How are general elections organized in russia

How are general elections organized in russia

Dates & Events
14 August 2022
Moscow time:

All events

Registration and Rejection
Within five days after filing complete nomination papers, the Central Electoral Commission either accepts or rejects the nomination on stated grounds. Candidates have a right of appeal to the Supreme Court, which has to rule within five days.
As it was said earlier, this year 5 people were nominated as candidates. And at least 12 people claimed their intension to be a candidate, but only 10 presented necessary documents to the Electoral Commission. At a later date, some of them were turned down for different reasons. For example, candidate from non-Duma party «Yabloko», Grigory Yavlinsky was rejected as having too many invalid signatures. He did not appeal to the Supreme Court, but denounced the decision as politically motivated. At last, only five candidates managed to file complete nomination papers. Four of them are from Duma’s parties and one is a nominator for himself.

Registered Candidates 2012
The following candidates have been successfully registered by the Central Election Commission:

Vladimir Putin, nominated by United Russia
Gennady Zyuganov, nominated by Communist Party of the Russian Federation
Sergey Mironov, nominated by A Just Russia
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, nominated by Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
Mikhail Prokhorov, independent.
You can read about all the candidates in detail in our special quide.

Electing a President
The winning candidate requires an absolute majority of the total vote. If no candidate secures this majority in the first-round ballot, then a second-round run off election must be held three weeks later in which the only contestants are the two front-running candidates in the first round.
In the five presidential elections, only once, in 1996, has a second round been needed, when voters chose between democrat Boris Eltsin and communist Gennady Zyuganov. The «Red Power» wasn’t able to defeat new political trend then.
According to precanvas, Vladimir Putin has enough per cents of supporters to ensure his victory in the first round, but still many believe the whole situation is not so evident and under some circumstances Putin can face the second round, as the number of his opponents is rather big.

Pre-election Campaign
The election legislation includes detailed provisions governing the conduct of electronic and print media during the campaign, inter alia providing for free and paid broadcast time and print space to all political parties registered in the elections on equal conditions for campaign purposes and obligations of state-controlled and private media. The law also requires equal media access for all parties, and that news items on election events must be separate from editorial commentary.

Voting
President of Russian Federation is elected by the country’s citizens on the ground of direct and universal elective franchise. Every citizen of Russian Federation older 18 has a voting right (excepting those who were deprived of electoral right by court’s decision).
The voting process is held at special polling stations in the presence of observers and electoral committee. Each voter shall vote in person. Voting for other voters shall not be allowed. The voter receives ballot paper with names of candidates and a short information about them on it. When receiving the ballot, a voter shall write the series and number of his/her passport or equivalent identity paper and put his/her signature in the voters list. Staying alone in a polling booth, the voter puts a tick in the special field near the name of the candidate he or she wants voting for. Then the ballot is dropped in a seal ballot-box.

Counting of Votes
The votes counting begins right after closing of the polling stations (8pm). Counting is made by the members of electoral committee in the presence of political observers. The preliminary results of voting are usually announced already an hour after polling stations’ closing, but these are just exit polls. More or less convincing results are published the next morning after the election day. And the final and official estimation is published only two weeks later. Still, the «next day results» are enough to announce the winner of the election campaign or to decide about the second round.

Voting system of the Russian Federation (elections to the State Duma)

In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, 450 members (deputies) are elected to the State Duma for a term of five years. Deputies are elected by Russian citizens eligible to cast a vote on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.

Elections of members of the State Duma are appointed by the President of the Russian Federation. The decision to call elections shall be made no earlier than 110 days and no later than 90 days before voting day. The voting day is the third Sunday of the month when the term of the previous State Duma expires. The term of the new State Duma starts on the voting date. The last elections during which the State Dima of the 7th convocation was elected were held on September 18, 2016.

Nowadays a mixed voting system is applied in Russia. 225 deputies, this is a half of the total number, are elected by majority voting in single-mandate constituencies (one constituency is one deputy), and the second half is elected by a proportional representation with a 5% barrier in a single federal district.

The number of votes cast for a federal list of candidates is defined as the sum of votes cast in each region of the Russian Federation and abroad. The federal constituency covers the entire territory of the Russian Federation.

Single-mandate constituencies are formed by dividing the total number of voters registered in Russia by 225 (the total number of single-mandate constituencies).

The European Elections Monitor

On 5th September Vladimir Putin, President of the Federation of Russia, made his decision to hold general elections on 2nd December public. 107.2 million Russians (-600,000 less in comparison with the general elections that took place on 7th December 2003) are due to vote. 6,000 candidates are officially running in the election that in Russia usually serves as a dress rehearsal for the presidential election that takes place immediately afterwards (2nd March 2008). 11 political parties have been given permission to stand in the election. Three parties – the Greens (Z), the National Union and the Party for Peace and Unity – were refused permission because the signatures they presented were declared invalid. Although the Ecologist Party put forward 70,000 signatures, the Electoral Commission considered that this list contained too many false signatures. «We counted 12,089 invalid signatures, i.e. 17.27%,» declared Electoral Commission manager, Maya Grichina. A maximum of 5% of false signatures is allowed in the support lists!

The Russian Political System

The Federal Assembly of the Federation of Russia comprises two Houses: the Federation Council, the Upper House, comprising 178 members and the State Duma, the Lower House, comprising 450 MPs elected for four years. The electoral law has been modified since the last general elections in December 2003. MPs are now elected by integral proportional representation using lists that may include up to 600 names each; this makes it possible to increase the number of well known personalities featured on the lists. In this way Vladimir Putin is on Unified Russia’s electoral lists, a party he is not even a member of! If he is elected he will not sit in the Duma. Until 2003 although half of the members of the Duma were elected by proportional representation the other 225 were appointed in single-member plurality constituencies which sometimes made it possible for some independent MPs to be elected.
In 2007 Russia will comprise one single electoral constituency and votes attributed to political parties will be accumulated across the entire country. A minimum of 7% of the vote (5% in 2003) is now necessary for a party to be represented in the Duma. However the Constitution stipulates that at least two political parties must be represented there. As a result if just one party wins more than 7% of the vote, the party which comes second will enter the Duma whatever the percentage of votes it achieves. In addition to this any party that wins over 3% of the vote will be reimbursed for its campaign expenses.
Vladimir Putin justified the change in voting method saying there was a need for centralisation and unification in the country. This was also the reason he used to justify the repeal of the election of regional governors by universal suffrage. Since 2004 the latter have been appointed by the president!

The rules of the electoral game have also been changed for the political parties. Political groups that rally at least 50,000 members (10,000 previously) or a minimum of 500 members in at least 44 of the country’s 49 regions can now be qualified as parties and therefore are able to run in the elections. «The parties have to represent a significant part of the population,» indicated Galina Fokina, manager of the registration bureau for political parties. Parties that are not represented in the present Duma must also pay a deposit of 60 million roubles (2 million euro) or have 200,000 signatures – 10,000 of them cannot be from the same region or from Russians living abroad. MPs can now no longer leave their party without running the risk of losing their seat; finally there is an obligatory minimum participation threshold (50%) for the general elections to be declared valid, likewise the possibility of voting «against all the candidates» has also been abolished.

8 political parties are represented in the present Duma:
— Unified Russia, a majority party supporting Vladimir Putin, led by present Duma spokesperson and former Home Minister Boris Gryzlov. Created in December 2001 after the merger of three parties (Unity, Motherland and All Russia) the party rallies one million members, it has 223 MPs;
— the Communist Party (KPRF), founded in 1993 is led by Gennadiy Zuganov; the party has 180,000 members and 52 seats;
— Rodina (Motherland), a coalition rallying the Regions Party, the National Rebirth Party and the Unified Socialist Party; 37 seats;
— the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), a nationalist, populist party founded in 1989 led by Vladimir Jirinovski; 36 seats;
— the People’s Party; 17 MPs;
— Yabloko (Apple), 4 seats;
— Union of Rightist Forces (SPS); 3 seats;
— the Agrarian Party (APR); 2 seats.
The Federation Council has 178 members i.e. 2 representatives of the legislative and executive power in each of the 89 units that make up the Federation of Russia (21 republics, 6 territories, 49 regions, 1 autonomous regions, 10 autonomous districts and two towns with federal status). Russia is divided into 7 federal constituencies (Centre, North-West, South, Volga Basin, Ural, Siberia and Far East), each being led by a plenipotentiary representative of the President.

One question remains: what does the future hold for Vladimir Putin?

«It is perfectly clear that President Vladimir Putin will leave his post in nearly one year’s time and that a new President will take his place,» maintained the deputy spokesperson of the Presidency of the Federation of Russia, Dmitri Peskov on 17th April last. Two months later Vladimir Putin said to the Figaro, «I do have an idea of what I shall do but I cannot talk about this. The time is not right. Everything will depend on the way political events occur at the end of this year and in 2008. There are several options.» On 12th September he surprised everyone by appointing as Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, former director of a sovkhoze and who since 2001 was the director of the Federal Department for Financial Surveillance in the fight against money laundering; he replaced Mikhail Fradkow in office since March 2004. Many political analysts were speculating about the appointment of Sergey Ivanov, former Defence Minister who was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister in February 2007 and also Dmitir Medvedev, also Deputy Prime Minister. The appointment of Viktor Zubkov, unknown to 85% of Russians bears a distinct resemblance to that of Vladimir Putin’s appointment by his predecessor as Head of State, Boris Yeltsin in 1999. Viktor Zubkov, who is 66 years old was Vladimir Putin’s deputy in the Committee for International Relations for the town of Saint-Petersburg which the President was head of at the time. On 14th September the Duma approved his appointment by 381 votes in favour 47 against and 8 abstentions.
The new Prime Minister placed the fight against the stimulation of the military-industrial network, symbolic of Russian power in the international arena (the defence budget increased by 30% under Vladimir Putin) and corruption at the top of his government’s list of priorities. As director of the Federal Department for Financial Surveillance he was instrumental in having Russia removed from the black list of the Financial Action Group, an intergovernmental body that fights against money laundering even though deputy prosecutor Alexander Bouksman believes that overall annual income from corruption lay at 33.5 billion dollars in 2001 and 240 billion in 2006 i.e. the equivalent of the State budget over five years!
Vladimir Putin’s strategy now seems clear to many analysts: since the Russian Constitution prohibits the Head of State from running for a third consecutive mandate, Viktor Zubkov will stand and be elected as President on 2nd March next, with Putin becoming his Prime Minister. Then Viktor Zubkow may leave his post before the end of his term in office in 2012 for health reasons for example, which would then enable a comeback by Vladimir Putin as Head of State. As interim President he might stand for the following presidential election and be quite legally set for another two terms in office.

When interviewed on 13th September about whether he might run for president on 2nd March next Viktor Zubkov answered: «If as Prime Minister I manage to achieve something of substance this might not be impossible.» Everyone believes that the Prime Minister cannot imagine running for President without having Vladimir Putin’s permission. «Leading a government is a perfectly realistic proposal but it is still too early to think of this. In order to do this a minimum of two criteria must be met: that Unified Russia wins the general elections on 2nd December next and elects an honest, competent, efficient, modest man as President with whom we can work together as a pair,» indicated Vladimir Putin on 1st October. As for Viktor Zubkov in April he said, «I believe that the best choice for the post of Prime Minister after March 2008 is Vladimir Putin.» The President in office excludes modifying the Russian Constitution so that he can stay in power whilst many are pushing him to do so. In order not to lose his credibility Vladimir Putin has therefore chosen another path, which remains a secret, to stay in power.

«It would be a serious mistake to think that everything has been settled: Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister, Viktor Zubkov as President followed by Viktor Zubkov’s resignation and the return of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin,» warns the director of the Centre for Political Studies in Moscow, Serguey Markov. «He will stay in power. Wherever he might be the centre of power will be based around him because it will be his team in power,» maintains political analyst Olga Kryshtanovskaya who in 2003 was the first to imagine a scenario in which Vladimir Putin would become Head of Government after the presidential election in 2008.

Vladimir Putin likes to compare himself with the 42nd American president, Franklin D Roosevelt (1932-1945), who was criticised in his time by his country’s elites. «In the end his development plan benefited everyone and led the USA to take the position they now occupy in the world economy and politics. Russia needs this for 15 to 20 years still: after that it will be able to pass over to an automatic mode and become more liberal,» indicates the Russian president who quotes the conversion of the rouble as an example of the Russia’s progress towards becoming a more liberal economy. Recalling that under Boris Yeltsin political uprising led Russia into a dead end and he defends the political system he has established. «Just think that people would come to power and not agree with the country’s development; it would be easy for them to overthrow [the current political system]; therefore it is important for Parliament to be effective.»

Vladimir Putin has restored State and public order in a country that had never experienced democracy; many Russians believe Putin has given them back a certain amount of dignity after consecutive years of humiliation and impoverishment when the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of the 1980’s. The president, who has an 80% positive opinion rate, also owes his popularity to the return of economic growth and political stability. However competition between the various political parties has significantly worsened over the last few years to a point where Vladimir Ryzhkov, MP and opponent of Vladimir Putin speaks of a «Dresden partisan system» so called after a regime in which, apart from the majority party, there are only puppet parties that are strictly controlled by the ruling power as was the case in the German Democratic Republic before 1989. «The other candidates do not appear on television, people feel that there is no other alternative,» explains journalist Grigori Pasko.

«Around 55% of the Russians want Vladimir Putin to stay in power. But this is not an overwhelming majority. He is not a Fidel Castro, Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini-like demagogue. People are not worried about him becoming President for life, 51% of Russians say they hardly need elections which are the business of the authorities and not of simple people. They really do not understand how democracy works, are indifferent to programmes and support strong leaders,» explains Lev Gudkov, director of the opinion institute Levada. A joke is going around Russia as follows: «Alexander Pushkin is our everything, Zurab Tsereteli is our everywhere and Vladimir Putin is our always». Only two men – Mikhail Gorbatchev and Boris Yeltsin left power in Russia of their own accord.
On 7th October last 10,000 members of Nashis (Ours), a youth movement supporting Putin marched through the streets of Moscow celebrating his 55th birthday. On the same day some Russians paid tribute to Anna Politkovskaia, a journalist assassinated a year earlier in Moscow.

The General Election Campaign

On 1st October last Vladimir Putin accepted to stand on the Unified Russia list, talking of the «essential upkeep of State stability and the continuity of political action,» in justification of his presence. In a long televised speech at the end of October he promoted Russia’s socio-economic results under his two terms in office as Head of State and notably the GDP growth rate of 7.7% (+1 point) maintaining that these good results did not only lie with the immense wealth of Russian natural resources (oil, gas, etc.) but 2/3 of the time other sectors had contributed such as construction, transport, communications, trade and investments. He mentioned the record level of the country’s gold reserves (296 billion euro). He recalled that obligatory military service would drop from 18 to 12 months in January next.
Inflation that lay at 8.5% over the first ten months of the year in 2007 is still quite worrying however. On 24th October the government signed an agreement with food industry producers and distributors to freeze prices on some basic products the prices of which have risen considerably (+50% for bread). Although inflation is very much linked to how the economy is working (distribution and logistics problems), this type of agreement enables leaders to provide an image of effectiveness and real power since the population is often convinced that inflation like all of the country’s economic problems are the result of a conspiracy and speculation on the part of producers and distributors. Vladimir Putin decided to raise military and retirement pensions as from 1st December next i.e. the day before the elections (Russia has 38.2 million pensioners).

Unified Russia the only political party allowed to advertise (!) chose as its electoral slogan ‘Vladimir Putin’s project is victory for Russia’. The ruling party repeats that there is no opposition in Russia, that popular movements are simply conspiracies conceived by the CIA or groups manipulated by foreign powers and the West which are trying to destabilise the country. Led by the Duma spokesperson and former Home Minister, Boris Gryzlov and by Emergency Minister Sergey Choïgou, Unified Russia can only perceive one real adversary: the Communist Party. «It is a party with a well established ideology and with its own electorate. Our greatest differences are ideological. They involve the country’s development and we believe that the Communist Party programme is bad for Russia,» maintains Oleg Morozov. Boris Gryzlov aims to win at least 60% of the vote on 2nd December next.

On 28th October 2006 a new party, Fair Russia (SR), was born of the merger between Rodina, led by Dimitri Rozoguine with the Pensioners’ Party (PP) whose leader is the present president of the Federation Council Sergey Mironov and the Party for Life (PJ). This party which lies to the left of the political scale supports Vladimir Putin and hopes to become the country’s second biggest party ahead of the Communist Party. It is however considered by many simply as Vladimir Putin’s plaything, in the ilk of Rodina created by the Kremlin to destroy the Communist Party during the general elections in December 2003. Although it is supposed to be fighting for greater social justice in reality it is responsible for stabilising the protest vote.
On 11th March last Unified Russia won in the local elections that took place in 14 regions (30 million Russians i.e. 1/3 of the population were called to renew their regional and town councils) winning 44.05% of the vote and 60% of the seats, against 16.04% for the Communist Party 15.53% for Fair Russia and 9.62% for the Liberal Democrat Party. Six in ten voters did not turn out to vote.

«The Communist Party project is that of the people,» is the slogan chosen by the Communist Party which as always stands as protector of the working class and the ardent defender of the role of the State in the economy.
The Liberal Democrat party has chosen to campaign under the slogan of «Return to the country». Agriculture, housing and roads comprise its three main priorities. «People have lived under various regimes, Communist for 70 years, Democratic for 20 years and Putin for the last eight. Today they realise that they need something else and that is the Liberal Democrat Party,» maintains Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The populist leader is fighting for the reunification of the former Soviet republics and the practice of Russian in all former USSR countries. The party accepted Andrei Lugovoy onto its lists, a businessman who owns a private security company but who has been accused by the British of assassinating Alexander Litvinenko on 23rd November 2006 – Mr Litvinenko was an opponent of Vladimir Putin and had been living in London since 2006. The two men met on 1st November 2006 and drank tea together in London before Alexandre Litvinenko fell ill and died some weeks later from polonium 210 poisoning; the latter is a rare radioactive isotope. On his deathbed Litvinenko accused Putin of having organised his assassination. Last May the UK demanded the extradition of Andrei Lugovoy of the Russian authorities, but this request was rejected by the Russian legal system which said that the Russian Constitution did not include the option of extraditing Russians to other States. If he is elected to the Duma on 2nd December Andrei Lugovoy could then enjoy parliamentary immunity.
Former world chess champion Gary Kasparov is one of Vladimir Putin’s most mediatised opponents. A member of ‘The Other Russia’, a party created in April 2006 and which includes extremely heteroclite members, Gary Kasparov will be the leading candidate on the list for the elections along with Viktor Gerashenko, former governor of the Russian Central Bank and writer Edward Limonov, leader of the National Bolshevik Bloc which has now been banned. Over the last few months ‘The Other Russia’ has organised a number of rallies against Vladimir Putin’s policies; often the marches were prohibited. Gary Kasparov, who was arrested in Pushkin Square in Moscow has been accused of causing public disorder and of organising an illegal demonstration on 14th April last; he had to pay a fine of 1,000 roubles (29€). «If Vladimir Putin’s regime stays in power the Russian State will collapse just like the Soviet Union because this type of government cannot withstand the test of modernity,» indicates Gary Kasparov adding «do not try and apply western criteria to describe what is happening in Russia». Gary Kasparov started off in politics two years ago. «I have always wanted to defend my country’s honour, I did so when playing chess, and I shall do so in the same way in politics. This is another game. One without rules.»
‘The Other Russia’ won the support of Mikhail Kassianov, former Prime Minister (200-2004), to Boris Yeltsine and Vladimir Ryikov an independent MP and chairman of the Republican Party which was banned because it did not have enough members!

On 20th October the former Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev created a new party, the Social Democratic Union. «We are putting our hopes into what Vladimir Putin is doing,» maintained the man who started perestroïka and glasnost who does however deplore «the restriction of scope for public politics and the lack of competition between political parties.» The Social Democratic Union cannot however take part in the upcoming general elections since the deadline for registration was set for 17th October!

There is a row going on between Russia and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Vladimir Putin has just decided to receive a number of observers, much lower than during the elections of December 2003, in time for these general elections (1,200 monitored the electoral operations at the time including over 400 OSCE observers). The OSCE did however say then that the general elections had not taken place according to all the criteria of a democratic election! Vladimir Putin accuses the OSCE of «being biased» against Russia.
According to a poll by VTsIOM on 27th and 28th October last Unified Russia is due to take 52.7% of the vote (247 seats), the Communist Party 15.6% (82 seats), Fair Russia 9.3% (49 seats) and the Liberal Democratic Party 7.5% (40 seats). Only four parties will therefore be represented in the Duma.
Pollster Levada asked the following question: «What do you think about Unified Russia officially becoming the country’s main political force in the ilk of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union with it being able to appoint people of its choice to positions of responsibility?» 49% said they were in favour of this. VTsIOM asked approximately the same question which reveals that 50% of Russians want a single party system. The youngest (18-24’s) and the oldest (over 55’s) are most in favour, the first because of indifference, the second because of nostalgia for the USSR.
«Only one thing is certain: the elections of December 2007 and the presidential of March 2008 in Russia will not be free, honest and truly pluralist elections,» wrote Marie Mendras, director of research at the Centre of International Studies and Research (CERI) in April 2007. This opinion is largely shared by the Russians. «The message is clear,» indicates political analyst Dmitri Oreshkin, «we cannot let Vladimir Putin go.» The official campaign started on 3rd November.

Results of the General Elections – 7th December 2003 in Russia

* This figures only include the results of the integral proportional election

The Russian Presidential Elections

by Lewis Madanick
Program Officer

International Foundation for Election Systems

The Woodrow Wilson Center

February 23, 2000

I. Introduction

1. In this presentation, I will outline the strong framework that exists for elections in Russia and impart some of my observations regarding recent political developments in Russia as it nears the date for electing its President. In this respect, I would have to agree with Frits Ermarth’s assessment that the «qualities of democracy and capitalism in Russia intermingle with qualities that are quite antithetical to normal democracy and capitalism.» in describing the concept of a «hybrid Russia.» 1

2. Recent events leading up to the Presidential election in March indicate that a solid electoral infrastructure exists in which a strong convergence of forces have emerged that favor the established Center-Left in Russia and this convergence strongly points to a successful outcome in the March 26, 2000 elections on behalf of the individual that has positioned himself to benefit most from it, Acting President Vladimir Putin.

4. In short, according to Vremya MN, the Russian electorate is able to vote «under the influence of a fleeting rapture, a momentary delusion, blind fear, weariness, universal hysteria, i.e. for any possible reason, but never according to common sense.» 3

5. Before discussing some of the specifics of Russian politics that have come to the fore for the Presidential elections, it is now appropriate to provide some of the background on the elections process, the conduct of the State Duma election in December, political developments in the Duma and how these factors impact on the Presidential election in March 2000.

II. Elections in Russia

1. The basis of the Russian election system was established in the years 1993-1995. In late 1992, the development of new election administration was initiated by a group of deputies and experts within the framework of the Constitutional Commission of the Congress of the Peoples Deputies of the Russian Federation. Their work, as modified, entered into force by Presidential Decree in the political crisis in the second half of 1993. On the basis of this decree, the first election to a new Russian Parliament was conducted.

2. Electoral reform efforts in Russia have centered on a stated commitment to guaranteeing the rights of its citizens in the electoral process. Nevertheless, protecting the rights of over 100 million voters is a daunting task. The framework law on the «Basic Guarantees of Election Rights and the Rights to Participate in a Referendum» entered into force in 1994. This law was annulled with the passage of a new Federal Law «On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right of Citizens of the Russian Federation to Participate in a Referendum» in September 1997. The Basic Guarantees law outlined a hierarchical structure of election commissions, formally recognized electoral associations and blocs as part of the political landscape, guaranteed the right of voters and candidates participating in the process, and developed fundamental principles for voting, counting and tabulation processes, among other innovations. Substantial modifications and additions have been incorporated in the framework Federal Law «On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Rights of Citizens of the Russian Federation to Participate in a Referendum» through significant amendments which were adopted in March 1999. These changes guarantee more fully the constitutional right of Russian Federation citizens to elect and be elected to bodies of state power and bodies of local self-government.

4. President Boris Yeltsin announced his resignation on December 31, 1999. In his official annual New Year’s address to the nation, Mr. Yeltsin stated that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would act as President until the next presidential elections. In accord with Russia’s Constitution, new presidential elections are to be held within three months of the resignation, death or incapacity of the president. Several hours prior to the New Year’s address to the nation President Yeltsin signed the new Federal Law on Election of the President of the Russian Federation that will now be used for organization and conduct of the presidential elections that have since been set for March 26, 2000. The new Law replaced the Law on the Election of the Russian President of the Russian Federation that was adopted in 1995 and brought it compliance with the Basic Guarantees Law.

5. While a good election law does not translate into well conducted, free or fair process, it is the framework within which the political actors must operate. It is essentially up to election administrators to ensure that these actors play by the rules of the game and that free and fair elections are conducted. The infrastructure for conducting elections in Russia consists of the following:

III. Duma Elections

A. Legal Framework

1. The Presidential decree of June 24, 1999 marked the official beginning of the campaign period for the Duma elections. This announcement was made concurrent with Yeltsin’s removal of Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin and the appointment of Vladimir Putin as Stepashin’s replacement. Yeltsin went even further by designating Putin as his chosen successor in next summer’s presidential election. Putin was confirmed as Prime Minister within days of his appointment.

2. During the State Duma election cycle, IFES assessed voting procedures in eight locations within Russia: Moscow City and Oblast, Tver, Tatarstan, Omsk, Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg, and Volgograd. The conduct of the election was carried out in a generally well-organized manner in most of the locations IFES observed. IFES also organized observations at 15 international voting locations in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Africa, the Near East, and the United States. I was based in Kaliningrad for during the State Duma elections

3. In general, IFES concludes that, with some exceptions, on election day, the election process worked. On the whole, the State Duma election was not compromised and the electorate declared its choices in a democratic manner. However, significant issues remain to be addressed with regard to the pre-election campaign period and the administration of elections on election day. These problems are significant, especially the pervasive use of state influence, as the electoral infrastructure in Russia has not been able to resolve them in the time between the State Duma and Presidential elections.

B. Pre-Election Campaign

1. Although the Duma elections were widely viewed, with some qualification, as free and fair, the pre-election campaign period was fraught with excessive abuses and illustrated a need for major improvement in the conduct of elections throughout Russia. The most apparent pre-election shortcomings were as follows (these are all overlapping and the first two are directly related):

2. As an indication of the influence of power that is integral to state infrastructures, I recall my first gut assessment of the Duma results upon hearing them. At that time, I had written, «I would say that the use of federal and local infrastructure by «parties of power» is the most pervasive influence on the results of these elections. Not only did Unity place itself in a populist position (brilliantly), but also their control of the resources of a former centralized system was pervasive and thorough.»

C. Election Day

1. On election day, IFES assessment teams reported irregularities ranging from removal of ballots from polling sites by voters, family voting and discrepancies in the vote count in several locations. One overarching concern that IFES noted throughout its election day assessment effort was the lack of standardization in the administration of elections throughout the country and an uncertainty on the part of election administrators as to proper procedures and conduct. These concerns had to do with the following:

— Problems regarding the Ballot, pre-signed Ballots, and Ballot placement
— Compilation and changes to Voter Lists
— Polling station size and voting booths
— Mobile ballot boxes
— Campaign materials in vicinity of polling stations
— Ballot counting and transmittal of results
— Unfamiliarity with new laws and procedures.

D. Results

Results of the 19 December
Russian State Duma Elections

Main principles of the political strcutre and Elections in Russia

Russia elects on the federal level ahead of state— thepresident— and alegislature— one of the two chambers of the Federal Assembly. The president is elected for at most two six-year terms by the people, and the president may only serve two consecutive terms. A candidate for president must be a citizen of Russia, at least thirty-five years of age, and a resident of the country for at least ten years. The Law on Presidential Elections requires that the winner receive more than 50 percent of the votes cast. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote (a highly probable result because of multiple candidacies), the top two vote-getters must face each other in a runoff election. Once the results of the first round are known, the runoff election must be held within fifteen days. A traditional provision allows voters to check off «none of the above,» meaning that a candidate in a two-person runoff might win without attaining a majority.

According to theConstitution of Russia, thePresident of Russiaishead of state, and of amulti-party systemwithexecutive powerexercised by the government, headed by thePrime Minister, who is appointed by the President with the parliament’s approval.Legislative poweris vested in the two chambers of theFederal Assembly of the Russian Federation, while the President and the government issue numerous legally binding laws.

Russia’s president determines the basic direction of Russia’s domestic and foreign policy and represents the Russian state within the country and in foreign affairs. The president appoints and recalls Russia’s ambassadors upon consultation with the legislature, accepts the credentials and letters of recall of foreign representatives, conducts international talks, and signs international treaties. Several prescribed powers put the president in a superior positionvis-à-visthe legislature. The president has broad authority to issue decrees and directives that have the force of law without legislative review, although the constitution notes that they must not contravene that document or other laws. Under certain conditions, the president may dissolve the State Duma, the lower house of parliament (as a whole, now called the Federal Assembly). The president has the prerogatives of scheduling referendums (a power previously reserved to the parliament), submitting draft laws to the State Duma, and promulgating federal laws. Under the 1993 constitution, if the president commits «grave crimes» or treason, the State Duma may file impeachment charges with the parliament’s upper house, the Federation Council. If the president is removed from office or becomes unable to exercise power because of serious illness, the prime minister is to temporarily assume the president’s duties; a presidential election then must be held within three months. The constitution does not provide for a vice president, and there is no specific procedure for determining whether the president is able to carry out his duties. The president chairs meetings of the Government, which he also may dismiss in its entirety. Upon the advice of the prime minister, the president can appoint or remove Government members, including the deputy prime ministers. The president submits candidates to the State Duma for the post of chairman of theCentral Bank of the Russian Federation(RCB) and may propose that the State Duma dismiss the chairman. In addition, the president submits candidates to the Federation Council for appointment as justices of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and the Superior Court of Arbitration, as well as candidates for the office of procurator general, Russia’s chief law enforcement officer. The president also appoints justices of federal district courts.

The constitution prescribes that the Government of Russia, which corresponds to the Western cabinet structure; consist of a prime minister (chairman of the Government), deputy prime ministers, and federal ministers and their ministries and departments. Within one week of appointment by the president and approval by the State Duma, the prime minister must submit to the president nominations for all subordinate Government positions, including deputy prime ministers and federal ministers. The prime minister carries out administration in line with the constitution and laws and presidential decrees. The ministries of the Government, which numbered 24 in mid-1996, execute credit and monetary policies and defense, foreign policy, and state security functions; ensure the rule of law and respect for human and civil rights; protect property; and take measures against crime. If the Government issues implementing decrees and directives that are at odds with legislation or presidential decrees, the president may rescind them. The Government formulates the state budget, submits it to the State Duma, and issues a report on its implementation.

In the Soviet period, some of Russia’s approximately 100 nationalities were granted their own ethnic enclaves, to which varying formal federal rights were attached. Other smaller or more dispersed nationalities did not receive such recognition. In most of these enclaves, ethnic Russians constituted a majority of the population, although the titular nationalities usually enjoyed disproportionate representation in local government bodies. Relations between the central government and the subordinate jurisdictions, and among those jurisdictions, became a political issue in the 1990s. The Russian Federation has made few changes in the Soviet pattern of regional jurisdictions. The 1993 constitution establishes a federal government and enumerates eighty-nine subnational jurisdictions, including twenty-one ethnic enclaves with the status of republics. There are ten autonomous regions, or okruga (sing., okrug ), and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (Yevreyskaya avtonomnaya oblast’, also known as Birobidzhan). Besides the ethnically identified jurisdictions, there are six territories (kraya ; sing., kray ) and forty-nine oblasts (provinces). The cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg are independent of surrounding jurisdictions; termed «cities of federal significance,» they have the same status as the oblasts. The ten autonomous regions and Birobidzhan are part of larger jurisdictions, either an oblast or a territory. As the power and influence of the central government have become diluted, governors and mayors have become the only relevant government authorities in many jurisdictions. Although Russia’s regions enjoy a degree of autonomous self-government, the election of regional governors was substituted by direct appointment by the president in 2005.

The Public Chamber is a state institution with 126 members created in 2005 inRussiato analyze draft legislation and monitor the activities of the parliament, government and othergovernment bodies of Russiaandits Federal Subjects. It has a role similar to an oversight committee and has consultative powers. A convocation of the chamber is in power for a two-year term. The creation of the chamber was suggested byVladimir Putin, President of Russia, on September 13, 2004, following theBeslan school hostage crisis. According to the law, on September 30, 2005, the President selected 42 members of the chamber who were supposed to have distinguished merit for the state and society.

1. Explain the underlined terms and expressions in the texts above.

2. Draw a comparison of the political systems and the systems of elections in the three countries according to the following criteria:

a) a type of political system

b) frequency of elections

c) branches of power

d) head of the government: general requirements, procedures of elections, and the extent of power

e) unique features of the political systems rooted in the country’s culture.

4. Explain how all the information above and the discussions you have had have raised your awareness on the political structures of the three countries.

5. Read the essay below, authored by Yulia Latynina, a well-known Russian journalist, which contests the fairness of the election systems in the world in general. Paraphrase underlined words and word expression and explain how your position differs or coincides with that of the author.

Letting Poor People Vote Is Dangerous

Механическое удерживание земляных масс: Механическое удерживание земляных масс на склоне обеспечивают контрфорсными сооружениями различных конструкций.