BULB. What do political advertising materials need to contain

The Central Electoral Bureau has transmitted an information about what the political advertising material means and the information it must contain.

« The electoral processes are a fundamental pillar of a democratic society, and their correct development guarantees their legitimacy. A correct electoral process must involve, among others, a fair balance between freedom of expression, as provided in art. The reality, thus protecting the public opinion against the misinformation and manipulation of the options of the voters ”, states the bulb in information.

BEC shows that art. 16 para. (5) of GEO 1/2025 establishes that « in the elections for the President of Romania in 2025, any written, online, audio or video, in the election campaign, which urges voters directly or indirectly to choose or not choose, vote or not vote for an independent candidate or for a clearly identified political party is considered.

At the same time, art. 1 para. (1) of the decision of the AEP 9/2025 stipulates that in order for a material to be considered a political advertising material, it must cumulatively meet the following conditions:
* be prepared, edited, processed, placed, promoted, published, distributed and/or broadcast in the election campaign by a political actor;
* be a written, printed, audio, video or image, regardless of the dissemination environment;
* To urge the voters directly or indirectly to choose or not to choose, to vote or not to vote an independent candidate or a candidate of a political party, a political alliance, organizations of citizens belonging to national minorities or an electoral alliance.

Also, the provisions of art. 2 para. (1) of the Decision of the Permanent Electoral Authority no. 9/2025 establish the information that the political advertising distributed by the political actors must contain, regardless of their means of distribution, as follows:
Regardless of the means of distribution, including through the radio and television programs, as well as of the audiovisual media services, during the election campaign for the President of Romania in 2025, the political advertising materials distributed by the political actors must contain the following information:
* an indication of the fact that it represents a political advertising material;
* the candidate or the political formation at the request to which or on whose behalf it is prepared, placed, promoted, published, distributed or broadcast the political advertising material, respectively the name and e-mail address, as well as the candidate’s postal address, when it is publicly disclosed by him, or the address of the headquarters;
* A mention that the political advertising material has been the subject of techniques for targeting a target public or distributing the advertising materials, within the meaning of art. 3 point 11 and 12 of Regulation (EU) 2024/900 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 March 2024 on the transparency and targeting of a public public, when appropriate;
* A mention that the amounts spent for the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, distribution or dissemination of political advertising material come exclusively from the sources allowed by Law no. 334/2006, republished, with the subsequent modifications and completions;
* as the case may be, a mention that the political advertising material has been the subject of an electoral promotion or a paid electoral promotion;
* The unique identification code of the financial agent registered with the permanent electoral authority according to art. 34 para. (13) of Law no. 334/2006, republished, with the subsequent modifications and completions.

A series of legal provisions useful for the correct circumstance of the way of applying the norms regarding the political advertising materials are found in Law no. 334/2006, republished, with the subsequent modifications and completions, within art. 36 para. (4), as well as in art. 36 para. (7) of the Methodological Norms for the application of Law no. 334/2006 regarding the financing of the activity of the political parties and the election campaigns approved by the Government Decision no. 10/2016, with subsequent modifications and completions.

They establish who can bear the expenses regarding the realization of electoral propaganda materials, as well as the prohibition applicable to political parties, political alliances, electoral alliances, citizens’ organizations belonging to national minorities and independent candidates regarding the production of electoral propaganda materials in their own region.

« In conclusion, in the election campaign, the political advertising materials can be used by the persons who are or acquire the quality of political actors, in compliance with the legal provisions regarding the labeling, » says the Central Electoral Bureau.

At the same time, the bulb shows, it is important to remember that both the communications that are within the limits of the journalistic activity of information of the public, as well as the public opinions expressed in personal names by persons other than the political actors constitute political advertising materials, an aspect regulated, unequivocally, to art. 1 para. (2) of the decision of AEP 9/2025.

BEC states that all these rules directly concern the responsibility of the political actors and to ensure a correct information of the general public in order to guarantee the free expression and informed by all voters of the fundamental voting right and to prevent their misinformation.