Extraordinary, but probable – Newspaper Kommersant No. 61 (7506) of 04/10/2023

Member of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Igor Borisov and an employee of the Russian Center for Training in Electoral Technologies Vladimir Lysenko published a scientific article in which, with reference to international experience in organizing elections in emergency situations, they prove that voting in the zone of a special military operation does not contradict international law and complies with legal custom civilized states. But such elections may require the adoption of special measures, the authors admit, such as changing the order of campaigning, restricting access to personal data of voters, candidates and members of election commissions, limiting the photo and video recording of voters.

In September 2023, elections are to be held in four new constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Preparations for electoral procedures are already underway, although, according to the federal constitutional law “On martial law”, elections are not held under such conditions.

At the same time, the authors of the article “Voting rights in the system of human and civil rights” Igor Borisov and Vladimir Lysenko argue (it was published in the latest issue of the CEC scientific and analytical journal “Citizen. Elections. Power”), in modern history there are cases of organization and conducting electoral procedures in rather unstable situations, in conditions of increased danger, and even with permanently flaring armed conflicts. Among other things, they refer to the experience of several countries: Afghanistan and Kosovo, where the elections were held with the active participation of the OSCE in a really hot environment of ongoing armed clashes; Iraq, where internal strife does not subside; Venezuela, where “hybrid wars” accompanied the election campaigns and the voting itself.

Another example is the United Kingdom, where in May 2019, during the elections to the European Parliament, a World War II bomb was discovered at a construction site located in close proximity to the polling station on the grounds of Kensington University. By decision of the head of the polling station, voting was stopped, the polling station was evacuated, and voters were redirected to continue expressing their will in another room.

Even in the most difficult conditions, the preservation and provision of voting rights and freedoms is a necessary condition for the further progressive development of society, the authors of the article insist. Although certain restrictions are permissible in such conditions, they are stipulated. Thus, decisions on the suspension of voting and its postponement, the announcement of a break in electoral activities, voting outside the premises of polling stations, etc., should be made with the participation of representatives of law enforcement agencies.

The authors also consider it justified and acceptable in such situations to introduce other novelties into the electoral process, such as multi-day and early voting, changing the organization and conduct of campaign events, restricting access to personal data of voters, candidates and members of election commissions, limiting photo and video recording of voters etc. “The mobility of the Russian electoral system, its ability to promptly follow the needs of voters and meet the new challenges of the time, no doubt, will make it possible to organize and hold all subsequent elections in the Russian Federation at a level not lower than the best world practices for organizing electoral procedures and in full compliance with international democratic standards,” Igor Borisov told Kommersant.

State Duma deputy and former deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission Leonid Ivlev recalls that the package of amendments to the electoral legislation recently submitted to the Duma already provides for the right of regions to apply many such innovations (for example, to reduce the timing of the campaign and independently determine the time of voting), as well as the possibility of voting and tabulating results in territorial election commissions. Almost all of these innovations have already been tested in the course of referendums on the accession of new territories to Russia, Mr. Ivlev notes. Now the new subjects themselves will be able to decide which technologies to use in the course of the upcoming campaign.

The autumn elections are necessary to legitimize the authorities of the new territories, explains political scientist Nikolai Mironov, all of them were created before they became part of the Russian Federation and now should be formed according to Russian laws. This will complete the process of including new regions in the Russian legal field, and it is undesirable to postpone this process, since the situation cannot be stopped halfway, the expert is sure.

It is very important for the Kremlin to fully introduce new territories into the Russian legal field so that they do not differ from “ordinary” regions, and subsequently no one could dispute their belonging to Russia, political scientist Alexander Nemtsev argues. According to him, now in the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, rather, transitional forms of government are operating, and the elections will lay a solid foundation for the legitimacy of the current government. “Sooner or later everything ends in peace. And after it, it will be important for the Kremlin to show that the citizens of these regions have made their choice: they voted for Russian parties, elected their deputies and heads. After all, territories are good, but the key is the choice of the people who live there,” the expert sums up.

Anastasia Kornya, Andrey Vinokurov