This period is guaranteed to be an intense one, involving preparation for voting itself, along with a variety of campaign issues. If the EMB has regulatory responsibilities in relation to the media, these will also come to the fore during this phase.

For the media themselves, the start of the campaign period is when election coverage really takes off.  A pre-organized EMB Media Relations Department will be better equipped to cope with the sudden media interest, than one that still has loose ends.  Similarly, if an EMB is responsible for monitoring the media, it is recommended that all legal frameworks and an effective monitoring system are established well before the campaign period begins By this stage the fundamental regulatory questions will already have been answered, with the media and contestants clearly understanding their roles and responsibilities:

• What laws or regulations govern media coverage of the campaign?
• Who is responsible for implementing these?
• What are the regulations governing direct access broadcasting?
• What are the regulations governing paid political advertising?
• What are the policies on hate speech and defamation, and any miscellaneous provisions on issues such as news blackouts and opinion polls?
• What is the mechanism if any member of the public, a political party or the media themselves has a complaint?

At this point the process of accreditation of journalists, if there is one, is also started.

A Media Relations Department will also be involved in numerous other communication activities.  They will be holding press conferences, releasing press releases and statements, holding media tours and so forth, in order to provide media with accurate and comprehensive information about the operations and decisions of the EMB, as well as progress of the election in general. Spokespersons and media relations staff members will be fielding questions on a wide variety of topics such as:

• Campaign laws;

• Complaints mechanisms and decisions;

• Polling station preparation;

• Voter education and voter information preparation;

• General logistics (such as transportation of ballots, or sensitive material);

• Counting procedures.

In many cases, media relations staff members will need to know how to direct media to relevant authorized bodies for various issues.  For example, if an electoral complaints body is separate from an EMB, the Media Relations Department will direct media to that body for issues concerning complaints.   This might also be true in instances where there is an established candidate vetting process by a third party.