The Central Election Commission will spend almost a quarter of the presidential campaign budget on bypassing voters

Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Ella Pamfilova spoke out against the devaluation of the “high rank” of a presidential candidate by those who “sneezed three times and are already calling themselves candidates.” There are only three real candidates so far, the commission recalled, and even the current head of state, Vladimir Putin, is not yet among them. Meanwhile, the presidential campaign continues as usual: on Thursday, the Central Election Commission formed online voting and allowed the regions to spend 7.7 billion rubles. for door-to-door canvassing of voters.

At a meeting on January 11, the Central Election Commission distributed almost 7.7 billion rubles between regional election commissions, allocated additionally for the implementation of the InformUIK project, which involves targeted notification of voters about the dates, time and place of voting. According to the deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission, Nikolai Bulaev, 89 thousand precinct commissions (PECs) and more than 320 thousand people will participate in the project. The money is allocated from funds reserved, including for unforeseen expenses, follows from the resolution of the Central Election Commission. Traditionally, remuneration for members of election commissions makes up the largest part of the election budget: this time it is planned to spend 16 billion rubles on it. (out of 33 billion rubles allocated for the entire presidential campaign), and at the expense of InformUIK these expenses will increase by almost 50%.

The money will be transferred to 88 regional election commissions (except Moscow). The largest amount will be received by the Moscow region (370.9 million rubles), the Krasnodar region (267 million rubles) and the Rostov region (224 million rubles). The most modest increase will go to the electoral commission of the Magadan region – only 7 million rubles.

“InformUIK”, as previously decided by the CEC, will be held from February 17 to March 7. It is expected that at this time members of election commissions will conduct door-to-door and door-to-door visits to voters, clarifying information about them and the most preferable methods of voting. Participants in the round will receive a fixed payment in the amount of 9 thousand to 10.4 thousand rubles, but taking into account additional coefficients it can increase to 22.5 thousand rubles. The pilot project was implemented during the 2023 regional elections in 78 regions: 40 thousand PEC members visited 6.5 million households. The absolute majority of project participants reported that this influenced voters’ decision to take part in the vote, said Ella Pamfilova. She expressed confidence that “at the most important elections in the country, we will be able to reach every door, talk to everyone unobtrusively and respectfully.”

The idea is good, CEC member Evgeniy Kolyushin agreed with the chairman, although in Soviet times this was all done for free. However, a lot depends on the details – in particular, on what questions voters will be asked, and there is still no clarity on this matter, he worried. There will definitely not be a question “Who will you vote for?” Nikolai Bulaev reassured his colleague. The questionnaire has been simplified as much as possible; it boils down to clarifying data about the voter and his preferred voting methods, Ms. Pamfilova assured. But it is understood that the citizen will also be able to receive clarification on questions of interest to him about the elections.

Also on Thursday, the CEC formed a territorial electoral commission for remote electronic voting (TEC DEG), which included 12 people. Six of them were appointed on the recommendation of political parties (United Russia, Communist Party of the Russian Federation, SRZP, LDPR, New People and Rodina), another six were appointed on the recommendation of the federal and regional public chambers (OP). Almost all the appointees worked as part of the TEC DEG, which was organizing online voting in September 2023, except that the SRZP and LDPR replaced their representatives. As last year, the commission will be headed by the co-chairman of the Coordination Council of the RF OP for public control over voting, Oleg Artamonov. In Moscow, the powers of the commission on the DEG are entrusted to the Moscow City Election Commission, recalled Nikolai Bulaev. In a separate decision, the Central Election Commission allowed the capital to use electronic voting terminals in these elections, which were equipped with Moscow polling stations in 2023: they allow you to vote online if problems arise with your personal gadget. In addition, the CEC reminded that nonresidents will be able to use the terminals if they have submitted an application in advance about their desire to vote in Moscow.

Well, after the elections, the Central Election Commission will ask the legislator to clarify who exactly should be called a presidential candidate, Ella Pamfilova promised. This, she said, will avoid speculation on the “high rank of a presidential candidate” and cut off emotionally unbalanced citizens who “sneezed three times and are already calling themselves candidates.” In the legislation there is the concept of “nominated candidate”, and there is “registered candidate”, and because of this, confusion arises, explained the head of the Central Election Commission. She recalled that at this stage only 11 people are participating in the presidential campaign, three of whom are “full-fledged” registered candidates, and the rest are still only allowed to collect signatures.

Anastasia Kornya