Smolensk deputies wanted transparency

The Smolensk Regional Duma on Thursday decided to make the voting procedure in the regional parliament more transparent for both deputies and ordinary citizens. According to the new rules, approved at the initiative of United Russia, the lists of voters will be displayed on the screen in the meeting room and then published on the Internet. Last summer, a similar initiative at the federal level was put forward by the Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP) party, but the relevant State Duma Committee on Regional Policy and Local Self-Government recently recommended rejecting the draft law introduced by the Socialist-Revolutionaries.

September 29 deputies of the Smolensk Regional Duma amended Art. 24 and Art. 30 of its regulations, fixing in them the rules for publishing the results of voting. Now they will be displayed on monitors in the form of a surname list, as well as published on the Internet. The initiators of the changes were the deputies from United Russia.

The new amendments do not cancel the secret ballot procedure, which will be used where necessary. “We push buttons and don’t always see how the system transmits the voting results. Now, during the voting, the monitors will display the full name of the deputy, the faction of which party the deputy belongs to, how he voted. And if the deputy sees a mistake, he will have the right to declare a re-vote, ”Andrey Morgunov, one of the initiators of the amendments to the United Russia regulations, explained to Kommersant.

“Now the legislative and executive authorities need to be open to the voters. We make important decisions, the budget, and people need to see who voted and how to avoid misunderstandings. In this matter, we take the example of the State Duma, which votes openly,” added Sergei Bykov, another United Russia party.

The Kommersant faction of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation stated that “an open vote and the publication of its results is very good.” “Firstly, the voter sees the position of his deputy, how he votes. Secondly, openness makes it possible to avoid mistakes when counting votes, as was the case, for example, with the deputy of our faction Artur Ageenkov on the issue of remote electronic voting, when the votes of the deputies who were for and against the DEG did not agree during the count, ”explained communist Andrei Mitrofanenkov .

Recall that in mid-June, deputies of the SRZP faction submitted to the State Duma a bill obliging regional parliaments to publish transcripts of their meetings and the results of roll-call voting on the Internet. The Socialist-Revolutionaries then calculated that only 14 out of 85 regional legislative assemblies do this on a permanent basis, and the introduction of such a norm “will increase the responsibility of deputies to voters.”

However, on September 27, the relevant State Duma committee on regional policy recommended rejecting this initiative. According to his conclusion, the amendments to the SRZP violate the principle of independence in the exercise by state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation of their powers, enshrined in the Constitution. The legislative bodies of the subjects “already have the right and opportunity” to publish the results of the vote, so they can make an independent decision “taking into account the available opportunities, the electoral system used, as well as other features,” the committee said.

By the way, it was the Socialist-Revolutionaries who were the first to propose changing the regulations of the Smolensk Regional Duma in order to increase the transparency of voting. A month ago, they introduced a similar bill, but the Committee on Regulations and Deputy Ethics called it “incorrect from a legal point of view,” Andrey Ivanov, chairman of the Smolensk regional branch of the SRZP, told Kommersant. “And then United Russia put forward its own project, identical to ours. Why they did this is unclear. Probably automatically, so that all noticeable legislative initiatives come from the ruling party,” Mr. Ivanov suggested.

When asked by Kommersant why United Russia put forward an initiative that they themselves considered “incorrect” a month ago, the regional branch of United Russia found it difficult to answer.

Alexander Asadchiy, Smolensk; Andrew Ashes