Electoral law and the electoral process in the Russian Federation. Electoral law and electoral legislation. What is suffrage

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abstract

Electoral law and the electoral process in the Russian Federationbuttions

Introduction

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The Constitution of the Russian Federation (Art. 3, 32) establishes that the highest direct expression of the power of the people is a referendum and free elections, citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to elect and be elected to state authorities and local governments, as well as participate in a referendum.

Any democratic state is inconceivable without elections. The basis of representative democracy is the holding of periodic and free elections.

Elections are the most important form of citizens' control over the activities of state and municipal bodies, the main criterion for conferring the status of a republican and, accordingly, sovereign people on a state. It is through elections that local self-government bodies and state authorities are formed both in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and at the federal level. The procedure for holding elections in Russia determines the electoral legislation, which is a set of legislative acts.

An integral part of the democratic, republican system is the electoral process as a means of forming a staff of civil servants through the will of citizens, all-round elections. This system of procedures and actions is, carried out in compliance with all rules and regulations, the guarantor of the independence and sovereignty of the people, their freedom.

In the modern period, in the context of growing public distrust of all institutions of power, the task of studying this issue itself is becoming increasingly important. Many people who are ignorant of this topic have a reluctance to participate in government, that is, in government by themselves, which is detrimental not only for him, but for all members of society. My task in this work is to consider in detail this political and legal action, a set of procedures called the "electoral process". In my work, I will try to reveal this topic as much as possible, for which I will use a huge layer of accumulated information - monographs, periodicals and educational literature. I hope that my work will contribute to strengthening the confidence of citizens in the electoral system, the electoral process, and in the government as a whole.

1. The concept of the electoral process and its stages

1 . 1 conceptelectoral process

"Suffrage rights of citizens - one of the main guarantees of a real transition to a system of political democracy ... that is, to a system of organization and functioning of institutions of state power and local self-government, based on the free political will of citizens, the periodic change of power based on the results of voting.

The totality of legal norms regulating the right of citizens to elect and be elected to public authorities and local self-government bodies and the procedure for exercising this right constitutes suffrage.

A feature of the electoral law is the high proportion of procedural norms (closely related to substantive legal norms) that establish the order, procedure and implementation of citizens' electoral rights. These rules govern all stages electoral process.

Attempts to create legislative acts regulating only the electoral process lead to a break in the systemic nature of the legal regulation of elections.

The electoral law and the electoral process are closely interrelated and together form a political and legal mechanism for the formation of the basic institutions of representative and electoral democracy. The electoral law substantively regulates certain aspects of public and state activity related to the acquisition and transfer of power to elected representatives, and the electoral process as a form of implementation of subjective political law reflects the technology of voters' participation in the exercise of power.

An essential component in the electoral process is the trust of voters in state and public institutions, election commissions, which ensure the organization and conduct of elections. Civil trust, being an integral element of the legal culture of citizens and society, determines the meaning of the modern electoral process.

It seems justified to introduce and use in the scientific, legislative, law enforcement vocabulary, along with the concept of "organization and conduct of elections", the new concept of "electoral process", understood as a technological infrastructure and a form of implementation of the constitutional principles of organizing periodic free elections and ensuring the electoral rights of a person and a citizen within the framework of the sequence of the commission of a complex of electoral actions and electoral procedures prescribed by law. The concept of "electoral process" is broader in its content and scope and includes, along with organizational, technological and informational and financial aspects, some new aspects that reflect the current socio-political conditions for the implementation of electoral actions and procedures. The organization and holding of elections is carried out within the framework of the election campaign as the main temporary factor in the performance of electoral actions and the implementation of electoral procedures that ensure the implementation and protection of the constitutional right of citizens of the Russian Federation to elect and be elected to state authorities and local governments.

What is new in the modern electoral process and electoral law is not only in the content of substantive, procedural and procedural norms and legal institutions, but also in understanding the political and legal nature of the electoral process as a way to ensure the implementation and protection of active and passive electoral rights of citizens of the Russian Federation. The electoral process in this sense is not only and not so much a predominantly administrative technological process as a public political action, within the framework of which the political legal personality of citizens-voters unfolds and through their will the activity of representative, as well as elective institutions of power and management is reproduced and legitimized, the legal the right of the sovereignty of the people and the republican form of government.

In modern conditions, the concept of "electoral process" has been significantly enriched due to the formation of a set of auxiliary elements: firstly, active legislative activity, as well as the activities of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and courts of general jurisdiction, aimed at improving, harmonizing and systematizing federal and regional electoral legislation, unification of legal forms and methods for the implementation of electoral actions and procedures, ensuring and protecting the constitutional electoral rights of citizens; secondly, the development, adoption and implementation of measures of federal and regional targeted programs to improve the legal culture of voters and election organizers, professionalization of the activities of election commissions and other participants in the electoral process; thirdly, the organization of the electoral process on the basis of political competitiveness, transparency of electoral actions and procedures.

The constitutional principles of the organization of the electoral process, as guiding and guiding principles for the organization and holding of elections within the framework of the relevant electoral system, are aimed, in particular, at ensuring the constitutional equality of citizens and their right to elect and be elected to public authorities and local self-government bodies, the representative nature of the legislative body of the state authorities, holding elections on the basis of the law, the obligation to call and hold elections in the manner and within the time limits established by the constitution and laws.

The electoral process as a political and legal category and at the same time a category of electoral legislation and practice of its application, including judicial, is used in a broad and narrow sense, and its specific use is predetermined by the time frame (beginning and end) of its structural disclosure (deployment) in the form of a sequence of stages electoral process. The term "election process" absorbs the content of the term "election campaign" as the period from the day of the official publication of the decision of an authorized official, public authority, including the court, local self-government body on calling elections until the day of the official publication of the election results, i.e. associated with the need for an authorized body or official to make a decision on setting the date of elections and sending it for official publication within the time limits and procedure established by the constitution, charter, law.In the narrow sense, the "election process" as a formalized phenomenon includes a set of stages established by law ensuring its integrity and the legitimacy of the election results, and the stages, in turn, include a set of specific electoral procedures and electoral actions.The democratic electoral process is part of the political process and regime established in the country, and directly is associated with the general conditions for the development of democratic institutions that form the socio-political and socio-cultural infrastructure for the implementation of citizens' electoral rights. In addition, before the start of a specific election campaign, it is necessary to take a number of important actions and procedures, thanks to which the electoral process is not only a legal technique for organizing voting, but also an institution that ensures political stability and continuity, democracy and the legality of power.

1.2 Understanding the stages of the electoral process

Along with the general logical unity of the electoral process, it is necessary to note its division into stages in accordance with the needs, needs, goals and methods of implementation. The electoral process in the Russian Federation includes a set of stages established by law, consisting of specific electoral procedures and electoral actions. The stages of the electoral process are the stages of organizing and conducting elections, within the framework of which the electoral actions provided for by laws are carried out, as well as electoral procedures that ensure the exercise of the electoral rights of citizens of the Russian Federation and other participants in the elections, the integrity, completeness and legitimacy of the electoral process in the formation of a representative body, election elected official. Only a set of legally necessary and sufficient procedures and actions, stages as elements of the electoral process can ensure the constitutional and legal legitimacy of elections.

The main stages of the electoral process are: 1) appointment of elections (adoption by an authorized state body, local self-government body, official of a decision on setting the date of elections, including in the order of rotation of a part of the deputy corps); 2) registration and compilation of lists of voters; 3) formation of electoral districts, polling stations, 3) formation of election commissions; 5) nomination of candidates (lists of candidates) and their registration; 6) pre-election campaign; 7) voting and determination of voting results, election results and their publication; 8) in the cases provided for by law, repeat voting, repeat elections, elections of deputies and officials instead of those who have left, this stage can be attributed to the optional stages of the electoral process.

The functional purpose of the stages of the electoral process is to ensure the consistent in time and phased in content implementation of various electoral actions and procedures that ensure the legitimate nature of the elections and the election of the relevant elected persons. A number of elements of the organization of the electoral process are of a service, auxiliary (technological) nature. Thus, holding elections is impossible without their timely financing. Under these conditions, the main technological elements of the organization of the electoral process, to a certain extent of their functional characteristics, serve the corresponding stages of the electoral process.

The time of electoral actions (the timing of the implementation of electoral and procedures within the stages of the electoral process of an election campaign) is both political and legal time. Time is an integral element of the organization of elections and has an independent technological and legal significance in the structure of the electoral process. It is associated with the emergence, change or termination of the relevant electoral legal relations; it acts as a legal fact and the subject of legal regulation, is considered as a political resource of the election campaign, the improper or inefficient use of which significantly limits the potential of specific participants in the electoral process. Electoral commissions, taking into account the level and type of elections, draw up and approve a calendar plan of events for the preparation and conduct of elections based on the relevant law on elections. The electoral calendar actually and legally regulates the timing of the implementation of certain electoral actions and procedures at a particular stage of the electoral process.

Along with technological components (terms, financing, etc.), the actual structural elements of the main stages of the electoral process are electoral procedures and electoral actions. Electoral procedures are a specific procedure for performing (performing) a set of actions provided for by the electoral legislation, making decisions by the relevant election commissions that ensure the exercise of the electoral rights of election participants at the appropriate stages of the electoral process.

Electoral actions, by the nature of their inclusion in the structures of the electoral procedure and the stage of the electoral process, are their primary organizational and legal cell, ensuring their dynamic deployment and completion during the elections. In the electoral legislation, within the framework of most stages of the electoral process, both the requirements (criteria) for the performance of electoral actions and certain organizational and legal guarantees in the form of mandatory and optional electoral procedures are fixed, which, taking into account the observance of the relevant deadlines for their implementation, together ensure the functional completeness of the corresponding stage. electoral process, the transition from one stage to another, up to the last - the determination and publication of the election results. Compulsory and (or) optional electoral procedures, as well as their combination at various stages of the electoral process, are fixed in different ways, while in cases provided for by law, an optional electoral procedure may become mandatory (basic). The requirements (criteria) for the structural elements of the stage of the electoral process are expressed in the need to comply with both the deadlines for the commission of electoral actions, the implementation of electoral procedures and the duration of the stage of the electoral process, as well as certain quantitative ratios (proportions) of indicators of the electoral process provided for by law. If the main procedural variant is not fulfilled, an additional (optional) procedural variant is put into effect, which ensures the completion of the electoral procedure as a whole within the time limits established by law, while electoral actions and electoral procedures performed in violation of the requirements of the law are illegal.

The electoral legislation, in essence, is a catalog of legally defined electoral actions and procedures, guarantees and conditions for their implementation, which, taking into account the observance of the deadlines for their implementation, collectively ensure the transition from one stage of the electoral process to the next, up to the publication of official election results in the mass media. information. The legal regime for the implementation of electoral procedures and actions is expressed in specific rights and obligations that are vested in the participants of the electoral process at one stage or another of it and in compliance with the deadlines and rules for their implementation provided by law. Electoral actions and procedures carried out in violation of the requirements of the law (both in terms of their legal content and normative time) are legally null and void, have no legal force and, therefore, do not give rise to positive legal consequences.

2. Stages of the electoral process

2. 1 Calling elections

One of the main stages of the electoral process, which ensures the frequency of holding elections at the appropriate level, is the procedure for calling elections by authorized bodies or officials, as well as the procedure for rotating the composition of deputies of the regional legislative (representative) body of state power. The Constitution of the Russian Federation fixes the procedure for calling elections only to federal bodies of state power, the procedure for calling regional and municipal elections is fixed in the constitutions (charters), laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, charters of municipalities. At the same time, the Federal Law “On the Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation” emphasizes the mandatory nature of calling elections and strengthens the guarantees of voting rights of citizens in the absence of a law on elections of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, and establishes a unified approach to regulating the procedure for calling elections. , the list of subjects of the right to call elections has been clarified.

Firstly, the elections of bodies or elected persons are mandatory and are held within the time limits established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws, federal laws, constitutions, charters, laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, charters of municipalities.

Secondly, elections are appointed by an authorized body or official in accordance with the deadlines established by the said regulatory legal acts.

In general, the federal and regional electoral legislation enshrined several basic models for regulating the procedure for calling elections of the appropriate level and type. So, within the framework of one of them, the elections of the corresponding level (or levels) are appointed by the legislative (representative) body (one of its chambers) or the executive body of state power, a representative body of local self-government or an elected official of the municipality. Within the framework of other models, elections, in cases provided for by laws, are held by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, an election commission of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, or the date for holding regional and municipal elections is set by the courts and elections are conducted by a temporary election commission (according to the level of elections).

The procedure for calling elections to federal bodies of state power includes the procedure for calling general and early elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the President of the Russian Federation. In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation (clause “a” of article 84, part 2 of article 96), the Federal Law of June 21, 1995 “On Elections of Deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation”, elections are appointed by the President and the election day is the first Sunday after the expiration of the constitutional term for which the State Duma of the previous convocation was elected, while the period from the date of appointment to the day of elections must be at least four months. If the President does not call elections within the period established by law, the elections are held by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation on the first Sunday of the month following the month in which the powers of the State Duma expire. When the State Duma is dissolved in the cases and in the manner prescribed by the Constitution, the President simultaneously calls early elections and the election day in this case is the last Sunday before the expiration of three months from the date of its dissolution; at the same time, the terms of electoral actions established by law are reduced by a quarter. If the President, having dissolved the State Duma, does not call elections, they are held by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation on the first Sunday after the expiration of three months from the date of the dissolution of the Duma (Article 4).

In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation (clause “e” of Article 102) and the Federal Law of May 17, 1995 “On the Election of the President of the Russian Federation”, the presidential elections are appointed by the Federation Council as the upper house of the federal parliament and the election day is the first Sunday after the expiration of the constitutional the term for which the President was elected, while the calculation of the constitutional term for which he was elected begins from the day of his election; the period from the date of appointment to the election day must be at least four months. If the Federation Council does not call elections within the period established by law, the elections are held by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation on the first Sunday of the month following the month in which the powers of the President expire. When the President terminates the exercise of his powers before the expiration of the constitutional term, in the cases and in the manner prescribed by the Constitution, the Federation Council calls early presidential elections. Election day in this case is the last Sunday before the expiration of three months from the moment of early termination of the exercise of his powers by the President; in this case, the terms of electoral actions established by federal law are reduced by a quarter. If the Federation Council, having decided to remove the President from office, does not call elections, they are held by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation on the last Sunday before the expiration of three months from the day the President was removed from office (Article 4).

Legislative regulation of the procedure for appointing and holding elections of deputies of legislative (representative) bodies, heads of executive bodies of state power in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, although based on the provisions of the “framework” federal electoral legislation, nevertheless differs in a number of its aspects; however, some laws contain provisions on the procedure for calling the first and subsequent elections.

The procedure for appointing general elections of deputies of the legislative (representative) body of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation provides for the right of their initial appointment to the head of the executive power (Sverdlovsk region) or to the legislative (representative) body of state power (Tambov region). At the same time, the so-called transferable powers for their appointment are fixed. If the general elections are not scheduled by the representative body within the period established by law, then the head of the administration has the right to appoint them (in the Ryazan region it is stipulated that if the regional Duma does not take the appropriate decision, the head of the administration, no later than 100 days before the expiration of her term of office, decides on appointment of elections; in the Omsk region, elections are appointed by the head of the administration on the proposal of the Electoral Commission of the region) or the commission of the subject of the Russian Federation (Tambov region).

In accordance with the Federal Law “On the Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation”, as amended and supplemented by Federal Law No. 55-FZ of March 30, 1999, in the event of early termination of the powers of federal state authorities, state bodies authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local self-government bodies, elections must be scheduled no later than 14 days from the date of such termination of powers, and voting must be held no later than 180 days and no earlier than 70 days from the date of the decision to call elections.

Those constituent entities of the Russian Federation that have been given transitional powers to call elections for heads of administrations will have to make the necessary changes and additions to their legislative acts, because. the above-mentioned Federal Law unequivocally transferred the right to call initial and early elections in cases where the authorized body or official does not call elections on time and in accordance with the established procedure, to the relevant election commissions.

The election commission calls elections on the first or second Sunday of the month following the month in which the authority of the body or deputies expires or, accordingly, no later than 180 days from the date of early termination of the authority of the body or deputies.

The federal law provides for the case when the election commission does not call elections or it does not exist and cannot be formed in the manner prescribed by law. In this case, the elections are called by the relevant court of general jurisdiction on the basis of applications from voters, electoral associations (blocs), state authorities and local self-government bodies, and the prosecutor.

The procedure and subjects of the right to appoint elections of local self-government bodies differ significantly from elections at the federal and regional levels, which in some cases is due to the underdevelopment or inconsistency of the legal basis for organizing the local self-government system, the peculiarities of the procedure for appointing and holding municipal elections. Basically, several models of regulation of the subject composition and the procedure for calling municipal elections are used.

The laws establish a centralized, decentralized and mixed procedure for calling elections. Thus, within the framework of the centralized order, a number of elements of the organization of the electoral process are of a cross-cutting, serving (technological) nature - the elections of deputies of the representative body of local self-government and the head of the municipality are appointed by the regional legislative body of state power no later than three months before the expiration of the term of office of the existing bodies of local self-government (Tambovskaya region, Republic of Sakha).

Within the framework of the decentralized procedure, the election of both the representative body and the head of the municipality and other officials of local self-government is appointed by the representative body of local self-government no later than a certain number of days before the election day, or the period from the date of appointment to the election day must be at least three months.

The norm of paragraph 1 of Article 10 of the Federal Law, which obliges to officially publish decisions on calling elections, does not take into account the specifics of life in small municipalities (village council, volost, village council, etc.), whose local self-government bodies do not have their own printed publications, and the majority of residents in In modern conditions, newspapers are not subscribed. Therefore, the last sentence of paragraph 1 should be stated, approximately, as follows: “The said decision is subject to publication in the mass media or is brought to the attention of voters in another way (leaflets, posters, announcements, notices, etc.) no later than 5 days after its adoption.

It should be noted that in the current Federal Law, in contrast to the previous one, there are rules that prohibit changing (increasing or reducing) the term of office of existing bodies, elected officials or deputies, as well as providing for the mandatory holding of elections and regulating the procedure for their appointment (Articles 8 - 10 ). In this regard, the lack of a proper reaction of the prosecution authorities to the decision of the legislative bodies of the Belgorod Region and the city of Moscow to postpone the terms of the head of the regional administration and the mayor of the city from December 1999 to May 1999 and June 2000 to December 1999 is puzzling.

2 . 2 Compilation of voter lists

During elections, in order to exercise the rights of voters, familiarize them with data about themselves, as well as for the purpose of voting, the relevant election commissions compile lists of voters on the basis of information obtained using the state system of registration (account) of voters.

The procedure for compiling voter lists is established by the Federal Law "On the Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation", federal constitutional laws, other federal laws, laws of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, charters of municipalities.

The lists of voters at polling stations shall include citizens of the Russian Federation who, on the day of voting, have an active electoral right. In elections to local self-government bodies, the lists of voters in accordance with the international treaties of the Russian Federation and the corresponding federal laws, the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation include foreign citizens who have reached the age of 18, have not been recognized by the court as incompetent, are not held in places of deprivation of liberty by a court verdict and who permanently or predominantly reside in the territory of the municipality where elections are held. However, if paragraph 8 of article 4 of the federal law grants, in accordance with international treaties and the relevant federal laws, the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, to foreign citizens permanently residing in the territory of the corresponding municipality, the right to elect and be elected to local self-government bodies on the same terms as citizens of the Russian Federation, paragraph 4 of Article 18 of this law obliges to include in the lists of voters in local elections foreign citizens permanently or predominantly residing in the territory of the corresponding municipality, and therefore to provide them with an active suffrage. In my opinion, the reference in the above norms to the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is also inappropriate, since in accordance with paragraph "c" of Article 71 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the regulation and protection of the rights of citizens fall within the exclusive competence of the Russian Federation.

The basis for including a citizen of the Russian Federation in the list of voters at a particular polling station is the fact of his permanent or predominant, and in cases provided for by federal legislation or the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, also temporary residence in the territory of this polling station.

Military personnel who are conscripted for military service in military units, military organizations and institutions located on the territory of the corresponding municipality, if these military personnel did not permanently or predominantly reside on the territory of this municipality before being called up for military service, when elections to local governments are held are not included in the lists of voters and are not taken into account when determining the number of voters in the specified elections.

The list of voters is compiled by the relevant election commission, including using the state automated information system, separately for each polling station on the basis of information submitted in the prescribed form by authorized bodies or an official of local self-government, the commander of a military unit.

A citizen of the Russian Federation with an active right to vote, who is outside the territory of the Russian Federation on the day of voting at elections to federal bodies of state power and who did not have the opportunity to receive an absentee certificate or vote early, is included in the list of voters by the relevant precinct election commission upon his appearance on voting day to the premises of the precinct election commission for voting.

A citizen of the Russian Federation is included in the list of voters in only one polling station, the referendum precinct.

The list of voters is compiled in two copies. Information about voters included in the list of voters is arranged in alphabetical or other order (by settlements, streets, houses, by addresses of voters). The list shall indicate the last name, first name, patronymic, year of birth (at the age of 18 - additionally the day and month of birth), the address of the voter's place of permanent or primary residence. The list of voters is signed by the chairman and secretary of the territorial election commission, in the absence of a territorial election commission - by the district election commission, and after the transfer of the specified list to the precinct election commission - also by the chairman and secretary of the precinct election commission. At polling stations formed on the territory of a military unit, the list of voters is signed by the chairman and secretary of the precinct election commission. The list of voters is certified by the seals of the territorial (district) and precinct election commissions, respectively.

The respective territorial (district) electoral commission shall, by act, forward to precinct electoral commissions, referendum commissions the lists of voters of a particular electoral precinct no later than 25 days prior to voting day.

The precinct election commission shall update the list of voters and submit it for public review and additional clarification no later than 20 days prior to voting day. A citizen of the Russian Federation, who has an active right to vote, has the right to declare to the precinct election commission about his non-inclusion in the list of voters, about any error or inaccuracy in the list of voters. Within 24 hours, and on voting day - within 2 hours from the moment of application, but no later than the end of voting, the precinct election commission is obliged to check the application, as well as the submitted documents and either eliminate the error or inaccuracy, or give the applicant a written response indicating the reasons rejection of the application. Exclusion of a citizen from the list of voters after it is signed by the chairman and secretary of the territorial election commission is carried out only on the basis of information received from the relevant bodies that carry out registration (account) of voters. In this case, the date and reason for the exclusion of a citizen from the list shall be indicated in the list of voters. This entry is certified by the signature of the chairman of the precinct election commission. The decision of the precinct election commission may be appealed to a higher election commission (according to the level of elections) or to a court (at the location of the precinct election commission), which are obliged to consider the complaint within three days, and on voting day - immediately.

It is prohibited to make any changes to the lists of voters after the end of voting and the beginning of the counting of votes of voters.

2. 3 Formation of constituencies and polling stations

Formation of constituencies. For holding elections, electoral districts are formed on the basis of data on the number of voters registered in the respective territory, which are provided according to the level of elections by the executive bodies of state power or local self-government bodies, as well as by the commanders of military units. Not later than 70 days before voting day, the relevant election commission shall determine the scheme for the formation of electoral districts, in which their boundaries are indicated, a list of administrative-territorial units, or municipalities, or settlements included in each electoral district (if the electoral district includes a part of the territory of an administrative-territorial unit, or a municipality, or a settlement, the scheme should indicate the boundaries of this part of the territory of an administrative-territorial unit or a municipality, or a settlement) the number and center of each constituency, the number of voters in each constituency. The relevant representative body of state power, local self-government body approves the scheme for the formation of electoral districts no later than 60 days before voting day.

If there are no representative bodies of state power, local self-government bodies in the territory where elections are held or do not make a decision on the formation of electoral districts within the period established by law, elections are held in electoral districts, the scheme of which was approved during the elections to state authorities, bodies local government of the previous convocation. However, this rule does not take into account cases where elections of a representative body of the previous convocation were or could be held in districts formed according to norms that contradict the current Federal Law. A possible change in the size of the newly elected representative body turns this norm into complete nonsense. It would be more logical, in my opinion, to give in this case the right to approve the scheme of electoral districts of the relevant territorial election commission.

In accordance with Article 19 of the Federal Law, as amended and supplemented on March 30, 1999, in the Russian Federation, during elections, constituencies must be formed subject to the following requirements: approximate equality of single-member constituencies in the number of voters with a permissible deviation from the average voter representation norm of not more than by 10 percent, and in hard-to-reach and remote areas - by no more than 15 percent. When forming multi-member constituencies, an approximate equality in the number of voters per deputy mandate is observed. The deviation of the number of voters in a multi-mandate constituency from the average voter representation rate multiplied by the number of deputy mandates in this constituency may not exceed 10 percent, and in hard-to-reach and remote areas - 15 percent of the average voter representation rate. The strict requirement of this rule on the approximate equality of voters in a multi-member constituency per one mandate with a permissible deviation from the average representation rate by 10, and in hard-to-reach and remote areas by 15 percent is often unfeasible when holding elections of deputies of representative bodies of local self-government of constituent entities of the Russian Federation . For its implementation, some village councils have to make changes to the charters, in terms of determining the number of members of the representative body. On the other hand, this norm presupposes (and the practice of its implementation confirms the necessity) the formation of constituencies with different number of mandates during elections to the same representative body. By giving voters an unequal vote, the law contradicts the basic principle of suffrage - equal suffrage. And the point here should not be about the number of voters per mandate, but about the voter's right to vote for a certain (equal) number of candidates. These requirements may not be applied during elections to federal government bodies, other federal government bodies in the event that federal laws establish the obligation to form at least one electoral district on the territory of each subject of the Russian Federation. The list of hard-to-reach and remote areas is established by the law of the subject of the Russian Federation, which entered into force before the day of the official publication of the decision to call elections;

when electoral districts are formed in territories densely populated by indigenous peoples, the allowable deviation from the average rate of representation of voters in accordance with the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation may exceed the specified limit, but should not exceed 30 percent;

an electoral district constitutes a single territory, the formation of an electoral district from territories that do not border on each other is not allowed, except for cases established by federal laws, laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

If these requirements are met, the administrative-territorial structure (division) of a subject of the Russian Federation, the territory of municipalities is taken into account.

Publication (promulgation) of the scheme of formed electoral districts, including its graphic representation, is carried out by the relevant representative body of state power, local self-government body no later than 5 days after its approval.

If a multi-member constituency is formed, the number of seats to be distributed in this constituency may not exceed five.

The validity of this rule is highly questionable. Elections of deputies of representative bodies of local self-government in many regions of the country are held, as a rule, in multi-member constituencies. There are 353 municipalities in the Tambov region. In December 1995, a total of 2334 deputies were elected to the representative bodies of 320 such municipalities as the village council, the council (on average - 7 deputies). Over 280 representative bodies of such municipalities were elected from a single multi-mandatory constituency, which included the entire territory of the corresponding village council or possovet. This is basically the 7th-9th mandate district.

Holding elections according to this scheme of multi-member districts is justified both organizationally (in a small village council, 10 candidates for a seven-mandate district are recruited, and 14 candidates for seven single-mandate districts are far from always), and economically (less financial and other material costs for numerous district election commissions) .

So, in its current form, this norm-restriction absolutely does not take into account the diverse specifics of local elections in rural municipalities with a small population (village councils, volosts, etc.) in many regions of Russia where elections without any violations of the law and difficulties for voters can be held in multi-member constituencies with a large number of mandates.

It is necessary to change the wording of this norm and grant the right to establish a limit on the number of mandates in a multi-member constituency during elections to representative bodies of local self-government to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation represented by their legislative bodies.

Formation of constituencies. Polling stations shall be formed for conducting voting and counting the votes of voters. Polling stations are formed by the head of the municipality in agreement with the election commissions on the basis of data on the number of voters registered in the territory of the polling station, at the rate of no more than 3,000 voters in each station no later than 30 days before voting day at the elections.

In this case, the legislator invaded the competence of the representative body and the charter of local self-government and defined an elected official as the head of the municipality. This norm also does not specify the head of which municipality the plots are formed. In this connection, the experience of Soviet electoral legislation deserves attention. Thus, Article 16 of the Law of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic "On Elections to the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR" establishes that polling stations are formed by the executive committees of district, city (except for cities of district significance), district councils of people's deputies in cities.

Polling stations for citizens of the Russian Federation located in the territories of foreign states are formed by the heads of diplomatic missions or consular offices of the Russian Federation in the territory of their country of residence. The requirement for the number of voters in each polling station may not apply when polling stations are formed outside the territory of the Russian Federation.

The boundaries of the polling stations must not cross the boundaries of the electoral districts. The procedure for assigning electoral precincts formed outside the territory of the Russian Federation to electoral districts formed for holding elections to federal bodies of state power is determined by federal constitutional laws and federal laws.

In places of temporary residence of voters (hospitals, sanatoriums, rest homes and other places of temporary residence), in hard-to-reach and remote areas, on ships at sea on election day, and at polar stations, polling stations may be formed; such polling stations are included in the electoral districts at the place of their location or at the place of registration of the ship.

Military personnel vote at general polling stations. In military units, polling stations may be formed in cases, as well as in the manner and terms established by federal constitutional laws, federal laws, laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Lists of polling stations indicating their boundaries and numbers, locations of precinct election commissions and voting premises must be published by the head of the municipality no later than 25 days before election day.

2. 4 Formelection commissions

In a number of textbooks, the process of forming election commissions is taken out of the framework of the electoral process. If with regard to the procedure for the formation of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation and the election commissions of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, this can be agreed to some extent, because. these commissions are permanent state bodies that prepare and conduct elections and referendums in the Russian Federation, as well as legal entities, the terms of formation of which are not tied to the terms of any election campaigns (clause 11, article 21, clause 1 22, paragraph 10 of article 23 of the Federal Law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation”), then we cannot agree with this with regard to the procedure for the formation of territorial, district and precinct commissions, since the current legislation on elections, it is clearly defined that territorial district and precinct election commissions are formed no later than a certain period before election day.

So, the formation of election commissions at all levels is based on ensuring their independent status. The Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation consists of 15 members, of which: 5 are appointed by the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation from among the candidates proposed by factions in the State Duma, other deputy associations, as well as deputies of the State Duma (in this case, from one deputy association in the State Duma no more than one representative may be appointed); 5 are appointed by the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation from among the candidates proposed by the legislative (representative) and executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation; 5 President of the Russian Federation. The term of office of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (CEC) is 4 years.

The procedure for the formation of election commissions of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation has undergone significant changes in the course of improving the electoral system in the Russian Federation. In the Federal Law "On the Basic Guarantees of the Electoral Rights of Citizens of the Russian Federation" (1994), the formation of election commissions of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation was carried out by the legislative (representative) and executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Federation. However, the rule that at least half of the members of the commission were appointed by the legislature led to the fact that in practice one of the fundamental principles of the formation of commissions - the parity basis - was violated. In a number of regions, the electoral commissions consisted of two thirds of members appointed by the legislature, which undermined the independence of the commission.

In the Federal Law "On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation" (1997), this contradiction is eliminated: according to Article 23, the formation of election commissions of constituent entities of the Russian Federation is carried out by two branches of government on the basis of proposals from public associations, elected bodies local self-government, election commissions of the previous composition. At the same time, half of the members of the commission are appointed by the legislative (representative) body, and the other half - by the executive body of state power of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

Particular attention should be paid to the fact that the Federal Law of 1997 contains fundamentally new norms and provisions that significantly affect the process of forming election commissions of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. First of all, in accordance with Clause 1 of Article 23 of the Federal Law, both the legislative and executive bodies of state power are obliged to appoint at least one third of the number of commission members appointed by them on the basis of the proposals received from each of the electoral associations that have deputy factions in the State Duma, as well as on the basis of proposals from electoral associations that have parliamentary factions in the legislative body of the subject of the Russian Federation. At the same time, no more than one representative from each of the electoral associations may be appointed to the commission.

Topic 2. Suffrage: concept, principles and system

1. The concept and content of the electoral right. The suffrage of democratically developed states as a legal category is an institution of public law, which is a system of legal norms formulated in legislative and other regulatory legal acts (sources of law) that regulate social relations, activities (principles and rules of conduct) of subjects, establish their rights and duties in the sphere of the exercise of democracy - elections to state authorities and elected bodies of local self-government.

Modern electoral law must comply with certain international legal standards, developed mainly after the Second World War, when the process of rethinking the meaning of basic political and civil rights and human freedoms began intensively. These rights became the subject of close attention of international organizations and soon turned from an internal affair of this or that state into a matter of interstate importance.

The most important of these rights have been enshrined in international legal acts. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, states: "The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall find expression in periodic and unfalsified elections, which shall be held under universal and equal suffrage, by secret ballot or or through other equivalent forms that ensure freedom of voting" (Article 21)1. It echoes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966, which proclaimed for every citizen the right "to take part in the conduct of public affairs, either directly or through freely chosen representatives; to vote and be elected in genuine periodic elections." produced on the basis of universal and equal suffrage by secret ballot and ensuring the free expression of the will of voters" (Article 25)2.

To reveal the content of the electoral law and the mechanism of its application, it is necessary first of all to note that elections are an election campaign extended in time, a set of stages of electoral actions and procedures regulated by legislative and other regulatory legal acts.

The content of the electoral right is the principles, provisions and guarantees given by the state in the form of legal norms, according to which elections are held, actions are carried out and decisions are made by citizens, political parties, election commissions, other bodies empowered to prepare and conduct elections, other subjects of legal relations on various stages of the election campaign.

Based on international documents and experience in the development of representative democracy, the regulatory legal acts of many states enshrine a number of general principles of suffrage that make up its content, such as universal, equal and direct suffrage, the frequency of elections, the free expression of the will of voters by secret ballot, publicity and openness of elections. , the independence of the bodies involved in the preparation and conduct of election campaigns from state authorities, the provision of equal opportunities for candidates to conduct election campaigning, the competitiveness of applicants, other subjects of legal relations, the possibility of appealing against the actions and decisions of participants, as well as the results of elections to the court and some other principles.

The content of the electoral law is also the provisions regulating the stages, procedure, rules and procedures for the implementation of electoral actions and the adoption by the competent authorities of decisions: on registration or registration of voters, compilation of voter lists, formation of electoral districts, polling stations, nomination and registration of candidates, election campaigning, holding voting and summarizing its results and other issues. Finally, the content of the electoral law is made up of provisions that provide for the responsibility of persons who have violated the norms of the electoral law and the restoration of the subjective electoral rights of certain participants in the elections (candidates, political parties, voters, etc.).

It should be noted that public relations in connection with elections arise, change and terminate upon the occurrence of legal facts, that is, certain circumstances, situations, events, conditions and time periods with which the legislation connects these relations. The recognition of certain circumstances or conditions as legal facts is carried out by state bodies or other competent bodies, depending on the level of elections, as well as the stages of elections and electoral procedures.

For example, in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Poland "On elections to the Seimas", the President of the Republic of Poland calls elections no later than four months before the end of the Seimas. Elections are held on the first non-working day of the last month before the end of the term of the Seimas. In the event of a presidential decree on the dissolution of the Seimas, no later than seven days from the date of issuance of the decree, the day of elections to the new Seimas must be announced. According to the Law of the Czech Republic "On Elections to the Czech National Council", polling stations and premises for polling stations for each electoral district are determined by the council of the local, city or district national committee no later than 30 days before election day.

The right to vote is also commonly regarded as the state-guaranteed right of citizens to participate in elections. Distinguish between active and passive suffrage. Active suffrage - the direct or indirect right of citizens to have, upon reaching the age established by law, a decisive vote in the election of public authorities (deputies of parliaments, the head of state), local governments (municipalities, city halls, etc.) or to take part in the recall of members and heads of elected bodies. This right is exercised by the participation of a citizen in voting in elections or during a campaign to recall an elected person.

Passive suffrage - the right of citizens to be elected to public authorities and elected bodies of local self-government. Unlike active suffrage, it is implemented primarily by the candidate himself with the support of a much smaller number of citizens, but also through a more complex procedure, and may end with the election of a candidate. To do this, in a sequence determined by law, a number of actions are carried out both by the citizen himself and by other participants in the electoral process - from the nomination and registration of a citizen as a candidate to the conduct of election campaigning, counting votes and establishing election results. The realization by a citizen of a passive electoral right depends not only and not so much on this person, but on the will of other subjects of the election campaign. The election of a citizen nominated as a candidate is possible only with the direct and sufficient support of him by political parties and voters at various stages of the election campaign, in addition, it is necessary that at least the number of voters established by law vote for him.

Citizens acquire their subjective electoral rights upon reaching a certain age. At the same time, legislative acts may establish various grounds for acquiring active and passive suffrage. In most countries of the world, the right to vote (active suffrage) is granted to citizens upon reaching the age of majority (usually 18 years old), regardless of which body elections are held (several decades ago, in the USA, Great Britain and Canada, active suffrage was granted to citizens from the age of 21 ). Sometimes, mainly in elections to local self-government bodies, citizens are given the right to vote even at a younger age. In Germany, in the municipal elections in Lower Saxony, young people have the right to vote from the age of 16.

However, reaching the age of majority is not at all followed by the automatic endowment of a citizen with a passive suffrage right. For its acquisition in many states additional age limits are established, depending on the nature of the elections. Members of Parliament in Italy and Greece can be citizens who are 25 years of age by the time of the elections, in Portugal citizens who have reached the age of 35 have the right to be elected president, in Poland persons who have reached the age of 21 can become elected to the Seimas, the same age established for citizens of Lithuania in case of their nomination as candidates for deputies of the Lithuanian Seimas. In Romania, the age limit for election to the Assembly of Deputies (lower house of parliament) or local councils is 23 years, for election to the Senate (upper house of parliament) and for the presidency - 35 years.

The point of establishing the age limit is to give the opportunity to govern the country to citizens who have everyday skills and sufficient knowledge about the surrounding reality, who are able, based on their life experience, to make adequate decisions in the current situation.

Let us consider the main principles of subjective suffrage recognized by the world community - the conditions, the observance of which gives the elections a truly democratic character and makes their results legitimate. Serious deviations from these principles or their violation lead to the undermining of confidence in elections and voting results.

The principle of universality (or the absence of any discrimination) is that citizens can elect 1 and be elected upon reaching a certain age I, regardless of gender, race, nationality, attitude to religion and beliefs, and also, as a rule, regardless of property and official position. This principle does not contradict the establishment in the legislation of prohibitions on participation in elections for mentally ill persons and persons held in places of deprivation of liberty by a court verdict.

However, universal suffrage, especially passive suffrage, is limited by a number of additional conditions or qualifications related not only to age, but also to citizenship, birth, residence and other factors. The right to participate in elections is granted exclusively to citizens of the country, but not to stateless persons who have a residence permit (citizenship qualification), in some cases only citizens by birth have a passive electoral right (origin qualification). Regardless of the nature of the elections, in order to exercise the right to be elected, it is required to live in the area where the elections are held for a certain time (residency requirement).

These qualifications can be combined in various combinations and used also in the election of the highest officials of the state by the parliament. In accordance with the Constitution of the United States of America, the House of Representatives of Congress consists of members elected every two years by the people of each of the states. A person who has not reached the age of twenty-five, has not been a citizen of the United States for seven years, and is not a resident of the state where he is elected, cannot be a representative. According to the Greek Constitution, the elections of the President of the Republic are held by the Chamber of Deputies by open vote and by roll call. Any person who has Greek citizenship for at least five years, a Greek father, 40 full years of age and who has the right to vote2 can be elected President.

In Great Britain the right to be elected to the House of Commons is obtained by any citizen of Great Britain, the countries of the British Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland upon reaching 21 years of age, with the exception of those who have been declared bankrupt by a court; sentenced to more than one year in prison; is a minister of the Anglican Church, the churches of Scotland and Ireland, as well as the Roman Catholic Church; is a member of the House of Lords; is in the civil service as an official or a lawyer.

Most countries apply the principle of free elections, which means that citizens participate in elections voluntarily, without government coercion. They are given the opportunity to make their own decision whether or not to use their active or passive suffrage in elections. At the same time, if a small number of citizens took part in the elections, there are doubts whether the will of the people really became the basis of power, whether the elections can be recognized as valid, and the formed authorities as completely legitimate. In the legislation of each country, these issues are resolved in different ways, depending on the established traditions and the nature of election campaigns: elections can be recognized as valid regardless of the number of citizens who took part in them, or only when the minimum number of voters specified in the law took part in them . In the latter case, if the prescribed minimum (level) of voter participation is not reached, repeat elections are scheduled.

Non-participation of voters in elections is commonly called absenteeism. There are several reasons for it. There are political, economic, social, apolitical and other types of absenteeism. In case of political absenteeism, the voter, evading participation in the elections, thereby protests the political programs and platforms of the candidates, believing that none of them adequately meets his views and ideas, and sometimes that these elections do not change anything or in the current situations cannot be fair. With economic and social types of absenteeism, the voter protests against the reality surrounding him and the disorder of society (excessive stratification of society into rich and poor, unemployment, insufficient social security, etc.) and expresses disbelief that running candidates are able to take real measures to overcome these negative phenomena. Unlike the types of absenteeism listed above, where the voter uses his non-participation in elections as a political demonstration, apolitical absenteeism consists in an indifferent attitude, the absence of any interest of the voter in politics and elections.

In a number of countries (Australia, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Turkey), in order to overcome absenteeism and give the formed authorities more weight in elections, a mandatory vote is used, according to which participation in elections is mandatory for citizens. For non-participation in voting, in some cases moral responsibility occurs, in others a fine is imposed, the name of the evader is entered in a special list posted on the building of the municipal administration, sometimes (in Greece and Turkey) imprisonment is provided. A mandatory vote, like the free (voluntary) participation of citizens in elections, also has drawbacks. A mandatory vote gives the elected authorities the features of artificiality: the voter is placed in a position where he is sometimes obliged to vote against his will or without sufficient convictions, so he can vote "no matter for whom" or "like everyone else." Neither one nor the other can contribute to strengthening the authority of the elected government.

The principle of equal suffrage, that is, the equality of citizens in elections, is achieved with the help of norms-guarantees, as a rule, in two ways. First, by giving each voter usually only one vote (applying the "one person, one vote" principle), although it is possible to give one voter two or even three

the right is in many cases secured by education

borah approximately equal in number of constituencies. Thus, an equal weight of the votes of the electorate and an equal rate of representation are achieved.

Direct suffrage - the right of citizens to directly elect and be elected to public authorities and local governments is currently used in most countries with democratic regimes in the elections of the lower houses of parliaments, less often in the elections of the upper houses of parliaments and presidents, and almost everywhere - in elections local authorities. In contrast to direct indirect suffrage, it involves multi-stage elections (consisting of two or more stages), in which citizens first elect intermediate bodies (colleges, municipal and other entities, which are sometimes subordinate to the elected), and then these bodies elect elective body. A certain conglomerate of direct and indirect suffrage is also used in combination with a system of co-optation.

Belgium is very indicative in this regard, the parliament of which consists of two chambers - the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives has 212 members elected by direct and universal suffrage for a term of 4 years. The Senate consists of 184 members elected for 4 years. At the same time, the majority of senators (106) are elected by general and direct elections, another, smaller category of senators is elected by provincial councils, a third is co-opted by elected senators, and, finally, a separate, smallest category of senators are the sons of the monarch of Belgium who have reached the age of 18 or Belgian princes.

Voting in elections can be open or secret. In democratic electoral systems used to form public authorities, voting is by secret ballot. The principle of secret voting presupposes the exclusion of control over the expression of the will of voters, the creation of conditions for freedom of choice. This is achieved by a number of organizational guarantees and rules established by the electoral legislation. As a rule, ballots are not numbered1; to fill in the ballots, voters are provided with specially equipped booths or rooms in which the presence of unauthorized persons is not allowed. After filling, the ballots are dropped into the boxes, which exclude the possibility of access to the ballots until the end of the voting time and the beginning of the counting of votes.

2. The evolution of the electoral law of the Russian Federation. Elected democratic institutions in Russia arose at the beginning of the 20th century in connection with the relatively rapid development of new capitalist social relations during this period, the further structuring of society and the growing objective need to expand participation in government. Under these conditions, a parliamentary institution with limited representation and curtailed legislative powers was formed - the State Duma.

The main features of the suffrage of this period are class isolation, multi-stage elections, the exclusion from elections of the main number of the country's population due to the existence of various qualifications (settlement, property, etc.).

The organization and control over the conduct of the elections was carried out by the local administration, which directly involved the police. The general organization and control over the conduct of the elections were entrusted to the department of the Special Office of the Police Department, which was structurally part of the Ministry of the Interior.

The suffrage system of the initial stage of the Soviet period in the history of Russia was laid down by the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918. It substantiated the class approach to the formation of government and administration, declared the electivity of all bodies from top to bottom, and established multi-stage elections.

The right to elect and be elected was enjoyed by Russian citizens who had reached the age of 18 by the election day, regardless of gender, religion, nationality and settlement, if they earned their livelihood through productive and socially useful labor or were engaged in housekeeping, providing the possibility of productive labor. Voting rights were also vested in the military personnel of the Soviet Army and Navy, as well as foreign workers or peasants living in Russia.

These rights were deprived of persons who resorted to hired labor for profit, persons living on unearned income (interest on capital, enterprise income, income from property, etc.), private traders, trade and commercial intermediaries, monks and clergy churches and religious cults, employees and agents of the former police, a special corps of gendarmes and security departments, as well as members of the Romanov dynasty that reigned in Russia.

The USSR Constitution of 1936 significantly changed the electoral system. Elections were held on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. On the basis of Article 135 of the Constitution, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR adopted a resolution to terminate the proceedings on the deprivation of electoral rights of citizens of the USSR on the grounds of social origin, property status and past activities1.

In 1988, as part of the reforms carried out in the USSR and the Union republics in the field of state building, the transformations also affected the electoral system. It was proposed that the elections of people's deputies be held in single-member or multi-member constituencies on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot (this did not apply, however, to the procedure for electing people's deputies from public organizations). It was also stipulated that "the number of candidates for people's deputies is not limited" and "any number of candidates can be included in the ballot."

Describing the Soviet stage of suffrage, it should be noted that the principles of suffrage and the construction of electoral systems were enshrined in Soviet constitutions, were further developed and detailed regulation in laws and other regulatory legal acts. However, the election campaigns were in many respects overly organized and formal, the elections, as a rule, were held on a non-alternative basis, and therefore their results were predetermined.

The current stage of development of the electoral law and the electoral system of the Russian Federation dates back to the end of 1993. The Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated September 21, 1993 "On the gradual constitutional reform in the Russian Federation" suspended the exercise of legislative, administrative and control functions by the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation1. Subsequent decrees of the President of the Russian Federation introduced significant changes to the electoral system. After the first elections to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation were held and the new Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted as a result of a popular vote (December 1993), the development of suffrage took place on a constitutional basis. At the federal level and in each of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, packages of legislative and other legal acts containing the norms of the electoral law were adopted.

It is on constitutional principles that the modern foundations of the electoral rights of Russian citizens are based. The Russian Federation, according to Articles 1 and 10 of the Constitution, is a democratic federal state with a republican form of government. State power in Russia is exercised on the basis of division into legislative, executive and judicial. Article 3 of the Constitution states that the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the Russian Federation is its multinational people. The people exercise their power directly, as well as through state authorities and local self-government bodies. The highest direct expression of the power of the people is the referendum and free elections.

At the federal level, the President of the Russian Federation and deputies of the lower house of the Russian parliament - the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation - are elected for a period of 4 years. The upper house of parliament - the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation is formed by entering into it two representatives from each subject of the Russian Federation: the head of the legislative (representative) and the head of the executive bodies of state power, ex officio.

These legal realities had to correspond to qualitatively new forms of unified legal regulation of elections both to federal state authorities and to state authorities and local self-government in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The first federal law in the chain of the latest electoral legislation, adopted in accordance with the federal Constitution, was the Federal Law "On Basic Guarantees of the Electoral Rights of Citizens of the Russian Federation" (1994), repealed (and - accordingly - replaced) by the Federal Law of September 19, 1997 "On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation". This act fixed the basic provisions and "standards" of democratic free elections: the principles of citizens' participation in elections, the main stages and procedures of the electoral process, guarantees of the electoral rights of citizens and the activities of other participants in the election campaign, determined the status of election commissions and regulated a number of other issues of organizing and conducting elections. . According to the Russian Constitution, laws and other normative legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on elections cannot contradict this Federal Law.

The federal law developed the provisions of the Constitution regarding elections and filled in some of its gaps. Thus, according to the Constitution, on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot, only the President of the Russian Federation is elected (Article 81). The law also proclaimed that these principles should be applied in all elections in the Russian Federation.

Universal suffrage (according to Article 4 of the said Federal Law) means that a citizen of the Russian Federation who has reached the age of 18, regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, place of residence, attitude to religion, beliefs, affiliation to public associations and other circumstances, has the right to elect, and upon reaching the age established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law "On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation", other federal laws, laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation - to be elected to state authorities and elected bodies of local self-government. The inadmissibility of restrictions on the electoral rights of citizens follows from Article 19 of the Constitution, which guarantees the equality of rights and freedoms of man and citizen, regardless of the circumstances listed above.

At the same time, according to Article 32 of the Constitution and the Federal Law, citizens recognized by the court as legally incompetent, as well as citizens held in places of deprivation of liberty by a court verdict, do not have the right to elect and be elected. It should be noted that these restrictions are temporary. They are automatically removed after release from places of deprivation of liberty or upon recognition of a citizen by a court decision as capable. Foreign citizens and stateless persons residing in the territory of Russia also do not have the right to vote, unless otherwise provided by an international treaty of the Russian Federation or Federal Law.

Active suffrage (the right to elect), as we see, arises for a citizen of the Russian Federation upon reaching the age of 18. The grounds and procedure for acquiring Russian citizenship are determined by the Law of the Russian Federation of November 28, 1991 "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation". However, the acquisition by a citizen of a passive electoral right (the right to be elected) by the Constitution and federal legislation in a number of cases is made (for example, during the election of the President of the Russian Federation) dependent on additional factors or conditions, primarily on reaching a certain age, as well as on the period of residence of a citizen for certain territory of the Russian Federation. In other words, it is limited by qualifications (age and residence). The introduction of other, in addition to the above, additional qualifications is unacceptable. The establishment of specific restrictions on age and length of residence depends on the nature of the elections.

Thus, according to Articles 81 and 97 of the Constitution, a citizen no younger than 35 years of age who has permanently resided in the Russian Federation for at least 10 years can be elected President of the Russian Federation, and a citizen who has reached 21 years of age and has the right to participate in elections can be elected a deputy of the State Duma. The Federal Law "On the Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation" determines that the minimum age of a candidate cannot exceed 21 years in elections to the legislative (representative) bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, 30 years - in the elections of the head of the executive body of state power (President) of the subject of the Russian Federation and 21 years old - in elections to local governments.

The principle of equal suffrage means that the grounds for the participation of voters in elections must be equal and ensured in the exercise of both active and passive suffrage.

With regard to active suffrage, this means that each voter has an equal (same) number of votes when voting, and also has the right to equal representation of deputies in legislative (representative) bodies of power and elected bodies of local self-government with other voters. The latter is ensured by the formation of electoral districts approximately equal in number of voters during elections. The principle of equal suffrage is also ensured by the fact that a voter is included in only one list of voters at the polling station at the place of his permanent or predominant residence and can vote only once.

The number of votes that a voter has depends on the electoral system used in elections to a particular body, and in a referendum, on the number of questions put to a popular vote. For example, if elections are held under the majoritarian electoral system in single-member districts, each voter is entitled to one vote. If elections are held according to the same system, but in multi-member districts, the voter receives as many votes as it is necessary to elect deputies in the district. In elections under a mixed electoral system (with the simultaneous use of the majoritarian system and the proportional representation system), the voter has at least two votes: one vote he has the right to cast for a candidate in a single-mandate constituency (or vote against all candidates), and the second - for the list electoral association (or vote against all lists).

It is according to the mixed electoral system that the elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation are held. In accordance with the Constitution, the State Duma consists of 450 deputies: 225 deputies are elected in single-mandate (one district - one deputy) electoral districts on the basis of a single norm for the representation of voters per district, with the exception of electoral districts formed in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the number of voters in which is less uniform norm of representation. 225 deputies are elected in a federal constituency in proportion to the number of votes cast for federal lists of candidates nominated by electoral associations, electoral blocs.

During elections of deputies of the State Duma, each voter receives and fills in two ballot papers of various forms - a ballot paper for a federal constituency and a ballot paper for a single-seat electoral district. In the first ballot, the voter puts any sign in the empty square to the right of the name of the electoral association, electoral bloc for whose federal list of candidates he votes, or in the square to the right of the line "Against all federal lists of candidates." On the second ballot, the voter puts any sign in the empty square to the right of the name of the candidate for whom he votes, or in the square to the right of the line "Against all candidates". Therefore, he has two voices.

With regard to the implementation of passive suffrage, the principle of equal suffrage means that all citizens are provided with the same conditions for exercising their right to be elected. Any citizen, depending on the nature of the elections, having reached a certain age and permanently or predominantly residing in the territory where the elections are held, has the right, on an equal basis with others, to put forward his candidacy and apply for election. All candidates must have equal rights and bear equal responsibilities at all stages of the electoral process, in particular, they must have equal opportunities in conducting election campaigning and creating election funds, and be equal before the law and the courts.

Direct suffrage means that the voter votes in elections in the Russian Federation for or against candidates (list of candidates) directly. Direct elections make it possible to establish a direct connection between voters and deputies, heads of executive bodies of state power and elected officials of local self-government bodies. At the same time, the federal electoral legislation does not currently provide for the so-called imperative mandate, which should include the obligation of voters to give orders to their candidates during elections, systematic reports of deputies to voters and the right to recall deputies if they fail to comply with voters' orders.

Secret ballot means that during elections there is no possibility of any control over the will of voters. This is achieved by a number of organizational measures provided for in the legislation. Each voter votes personally, voting for other persons is not allowed. Ballot papers are issued to voters included in the voter lists upon presentation of a passport or other document proving their identity. Ballots are filled in by voters in specially equipped booths or rooms in which the presence of other persons is not allowed. Completed ballots are dropped by voters into sealed ballot boxes. A member of a precinct election commission must be immediately removed from participation in its work, and an observer must be removed from the polling station if they violate the secrecy of the vote or try to influence the will of the voter.

The reform of the electoral legislation and the electoral system in the Russian Federation has not yet been completed. It is necessary to eliminate many gaps and contradictions in the federal and regional electoral legislation, raise the status of the electoral system and introduce certain norms and guarantees of the electoral rights of Russian citizens in the field of constitutional and legal regulation.

3. The system of suffrage. In legal literature, suffrage is traditionally defined as an institution of constitutional law1. At the present stage of state-legal development, political, formal-legal and practical grounds have developed to consider the electoral law as an intersectoral complex institution1. In this sense, suffrage in the Russian Federation is a multi-level and ordered set of legal norms of various sectoral affiliations that regulate the content and process of exercising the political right of citizens of the Russian Federation to elect and be elected to state authorities and local governments in the form of organizing and holding democratic free periodicals. elections.

Suffrage as a system of legal norms differs in the objective and subjective sense. In an objective sense (as an intersectoral institution and a certain set of legal norms), suffrage regulates the procedure for implementing, ensuring and protecting the constitutional right of citizens of the Russian Federation to elect and be elected to state authorities and local governments during federal, regional and municipal elections. In a subjective sense, the electoral law determines the principles for the participation of citizens in elections on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot or the use of other procedures that ensure the freedom of voting.

According to the nature of the legal prescriptions contained in the federal electoral legislation and specific laws on elections, the system of electoral law is divided into norms and institutions of the general and special parts. The institutions of the general part establish the universal principles of the electoral law, the initial principles of the organization of the electoral process, the general legal regime for the implementation of individual stages, procedures and electoral actions. The institutions of the special part determine the specific procedures and conditions for the implementation of the norms of substantive electoral law during the preparation and conduct of elections. The institutional division of the electoral right is formally reflected in the general and special parts of the electoral codes, which have already been adopted in a number of subjects of the Russian Federation (for example, in the Voronezh, Belgorod regions, the Republic of Bashkortostan) and regulate the organization and conduct of all types of elections, including municipal elections. The main body of the norms of the electoral law are the rules regulating the main stages of the electoral process, which include the appointment of elections; formation of electoral districts, polling stations, compilation of voter lists; nomination of candidates (lists of candidates) and their registration; election campaigning; voting, determination of voting results, election results and their publication.

A fundamentally new legal element of the modern system of electoral law is the guarantee of electoral rights and the right to participate in a referendum of citizens of the Russian Federation. Guarantee norms perform a law enforcement function in the mechanism of legal regulation of all types of elections. The introduction of the institution of organizational, informational and procedural guarantees for the implementation and protection of the subjective political right of citizens into the electoral law is a qualitatively new step towards the development of modern electoral law.

A special place in the system of institutions of electoral law is occupied by the institution of responsibility for violating the electoral rights of citizens, including in the form of the possibility of disbanding electoral commissions in the event of decisions being made, actions (inaction) that violate the electoral rights of citizens and influenced the results of the will of the participants in the elections.

To classify and distribute the norms of the electoral law into separate subsystems (institutions and legal complexes), it is necessary to distinguish between the norms and institutions of substantive and procedural electoral law, which may be the object of an electoral dispute considered in court. Their protection is carried out within the framework of a certain type of legal proceedings and a branch of procedural legislation (criminal, civil, administrative).

In its most general form, the system of suffrage, taking into account the various bases for classifying the institutions that form it, includes:

norms of objective and subjective electoral law;

norms of the general and special parts;

warranty standards;

substantive and procedural norms.

Third experience

Then, to check and compare the received data, I performed the calculations:

Let's find the flight range from the equation y(x):

The maximum lifting height is found by the formula :

Then, after analyzing the data from the experiment, and the data obtained during the calculations, we can conclude that all values approximately coincide (the difference is the error in the calculations), which means that the third experiment was done correctly.

1. Suffrage: concept, content. 2

2. The concept of elections. Their types, functions and place in the mechanism for the implementation of popular representation. 2

3. Suffrage and electoral system (correlation of concepts). 2

5. The principle of free elections and guarantees for its implementation. 2

6. The principle of general elections and guarantees for its implementation. 3

7. The principle of direct elections and guarantees for its implementation. 3

8. The principle of equal elections and guarantees for its implementation. 3

10. The history of the development of institutions of electoral law in Russia. Continuity in electoral law. 3

11. The concept and main types of electoral systems. 4

12. Majority electoral system and its varieties. Positive and negative traits. 4

13. Proportional electoral system and its varieties. Positive and negative traits. five

14. Mixed electoral systems. five

15. Features of the Russian electoral system. five

16. Compliance of the Russian electoral system with international legal standards. five

17. The concept and types of sources of suffrage. 6

18. Federal electoral code-in (general characteristics). 6

19. Electoral law of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (general characteristics). 6

20. Features of the legal regulation of municipal elections. 7

21. International Electoral Standards. 7

22. Prospects for the development of the electoral system in Russia. 7

23. Acts of the CEC of the Russian Federation and their role in the organization of the electoral process. 8

24. The concept of "voter": legal characteristics. 8

25. Electoral qualifications: concept, types, expediency of introduction. 8

26. Absenteeism: concept, problems of reducing absenteeism. Improving the legal culture of voters. 8

27. The concept of electoral association. Formation and registration procedure. The role of political parties in the electoral process. nine

28. Forms and guarantees for the participation of an electoral association in elections. nine

29. Election commissions: system and procedure for formation. nine

30. Legal status of election commissions. Their function and place in the system of public authorities. nine

31. Term of office of election commissions. The dissolution of the electoral commission. 10

32. Legal status of the CEC of the Russian Federation: structure, powers, acts. 10

33. Powers and features of the legal status of election commissions of the subjects of the Russian Federation. eleven

34. Powers and features of the legal status of election commissions of municipalities. eleven

35. Powers and peculiarities of the legal status of district election commissions. eleven

36. Powers and features of the legal status of territorial election commissions. eleven

37. Powers and features of the legal status of precinct election commissions. 12

38. Status of members of election commissions. 12

39. The status of a member of the election commission with the right to consultative vote. 12

54. Ensuring equal status for registered candidates. Powers of registered candidates. 12

55. Guarantees for the activities of registered candidates. 13

56. Proxies of the candidate. 13

57. Prohibition on the use by the candidate of the advantages of his official or official position. fourteen

58. Termination (loss) of candidate status. fourteen

59. The institution of observers as one of the forms of control over elections. Forms of participation of observers in the electoral process. Types of observers. fourteen

60. Rights, duties and responsibilities of observers. Legal status of foreign observers. 15

1. Suffrage: concept, content.

The term "suffrage" is used in two senses.. Firstly, suffrage in an objective sense(positive suffrage) is a system of legal norms governing the preparation and conduct of elections. Secondly, suffrage in a subjective sense(subjective suffrage) - this is the right of a citizen to elect and be elected to state authorities and local self-government bodies.

Electoral process- it is a form of realization of the electoral rights of citizens, regulated by the norms of electoral law, the procedure for preparing and holding elections.

The carrier of sovereignty and the only source of power in the Russian Federation in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation is its multinational people. The people exercise their power directly, as well as through the organs of state power and local self-government. The highest direct expression of the power of the people is the referendum and free elections.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 32) assigns to the citizens of the Russian Federation the right to vote and be elected to state authorities and local self-government bodies (an exception to this right is established only for citizens recognized by a court as incompetent, as well as those held by a court verdict in places of deprivation of liberty).

The subject of IP is social relations arising in connection with the implementation of subjective suffrage: - active suffrage (the right to vote) and - passive suffrage (the right to be elected).

IP sources:

· Constitution of the Russian Federation. It finds consolidation of the republican form of government (Article 1), the fundamental principles of the electoral right, the recognition of free elections as a direct expression of the power of the people (Article 3). The Constitution enshrines the right of citizens to elect and be elected to bodies of state power and local self-government (Article 32); regulates the fundamental issues of holding elections of the President of the Russian Federation (Article 81) and deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (Article 95-97); stipulates the need for municipal elections in the system of local self-government in Russia (Article 130). These provisions of the Constitution have a direct impact on the formation of the electoral right, being the basic elements of the electoral law.

· Generally recognized principles and norms of international law and international dogs of the Russian Federation(Directly follows from the text of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which provides that these acts are an integral part of the legal system of the Russian Federation (Article 15). If an international treaty of the Russian Federation establishes other rules than those provided for by law, then the rules of the international treaty apply). These include: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1996; the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of November 4, 1950, with its protocols; Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the 1990 Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE; the European Charter of Local Self-Government of November 15, 1985; Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections, adopted at the 154th session of the Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on March 26, 1994, etc.

· FZ: FKZ of June 28, 2004 N 2-FKZ "On the referendum of the Russian Federation"; Federal Law No. 67-FZ of June 12, 2002 "On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation"; Federal Law of May 18, 2005 N 51-FZ "On the election of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation"; Federal Law No. 19-FZ of January 10, 2003 "On the Election of the President of the Russian Federation";

· Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation"On the Consular Office of the Russian Federation",

· Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation"On measures to assist election commissions in the exercise of powers in the preparation and conduct of elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the President of the Russian Federation", "On the procedure for issuing certificates to citizens of the Russian Federation who are in places of detention of suspects and accused persons for participation in elections or in a referendum ",

· Regulatory base of subjects of the Russian Federation occupies a significant place in the system of sources of suffrage and is represented by a wide range of legislative, often codified (electoral codes), acts adopted by representative bodies respectively. level,

· At the municipal level, acts (regulations) are adopted on the election of deputies of representative bodies of local self-government and elected officials(heads of cities and other municipalities), on a local referendum.

· Letters and clarifications of the CEC of the Russian Federation,

ELECTORAL LAW AND THE ELECTORAL PROCESS IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION