THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF RUSSIA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT 29 showing a drop in popularity of the Communist Party, which the applicants attributed to the propaganda campaign against it. 99. The applicants maintained that the Court could not rely on the factual findings of the Supreme Court because they were arbitrary. The Supreme Court had failed to investigate the applicants’ allegations and had not taken the steps proposed by the applicants, thus breaching its positive obligations under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. ii. Whether the elections were “free” in so far as the media coverage was concerned 100. The applicants maintained that Europe’s electoral heritage was based on five principles: universal, equal, free, secret and direct suffrage. They referred to the definition of “free elections” given by the Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Council in 1994 (see paragraph 54 above). The applicants also summarised the principles established in the documents of the Venice Commission on electoral law, in particular regarding the requirements of equality of opportunities between the candidates and impartiality of the State and publicly owned media (see paragraph 51 above). The applicants argued that in the 2003 elections those principles had not been respected. 101. The applicants referred to decision no. 15-P of 30 October 2003 by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation which held that elections could be deemed free only if they guaranteed the right to information and freedom of expression. For that reason, it was incumbent on the legislature to ensure the individual right to receive and disseminate information about elections, striking the right balance between two values protected by the Constitution – the right to free elections and freedom of expression and information – and avoiding any form of inequality or disproportionate restrictions. 102. Conditions imposed by the law must not curtail the right in question to such an extent as to impair its very essence and deprive it of its effectiveness. According to the applicants, the State could not enjoy a wide margin of appreciation if there existed a European consensus on the question. In the area of elections that consensus, in the applicants’ opinion, consisted of the following principles: (1) the State authorities should honour their duty of even-handedness during the electoral campaign; (2) mass media coverage of the electoral campaign should be objective and balanced; and (3) the State should ensure the principle of equality when informing the voters about political parties. 103. Turning to the present case, the applicants claimed that as a result of pro-government propaganda the voters were no longer able to make an informed choice. The applicants had no doubt that the propaganda campaign against them on Russian TV had been orchestrated by the Government. Thus, on 28 June 2006 Mr Surkov, the then deputy head of the Presidential