013”. They proved unreliable because they diverged from the actual results of the ballot, while partial results of the exit polls were used during the election by campaign teams in order to influence the will of the electorate, claims the deputy of the KOΠ faction, which is the smallest parliamentary group, with just one seat in the Cypriot parliament.