On Upholding the Principle of Equality Among Candidates in Information Coverage of the Rectoral Election

The election process for the position of Rector of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University is currently underway. The election will take place on September 24, 2026, with two registered candidates: Ruslan Vovk and Tetyana Kaganovska.

Given the particular responsibility of the university community for ensuring openness, transparency, and equal conditions for all participants in the electoral process, we draw the attention of heads of structural units and persons responsible for managing their official information resources on social media to the need for strict compliance with the established principles governing the election.

The Regulation on the Procedure for Electing the Rector of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University stipulates that the election shall be conducted on the principles of openness, transparency, secret and free expression of will, voluntary participation, democracy, and equality of rights for election participants. Clause 2.11 of the Regulation specifically establishes that all candidates have equal rights.

The need to further ensure this principle in the information sphere was confirmed by a decision of the Organizing Committee dated September 11, 2026, adopted following consideration of an appeal by one of the candidates. The decision explicitly provides for ensuring each candidate equal access to information resources and organizational opportunities on equal terms and to the maximum extent proportionate.

Until the electoral process is completed, we recommend refraining from posting and disseminating on official websites and social media pages of structural units any materials that could be perceived as support for, endorsement of, or informational promotion of a particular candidate.

This recommendation does not restrict the candidates' right to present their programs, positions, and vision for the development of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. The Regulation “On the Procedure for Electing the Rector of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University” provides candidates with the right to hold meetings with employees and students, freely present and discuss their election programs, while the programs themselves are published on the university's official website. The issue here is exclusively the need to distinguish between candidates' personal communication and the use of institutional information resources of the university and its structural units.

If a structural unit considers it appropriate to cover candidates' materials, we ask that a uniform approach be applied: both candidates should be provided with equal access to the relevant information resource, using identical or maximally proportionate formats, volumes, methods of dissemination, and conditions for publication. This applies, in particular, to Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, YouTube, and other official pages and channels of structural units.

At the same time, the principle of equality should be understood not formally, as a mechanical requirement for an identical number of publications, but substantively: as the absence of institutional advantages for any candidate and the provision of proportionate opportunities to access the university audience. This approach is consistent with the decision of the Organizing Committee for the Election of the Rector of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University dated September 11, 2026.

We also ask that a clear distinction be maintained between an employee's personal civic position and the official communication of a structural unit. Employees' personal social media pages should not be equated with the official information resources of structural units. Administration of an official account entails increased responsibility for institutional neutrality and equal treatment of participants in the electoral process.

We call on all participants in the electoral process and heads of structural units to help ensure that the election of the Rector takes place in an atmosphere of mutual respect, academic integrity, openness, and trust. Equal opportunities for candidates are not merely a procedural requirement but a necessary prerequisite for a free and informed choice by the university community.

We ask that the above recommendations be taken into account when administering the official information resources of structural units of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University until the electoral process is completed.