The CEC approved the regulation on the peculiarities of voting in extraterritorial districts

The Central Election Commission (CEC) on Wednesday approved the regulation on the peculiarities of voting in extraterritorial polling stations, that is, those created outside of “their” region. First of all, this norm will be used by new subjects of the Russian Federation, which have already planned the creation of more than three hundred sites in 81 regions. The document allows organizing early voting in such polling stations in various forms, including at home and in adjacent territories. Deputy Chairman of the CEC Nikolai Bulaev explained that the dispersal of places for voting is aimed at ensuring the safety of voters and members of commissions.

The document approved by the CEC was adopted in the development of a new norm that appeared in the legislation in May 2023, and establishes the features of the creation of extraterritorial precincts in the elections of heads and deputies of legislative assemblies of the regions. Although these rules are established for all subjects of the Russian Federation, the emphasis was placed on new territories. Thus, it is already known that the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions will create 328 polling stations in 81 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Information about how many regions plan to form their own sites in the special operation zone was not announced at the CEC meeting. But earlier, Kommersant reported that there is definitely such an intention in the Omsk, Novosibirsk and Voronezh regions, Primorye and Yakutia.

The decision to create an “exit” polling station must be made no later than a month (and in exceptional cases, three days) before the start of voting, and the composition of commissions must be formed no later than 15 days (in exceptional cases, one day) before first day of voting. Two ways of creating extraterritorial commissions are proposed: either it is formed from scratch, or the corresponding functions are assigned to existing PECs. In the first case, the composition of the commission (from three to ten people) will be formed on the basis of proposals from citizens’ meetings at the place of residence, work or service, and the quota for parties, which is used in the formation of ordinary PECs, is not provided for in the regulation of the CEC. Extraterritorial sections can also be created in military units – then they are formed from among the military. The heads of the “exit” commissions will be appointed by the electoral commissions of the entity organizing the elections, or by the commanders of military units, while the deputy chairmen and secretaries will be elected by secret ballot.

In order to vote in an extraterritorial precinct, a citizen must notify the appropriate commission in writing or orally. The protocols with the results of the voting will be transferred “through technical communication channels” to the higher territorial election commissions (TECs). At the same time, in the elections to the regional legislature, the voter will receive only one ballot in a single constituency and will not be able to vote for single-members. But this restriction, in fact, will not affect the new regions, since their parliaments will be elected exclusively according to party lists.

Early voting can be organized at “exit” polling stations using its various forms. “This is voting at polling stations, this is voting outside the polling stations (at home.— “b”), this is a trip to separate groups of voters, this is the so-called house-to-house voting (popularly called voting “on stumps.”— “b”). There are no restrictions,” explained Nikolai Bulaev. He noted that in today’s conditions, “the dispersal of voting places” is primarily aimed at ensuring the safety of voters and members of commissions.

The electoral commissions of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation will have to provide extraterritorial PECs with all possible assistance, including in informing citizens and logistical support. According to Mr. Bulaev, the working version of the document was sent to the regions, and as a result of the discussion, the document changed by “80 percent”: 26 subjects sent their proposals for organizing voting to the CEC.

The regulation of the Central Election Commission does not contain a section that establishes the specifics of the work of observers. But, as a source in the commission explained to Kommersant, the norms prescribed in the law will apply in this part. Chairman of the Association “Independent Public Monitoring”, a member of the Presidential Council for Human Rights Alexander Brod has already announced the readiness of colleagues in the association “to get involved in solving the problems of public control”, taking into account the peculiarities of the organization of extraterritorial sites.

During the consideration of the document, a member of the CEC from the Communist Party Evgeny Kolyushin noted that the adoption of this resolution changes the voting rules already during the campaigns. “We are returning, so to speak so figuratively, to 1993, when the rules were constantly changing in the elections to the State Duma,” Mr. Kolyushin was perplexed. He also drew attention to the abolition of “a number of norms of the federal law”, in particular, on party representation in extraterritorial PECs: “That is, it is only possible to form commissions from officials.” In this regard, Yevgeny Kolyushin suggested supplementing the resolution with words “indicating that such an unusual procedure is valid only at elections in four constituent entities of the Russian Federation.”

Elvira Khaimurzina, a member of the Central Election Commission, replied that in 2023 elections of heads in 21 regions are coming, and not only military personnel, but also doctors, builders, road workers, and public utilities are in the special operation zone. According to her, it is “not five, not a hundred or even a thousand people.” CEC member Anton Lopatin supported his colleague and clarified that 20,000 people from the Moscow Region alone are now participating in the restoration of the DPR. “I agree with Evgeny Ivanovich (Kolyushin.— “b”), which, of course, I would like to form commissions in the regular mode,” Nikolai Bulaev summed up. “Unfortunately, the circumstances in which we are making not only us, but also many others I think they are archival.”

Elena Rozhkova