Article 142 of the Criminal Code. Falsification of election documents, referendum documents

Compulsory, free, periodic elections and popular voting in referendums became constitutional elements of the modern state system in Russia. Their introduction into the system and subsequent implementation required the improvement of legal guarantees.

Legal protection of rights

It is provided by the Criminal Code. It provides for special rules:

1. Falsification of voting results (Article 142.1).
2. Creation of obstacles to the exercise of the electoral rights of citizens or the work of commissions (Article 141).
3. Violation of the order, according to which the campaign of the candidate, association, bloc, initiative group and other participants is financed (Article 141.1).
4. Falsification of election documents, referendum documents .

It is necessary to say that the legislation is constantly undergoing changes. In connection with this, new subjective and objective signs are periodically introduced into the compositions of the above crimes. This suggests that the development of criminal prescriptions in the sphere of electoral law is conditioned not only by the needs of investigative and judicial practice. A special influence is also provided by the updating of legislation, the provisions of which govern election procedures.

Art. 142 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Falsification of election documents"

This norm covers various acts. All of them are expressed in an encroachment on the civil right to participate in elections. Criminal liability occurs if:

1. The ballot paper is intentionally spoiled to create obstacles to the determination of will.
2. Wrong information about participants of the event.
3. An incorrect list of citizens wishing to express their will has been drawn up. This includes, in particular, the inclusion in the list of persons who do not have the right to vote, fictitious people.
4. Included unaccounted forms in the number used.
5. A valid ballot paper with the marks of citizens replaced with another filled out in another way.
6. Intentionally destroyed registered and used forms.
7. Intentionally counted up votes.
8. The protocols were signed by the members of the commission before the summing up of the results.
9. The documents are deliberately wrong with respect to the results of the event.
10. Changes were made to the completed protocols illegally after the summation announcement.
11. The results of the event are known to be incorrectly defined.

The crime also includes forgery of signatures of voters or members of the commission.

Punishment

For the above acts, Article 142 of the Criminal Code establishes the following sanctions:

1. The imposition of a fine in the amount of 200-500 thousand rubles. Or an equal salary or other income for 1-3 years.
2. Forced labor.
3. Imprisonment.

The last two penalties are appointed for a period of up to 4 years.

Comments

Article 142 of the Criminal Code covers a crime whose public danger lies in encroachment on the civil right of the population to express their will. As a direct object of misconduct, relations arise in which the realization of this possibility is carried out. The perpetrators violate the secrecy of the vote, create obstacles to the establishment of voting results in accordance with the expressed will of the citizens.

The objective part

The subject of the crime are election documents. They include lists of citizens participating in the event, certificates of the right to express will, forms for filling and so on. Article 142 of the Criminal Code establishes sanctions for the active actions of the perpetrators. The composition of the crime is considered by its design to be formal. The deed is recognized completed from the moment of implementation of any action given in the dispositions of the rule. Falsification is considered to include in the documentation of knowingly false information, or a complete redrafting of papers and the production of new forms with data already entered, not true. Such actions can significantly distort the real results of activities.

The subjective part

Article 142 of the Criminal Code operates in the presence of direct intent. The perpetrator must be aware of the illegitimacy of his actions and desire to commit them. At the same time, a citizen understands the likelihood of negative consequences and their public danger. The subject is a special person. They may be a member of the commission, an authorized representative of a bloc or association, a group of voters, a candidate or his authorized representative.

Aggravating circumstances

Responsibility for the commented norm also comes in the case of falsification of election documents or referendum papers committed:

1. In complicity.
2. In conjunction with bribery.
3. With the destruction of property or the threat of damage to it.
4. With coercion.
5. With the use of violence or under threat of its use.

Crime can also entail a significant violation of the interests and rights of organizations, citizens, society or the state. This circumstance is also recognized as aggravating. In this case, the structure acquires a formal material construction. Additional qualifying signs are transportation and storage of illegally produced forms, ballots for voting, absentee certificates.

An Important Moment

In order to prosecute the norm under consideration, it is necessary to prove the causal relationship between falsification and causing significant harm to the interests and rights of organizations, the state, citizens, and society. The very notion of "significant damage" in this case has a conditional character and is considered an evaluation criterion. To establish the materiality, it is necessary to examine subjective and objective factors and circumstances. Careful interpretation requires also such concepts as bribery, violent actions, coercion. Individuals who are sane and who have reached the age of 16, who commit an unauthorized act alone or in complicity, may act as subjects of a crime .