The Public Chamber announced a recruitment of observers for the presidential elections

Public headquarters for monitoring the presidential elections have opened in all regions; applications from potential observers will be accepted within a month, participants in a meeting at the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation said on Thursday. Social activists are expected not only to have knowledge in the field of electoral procedures, but also to be able to quickly respond to provocations and notify law enforcement agencies when illegal actions are detected at polling stations. They must also commit to following the supervisor’s code of ethics.

The Public Chamber (PC) of the Russian Federation has begun accepting applications from those wishing to observe the presidential elections; it will last until February 16. This was announced by the Chairman of the OP Commission on Security and Interaction with the Public Monitoring Committee, Mikhail Anichkin, at the all-Russian meeting of public headquarters for monitoring elections, which was held in the OP on January 18. And on January 23, according to him, an agreement is expected to be signed with public organizations and NGOs on cooperation in sending observers to the elections. This is a traditional procedure, Mr. Anichkin noted, but it is important, since it is the OP that determines the circle of organizations participating in election observation.

“We have already received questions from several regions that they are being contacted with directive letters with a request to include representatives of organizations among the headquarters,” shared Mikhail Anichkin. “But we have certain recommendations. Let’s sign an agreement on the 23rd with those organizations that will prove themselves at the federal level. We will check them so that there are no third-party organizations that will use participation in elections as observers for completely different purposes.” In his opinion, provocations and attempts to disrupt the electoral process should be expected, so it is important for observers to prepare to notify law enforcement in a timely manner if they encounter illegal actions by “individuals.”

As Alena Bulgakova, the chairman of the OP commission on public control and executive director of the Independent Public Monitoring association, said, the OP council approved the regulation on the procedure for appointing observers for the presidential elections. It clarifies some procedures, and also defines a list of those who are authorized to submit lists of appointed observers to election commissions and sign referrals to them: for example, this can be done by a member of the OP from the corresponding region. The lists must be received by territorial election commissions no later than March 11, although regions should not wait until this date. In addition, until March 14, the OP can make a replacement and appoint another observer to the already reserved place in case of unforeseen circumstances. According to Ms. Bulgakova, public headquarters for monitoring elections began operating in all 89 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, with 30 of them opening in December, and 29 did not stop working after the September elections in the regions.

Public headquarters organize training for observers and coordinate their work during elections. Chairman of the OP of the Arkhangelsk region Yuri Serdyuk told the meeting participants that in his region the training process is already in an active phase; as a result, program participants receive certificates, which, together with the necessary package of documents, will become the basis for issuing a referral to polling stations. And the chairman of the OP of North Ossetia and the head of the republican public headquarters, Nina Chiplakova, reported that in her region 24 public organizations are already ready to send observers to the presidential elections.

According to the deputy head of the OP working group on public control over voting, Alexander Malkevich, work on recruiting and training observers is also actively underway in new regions. In the Zaporozhye region, the OP has already signed an agreement with local NGOs, and in the Kherson region this will happen in the coming days.

According to the approved regulations on the procedure for appointing observers (it is published on the OP website), public associations, professional and creative unions, associations of employers and their associations, public chambers of municipalities can propose candidates for participation in observation. Also, any adult Russian with active voting rights has the right to nominate his candidacy. Political parties, religious organizations, associations recognized as extremist, foreign organizations and foreign agents cannot submit proposals for the appointment of observers to the OP. The citizen must submit to the OP an application for candidacy and passport data, as well as a commitment to comply with the observer’s code of ethics (which, among other things, requires refraining from making assessments that could be interpreted as favoring a particular candidate). In addition to similar information about candidates, the public organization will also need a decision of the governing body and a copy of the charter.

Anastasia Kornya