After a first set of statements from Slovenia’s broadcaster earlier this week, RTV Slovenia has put out more information about a second letter sent by its director Ksenija Horvat to fellow EBU members.
Comprehensive data and an independent forensic audit
In her first letter, Horvat called into question the participation of Israel in the contest, in the context of a “[worsening] humanitarian situation in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories“. She also rose concerns about the voting process, describing a politicisation that affected the credibility of the results, asking for more details, especially a full and separate breakdown of online and telephone/text votes.
In her new letter, she goes further in her requests about the voting, asking for “comprehensive information on the televoting process of the Eurovision Song Contest, in particular regarding the 2023, 2024 and 2025 editions.” The larger request is that of a forensic, independent audit of Eurovision voting, the results of which should be made public.
Our concern stems from the obvious statistical irregularities observed in the Eurovision 2025 voting patterns, which – as in 2024 – seriously call into question the integrity of televoting. Without transparent access to the voting data, claims by the EBU or its operators that the voting was ‘valid’ only add to the doubt that the published results may not reflect the true preferences of viewers.
Ksenija Horvat in her second letter to EBU members
Similar requests were made last year, but RTV reveals that the EBU refused to give more information, explaining that such a disclosure was “not in line with EBU policy” and that the issue would be discussed in the upcoming reference group meeting. RTV SLO did not receive the information after the meeting.
A call for public accountability
Horvat also uses the argument that transparency is owed to the voters themselves, who spend money to vote.
When commercial confidentiality and public accountability conflict, any withholding of information must be clearly justified and demonstrable. Furthermore, viewers pay to send their votes in the expectation of a fair and transparent process, and therefore have a right to relevant information, especially when serious doubts arise about the integrity of the system.
Ksenija Horvat
She also pre-empts the expected response from the EBU, which could be that the disclosure of detailed votes could “harm the EBU’s commercial interests” or that the information could be confidential, by comparing this with the harm caused by the current lack of transparency.
[We expect] an explanation of how disclosure could significantly harm the EBU, the ESC or its service providers – and why such harm would outweigh the harm caused by the lack of transparency.Ksenija Horvat
How do you feel about these new statements from RTV Slovnia? What can we expect from the EBU in response? What kin of data would you like to analyse? Tell us more in the comments below or on social media at @escxtra!
