SMS messages and social media messages addressed to voters by a mayoral candidate in municipal elections may constitute a violation of the election moratorium

On June 4, 2025, by judgment  case file no. 14Svp/1/2025, in proceedings concerning the constitutionality and legality of the elections for mayor of the municipality of Štefanovce (Vranov nad Topľou district), held on March 15, 2025, the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic dismissed the unsuccessful candidate’s lawsuit. It stated that the election moratorium had been violated by the successful candidate’s sending SMS messages and messages on a social network to voters in the municipal elections, but it did not find such an intensity of this violation that it would be capable of influencing the outcome of the elections.

The Panel of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic investigated whether the law was violated in the municipal elections in the municipality of Štefanovce when the elected candidate for mayor of the municipality contacted voters via SMS messages and communication on social networks via the Messenger application during the election moratorium, asking for their support and promising that with their support and ideas he would “do his best in the municipality” and that with their joint efforts they would “achieve a lot”.

The candidate for mayor, who won the election by one vote, sent messages during the election moratorium with a general request for support for his candidacy and inviting voters and non-voters to a light snack. The Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic considered this communication to be an activity of the candidate aimed at promoting his activities, goals and program for the purpose of obtaining the position.

According to the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic, the mayor’s actions could establish a violation of the provisions of Section 2, Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Election Campaign Act. The court here stated that a significant part of the election campaign has recently moved to the online space and has fallen outside the framework of traditional mass media. According to the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic, case law must respond to this social development with an evolutionary interpretation of the law, to which it also subscribed. In order to answer the question of whether a promotional activity meets the concept of an election campaign, in the opinion of the court here, what is essential is not its form itself (whether it is carried out in the “offline” or “online” space), but its purpose (which is to obtain an elected position), content (which is to promote the activities, goals and program of a political party or candidate), the fact of providing its content to the voters’ disposal sphere and its attribution to a given political party or candidate, taking into account the specific circumstances of the individual case. The remuneration for promotional activities is only an indicative (auxiliary) factor.

The Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic concluded that sending SMS and electronic messages less than 48 hours before the day of the municipal elections with content promoting the activities, goals and program of a candidate can be considered a violation of the ban on conducting an election campaign during the election moratorium. On the other hand, the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic had to assess whether the established violation of the law was of such gravity and intensity as to call into question the result of the municipal elections and reasonably raise doubts that the elections and their results were an expression of the true will of the voters.

Assessing the content of the messages and their potential to shape the will of voters in deciding who to vote for in the mayoral elections, the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic found that these messages did not convey any new sudden information. The messages were of a general nature, did not contain specific facts and did not have a fundamental informative value about the candidate or his opponent. It cannot therefore be concluded that this was the dissemination of sudden information to which the opponent was not given the opportunity to react in the campaign, which would have violated the free competition of political forces. The invitation to refreshments was addressed equally to voters and non-voters of the mayoral candidate and therefore was not conditional on casting a vote for a specific candidate.

The Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic therefore did not see anything in the messages in question that could affect the free decision of voters on who they would vote for in the mayoral elections. Therefore, even if there was a violation of the Election Campaign Act, this violation could not have been of such gravity and intensity as to call into question the results of the elections and reasonably raise doubts as to whether the elections and their results were an expression of the true will of the voters. The Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic concluded that the content of the messages sent was not, in the circumstances of the case at hand, of such gravity and intensity as to be capable of influencing the opinion of even one of the voters. The content of these messages was so general that this electoral defect could not have reached the intensity justifying the conclusion that the elections were invalid.

The Senate decided unanimously, and no appeal is admissible against this judgment.

In the election case file no. 14Svp/1/2025, the Panel No. 14 of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic decided on June 4, 2025, consisting of the President of the Panel JUDr. Marián Trenčan and the members of the Panel JUDr. Katarína Cangárová, PhD., LL.M., prof. JUDr. PhDr. Petr Potásch, PhD., JUDr. Petra Príbelská, PhD. and JUDr. Marián Fečík.