Lawyers spoke about the elections under martial law

Changes being made to the constitutional law “On martial law” will allow elections to be held in the fall in four new regions of Russia in which this regime has been declared, Dmitry Vyatkin, the first deputy head of the United Russia faction in the State Duma, a member of the Committee on State Building and Legislation, told Vedomosti. .

According to him, the authorities of the territories together with the election commissions will have to consult with the Ministry of Defense and other government agencies in order to ensure security during the elections.

“As a general rule, martial law hinders the holding of election campaigns. But if a consolidated decision is made after appropriate consultations at the initiative of the authorities of the relevant subject and the CEC, yes, elections will be held, even though martial law has been declared in certain territories,” he said.

Earlier on May 3, the press service of Pavel Krasheninnikov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on State Construction, reported that the relevant amendments would be submitted to Parliament. On the discussion of this bill, MP told Vedomosti April 29th.

According to him, under Art. 7 of the current law, in the territory where martial law has been introduced, referendums and elections to state authorities and local governments are not held. At the same time, four constitutional laws on the admission of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to Russia state that elections to the legislative bodies of these entities are held on the second Sunday of September 2023.

The bill introduced is designed to eliminate this contradiction between the law “On Martial Law”, adopted in 2002, and the constitutional laws that directly provided for elections in 2023 in four new regions, says Alexei Elaev, lawyer, senior lecturer at the Western Branch of the RANEPA.

“The amendments mean that the legislator, between the martial law regime, which does not provide for elections, and the holding of elections, decided to take the side of the elections in order to form a system of authorities in the new territories,” he told Vedomosti.

For Russia, holding elections under special legal regimes in certain territories is not something new, such experience already exists, the expert recalls. For example, in the context of the counter-terrorist operation in March 2003, a referendum was held on a new constitution for the Chechen Republic, and Akhmad Kadyrov was elected President of Chechnya in October of the same year.

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree imposing martial law on the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions in October, after they became part of Russia. This regime operated in the regions before, but it was necessary to bring it into line with Russian legislation, the head of state stressed.

The main thing during the elections in the new territories will be to ensure the safety of their participants, Roman Smirnov, president of the Association of Political Lawyers, believes. The special operation regime implies certain restrictions, he notes. “Not only from the point of view of legal actions, but also simply from the point of view of sound logic. When they shoot around, it’s not quite up to the elections,” Smirnov told Vedomosti. According to him, voters and members of election commissions will be concerned about their own security. And this imposes certain restrictions on the implementation of any electoral actions, the expert emphasizes.

In the context of holding elections in a situation of military conflict, legal and organizational “roughness” may arise: these are the opening hours of polling stations, the process of forming an election commission, communication and data transmission problems, difficulties with campaigning and the work of observers, the source noted.

Smirnov believes that during the election campaign in the new territories, a new law enforcement practice may develop. The CEC will have to issue clarifications on the time of work of election commissions, on the timing of summing up the results of voting and the implementation of procedural norms, the lawyer believes. “If, as a result of the campaigns, there are disputes in the courts, probably, in such conditions, some other deadlines should be set,” he said.