Deputies have developed a procedure for holding elections under martial law

The Central Election Commission (CEC) will have to inform the President in the event of elections in martial law (MA) regions. Vedomosti found out the mechanism for holding elections under the EaP, which is mentioned in the amendments, which on Monday, May 15, will be considered by the State Duma Committee on State Construction.

The authenticity of the amendments to the electoral legislation was confirmed to Vedomosti by two sources in the State Duma. One of them says that amendments are also being prepared to the law on the EaP: the procedure for movement and holding pre-election events will be prescribed there.

Deputies propose to change the title of Art. 10.1 of the Law on Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights. Now it will be an article about holding elections not only when a high alert or emergency situation is introduced, but also martial law. Eight new paragraphs are added to this article on the conduct of elections when the EaP is introduced.

They say that with the introduction of the EP (now it operates only in four new regions), the governor has the right not earlier than 130 days and not later than 90 days before voting day to send to the CEC a proposal to hold elections in the territory of the subject. The CEC, no later than five days from the date of receipt of such a proposal, conducts consultations with the Ministry of Defense and the FSB, as a result of which it makes a decision to call elections, with the possibility of reducing the time for electoral actions, or to reject the proposal of the governor.

If the CEC makes a decision to call elections, it immediately informs the president about it, follows from the text of the amendments. And if the CEC rejects the proposal to hold elections, it immediately informs the governor. If the preparation and holding of elections in such a situation pose a threat to the life and health of citizens, the commission informs the head of state about this. If dangerous circumstances are eliminated, then the campaign can be resumed.

In addition, the amendments state that “the legislation of the Russian Federation on elections and referendums may establish other features of the preparation and conduct of elections, a referendum during the period of martial law.”

The appointment of elections, according to the bill, is carried out by the CEC at the suggestion of the heads of the territories, it also carries out an examination of regional regulations that establish the features of the elections, and may postpone the holding of already scheduled elections, says lawyer Oleg Zakharov. “It is unlikely that under such a procedure, exceptions to the usual rules will be significant, the CEC will ensure that all assumptions are accurate. Taking into account the right to postpone the voting itself, election commissions will obviously have wider opportunities in determining the timing of any electoral actions. They will try to meet the usual deadlines, but if, for example, they do not have time to print information posters for PECs in advance, they will have to change the deadlines. Maybe they will change the terms of nomination – this happens in ordinary by-elections, too, ”the expert says.

The bill on amendments to the electoral legislation was submitted to the State Duma by deputies and senators on March 28. Most of it concerned elections in new subjects. In particular, it spoke about the formation of extraterritorial districts, the procedure for the formation of which, as well as the conduct of voting, counting of votes and drawing up protocols, is determined by the CEC.

In particular, the creation of extraterritorial sites is necessary so that the Russian military can vote in elections in new regions, one of the deputies explained to Vedomosti. In addition to a passport or other document that replaces a passport, voters may provide “other documents” for voting. Among other changes, legislators remove the concept of “absentee ballots”, define places for observers and the media in polling stations, etc. The bill was adopted in the first reading on April 18.

The current amendments are focused on the regions where referendums were held last year and which were accepted into Russia, says one of the authors of the amendments, MP Leonid Ivlev (United Russia). The amendments are aimed at three goals, he says: “Hold elections in the new territories so that they choose the legislature of the subjects and municipal bodies. In addition, it is necessary to ensure the safety of voters, so there is an opportunity to suspend elections, continue the campaign, and also consult with the FSB and the Ministry of Defense.”

In addition, it is necessary to ensure the security of election commissions, he notes. Therefore, the counting of votes is possible not only in the PEC, but also in the TEC, the deputy says. Ivlev believes that the amendments will allow successful elections in new regions, for this the CEC is given additional powers “with which the commission will successfully cope.”

The deputies also prepared many other changes to the electoral legislation for the second reading. Now, when holding elections to federal government bodies and organizing presidential elections, it will be possible to allocate money from the budgets of the regions and local budgets to assist in the preparation of elections (including payments to members of election commissions) and to inform voters.

As Vedomosti wrote on April 4, employees of the presidential administration spoke about the preparation of the relevant amendments at a seminar for vice-governors, explaining this by the need to involve the commissions in work on turnout.

Corresponding amendments are made to the law on presidential elections. Bodies of state power and local self-government, state and municipal institutions that provide premises for election commissions should not require them to pay utility bills. “The rule that federal elections can be financed from regional and local budgets can be called revolutionary. The regions have always lacked this in order to intensify the struggle for an electoral result within the boundaries of their subject in the presidential elections,” says Zakharov.

The article on the formation of polling stations adds the possibility of creating polling stations outside the region where elections to the state authorities of the subject are held. The peculiarities of the formation of such polling stations, the compilation of voter lists, protocols on the results of voting are established by the CEC.

Such sites have already been used in practice for the election of the mayor of Moscow, the heads of the Moscow region and St. Petersburg, Zakharov also recalls. This was due to the large number of summer residents who left the city for the weekend, he recalls: “For them, polling stations were created where they could attach themselves in advance using the “mobile voter” mechanism. The experience was successful, but other regions did not pick up the baton, it turned out to be too costly, and the number of such “leaving” voters was small, then this same problem began to be solved through multi-day voting, he says.

“Now a different situation has arisen, there are many people from new regions who have moved far from their homes and not always ended up even in the same subject of the Federation. Obviously, in order to exercise their voting rights, they decided to revive this mechanism,” he says. Electoral expert Grigory Melkonyants agrees that this is reminiscent of the so-called “summer cottages”. “In fact, these are branches of the PECs of one region in other regions. It is extremely difficult for candidates and parties to control such polling stations,” he says.

The rules for campaigning candidates are also changing. Now they are forbidden to carry out preferential and free distribution of any goods, with the exception of “printed materials (including illustrated ones) and badges specially made for the election campaign, the referendum campaign” (the amendments say).

The exception will be campaign materials produced for the election campaign “the cost of which does not exceed 2% of the subsistence minimum for the whole Russian Federation per capita per unit of output.” Now 2% is 278 rubles. per unit of production. Corresponding amendments are also being made to the law on the election of deputies of the State Duma – according to the current law, a limit of 100 rubles was prescribed there. Thus, the possibility of spending on promotional products increases.

Changes are also made to the article on funding candidates. Now, according to the law, the maximum amount of funds transferred to the election funds of a candidate is established. The deputies, in the amendments, propose that the law could establish a minimum amount of voluntary donations from citizens and legal entities – it cannot be more than 3% of the subsistence minimum per capita in Russia as a whole.

“In practice, this does not matter: when they plan to fill the election funds, only the maximum is important so that the limit is not exceeded, otherwise withdrawal from the elections is possible,” says Zakharov. Melkonyants calls the decision to increase the possibility of spending on campaigning candidates reasonable, and about the minimum level of donations to election funds, he says that this will primarily affect independent candidates who conduct crowdfunding campaigns, collecting 100-200 rubles each. from each donor.

The law will include a provision stating that candidates and parties are not allowed to campaign using websites, access to which is restricted by Roskomnadzor. “Apparently, these are Facebook, Instagram (their owner Meta is recognized as extremist in Russia) and other blocked sites. It is logical that if they are banned on the territory of Russia, then it is impossible to campaign there. But there is no direct ban, but it is needed so that there is something to refer to when violators are brought to justice, ”says Zakharov.

Norms about the status of proxies of candidates and parties are also changing. Now the status of proxies is terminated simultaneously with the end of the campaign period, and they will not be able to observe the vote count and get acquainted with the voting results. Melkonyants says that this status began to be used by observers after the abolition of the status of members of commissions with an advisory vote, including for mobile surveillance.

Voter lists, if compiled or updated, can now be produced in electronic form and signed with electronic signatures of the chairman, secretary of the precinct commission. “The conversion of documentation, i.e. voter lists, home voting registers, into electronic form complicates monitoring. Information, in fact, is converted into electronic form, and virtual control does not yet exist,” Melkonyants notes.

In addition, now only journalists from the media who are registered under an employment contract will be able to attend the vote count, but those who have concluded a civil law contract with the editorial office will not be able to.