Ulyanovsk region is crossed out from the lists – Picture of the day – Kommersant

The Ulyanovsk region may become the first Russian region to completely abandon party lists in elections to its parliament. Until recently, at least 25% of the deputies of each legislature had to be elected by proportional system, but the law on public power that came into force lifted this restriction. According to Kommersant’s information, the Ulyanovsk United Russia members are now discussing three options for changing the system for electing their parliament, one of them is a transition to electing deputies purely in majoritarian districts. The expert points out that only United Russia is interested in such a reform, and it will not be possible to implement it without the support of other factions.

As it became known to Kommersant, in the Ulyanovsk region they want to change the size of their parliament. The initiators of the reform are regional United Russia. Now there are 36 deputies in the Legislative Assembly, 18 of which are elected from single-member districts and 18 more from party lists.

According to Kommersant sources close to the party, its representatives want to increase the total number of seats to 60.

Three options are being discussed: 45 single-member constituencies and 15 seats on party lists, 35 single-member constituencies and 25 on lists, 60 single-member constituencies (completely majoritarian system).

According to Kommersant’s interlocutors, the size of constituencies for a new cut is now being calculated. “Which option they will stop at is still unknown, much will depend on the position of the presidential administration, but so far they have not answered anything. Most likely, the answer will be after the September elections, when the alignment in other regions will become clear, ”says one of the sources. Recall that elections to the Legislative Assembly are scheduled for next year.

“In November, the scheme of electoral districts will be approved: according to the new law, it is approved for ten years, and right now the deadline is approaching. In principle, from the beginning of August to November, there is just enough time to change the regional legislation and the charter of the region, ”Dmitry Travkin, ex-head of the Ulyanovsk branch of the United Russia, head of the RAPIR regional fund for professional research, explained to Kommersant the discussion of the reform.

The head of the Ulyanovsk Regional Electoral Committee, Yuri Andrienko, confirmed that, according to the latest legislative changes, “the election commission must, 80 days before the expiration of the 10-year period from the date of the last approval of the electoral district scheme, prepare an updated scheme and approve it in the legislative assembly, this will happen at the end of November” . He is aware that “certain discussions” about increasing the number of deputies are underway, but he has not seen any official bills.

The head of the regional executive committee of the United Russia, member of the Legislative Assembly Konstantin Dolgov does not deny that he is one of the active participants in the discussion, but he refused to talk about the details of the reform under discussion, explaining that this work is “inside and is unofficial and non-public”. According to him, although there is little time left for reform, “if there is political will and strength to make decisions, everything can happen quite quickly.”

Vice Governor Alexander Korobko, who oversees domestic politics, told Kommersant that he is aware of the proposed changes and “in principle” supports proposals to increase the number of deputies “within reasonable limits.”

“In too large constituencies, deputies are simply not able to work closely with the population,” he believes.

The Communist Party and the Liberal Democratic Party are categorically against the reform. “United Russia benefits from an increase in the number of majoritarian districts. This allows them to hide their connection with the party in the elections, disguise themselves as good people, and then unite into a party faction and have an overwhelming majority, as happened in the City Duma. In addition, in a small district it is easier to use the administrative resource, ”said Alexei Kurinny, secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, State Duma deputy. The leader of the LDPR faction in the Legislative Assembly, Dmitry Grachev, also agrees with him, recalling that the LDPR “always generally supported the formation of the Legislative Assembly exclusively on party lists.”

Doubts about the need to increase the number of deputies and the speaker of the Legislative Assembly Valery Malyshev (ER). This will lead to an increase in the cost of maintaining the apparatus and deputies, large additional costs for the re-equipment of the hall and the voting system, which will not be understood by voters whose incomes are declining, he explained to Kommersant.

Ulyanovsk political scientist Nikolai Vasin is sure that there is only one interest in the proposed reform – United Russia. In the elections to the Legislative Assembly in 2018, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation received 36.24% of the votes on the party lists, and UR – 33.9%.

Now United Russia wants to improve the situation by increasing the number of single-member constituencies and in the future create conditions for the arrival of its representative to the post of governor.

The current head of the region, Aleksey Russkikh, belongs to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. “It’s no secret that United Russia has a much higher organizational resource than all other parties combined, and in small constituencies, with a low turnout, it is much easier to use it in your favor by bringing in your supporters. And if this happens, then in public opinion it will be perceived as the defeat of the governor’s team and the loss of voters’ confidence in him. And this is a serious blow to the reputation,” says the expert. However, he recalls that two-thirds of the votes in the legislature are needed to change the charter of the region, and without the support of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party, which control 16 of the 36 current deputy seats, it will not be possible to make changes.

Sergey Titov, Ulyanovsk